Takata Airbags: Ammonium Nitrate, Falsified Tests and 100 Million Recalls

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Takeshi Takata founded his company in Shiga Prefecture, Japan, in 1933 making parachute textiles, moved into seat belts in the 1950s and built Japan's first crash test plant. In May 1995 a recall of 8.3 million vehicles followed findings that ABS plastic release buttons on its 52X and A7X belts turned brittle under UV light and jammed. Regulators fined Honda and Takata $50,000 over evidence they knew of the hazard for about five years, and two years in only 18% of cars were fixed. Takata bought Germany's Petri AG in 2000 and held 20% of the global airbag market by 2014.

In the late 1990s Takata switched its inflators to cheaper ammonium nitrate, which absorbs moisture and crumbles over heat cycles, so the propellant burns too fast and ruptures the metal housing, firing shrapnel at occupants. Its Monclova, Mexico plant mishandled the chemicals. Regulators fined it $200 million in November 2015, three executives were charged in January 2017, and Takata pleaded guilty in a $1 billion settlement before filing for bankruptcy in June 2017. Joyson Safety Systems, which bought its assets for $1.6 billion, found over 1,000 cases of falsified test data in 2021.

A pregnant 42-year-old woman in Malaysia died in July 2014 after her 2003 Honda City airbag ruptured in a collision under 30 km/h.
The $1 billion settlement split into a $25 million fine, $125 million for victims and $850 million for automakers.
By early 2024 more than 100 million inflators had been recalled across over 20 automakers.
By late 2024 the inflators were tied to 28 deaths in the U.S. and 35 worldwide.
Of 3.5 million affected cars in Brazil, an estimated 2.5 million owners ignored inspection notices.

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