Takata Loss Settlement Pegged at $299 Million, Ford Agrees To Settle Amount

Ford Motor Company comes out as the latest automobile maker to accept an economic loss settlement following a finding that Takata airbags are potentially faulty. Lawyers for the US automaker have stated that the amount comes to at least $299.1 million, an amount that is to cover for about 6 million vehicles in the US which carry the airbags.

Reuters reports that there are other automakers that Takata is currently talking with. These are major automakers too-BMW AG, Honda Motor Co., Mazda Motor Corp., Nissan Motor Co., Subaru Corp., and Toyota Motor Corp. are all at risk of supplying faulty cars to their consumers.

In Honda's case, the economic loss settlement is pegged at around $605 million. According to Cars, the amount is indicative of the economic losses the company will incur if a customer buys one of their cars. The value of each unit is lessened by $500 because of the faulty airbags.

Since then, most cars that carry the Takata airbags have been recalled. This is the reason for the settlement; among the automobile makers that have Takata airbags installed, Honda stands out as the biggest automobile maker with the most units sold that came installed with the Takata airbag. This potentially translates to about one out of thirteen U.S. fatalities that could have been avoided if the airbags weren't the culprit.

At least 23 deaths are being attributed to the airbags, with about 21 of them happening to Honda car owners and at least two happening to Ford car owners.

There are also other problems with Takata's products. There have been a reported 290 injuries attributed to Takata's inflators, which can explode at any given time; the effect can be like a grenade exploding with the shrapnel flying around.

The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration encouraged more automobile makers to step forward and hold Takata accountable as well as plan their car recalls as early as possible. Heidi King, a deputy administrator of the agency, said that each automaker should do its duty to pull out defective cars and replace its parts with better ones.