Takata Corp., the supplier behind the auto industry’s biggest recall ever has estimated that a comprehensive callback of its airbag inflators would cost a total of about 2.7 trillion yen (USD24 billion).
The worst-case recall scenario would involve about 287.5 million airbag inflators. Takata and the automakers affected still have to determine how the costs are to be shared.
This projection by Takata exceeds a February 2016 estimate by a Jefferies Group LLC analyst by about USD7 billion and reinforces concerns about the company’s viability. The worst-case cost figure is almost four times more than the revenue Takata has forecast for the fiscal year ending this month. It also amounts to almost six-times more than the total assets on its balance sheet as of the end of 2015.
Takata shares plunged by about 20% to 414 yen last week, hitting the lower daily limit in Tokyo trading. Meanwhile its competitors, Daicel Corp., the Japanese airbag inflator maker that has been in talks with Takata to boost supply of the components, rose 1.8%. Ningbo Joyson Electronic Corp. gained as much as 6.8% in Shanghai trading, while Autoliv Inc. traded 1.3% higher in Stockholm just after the market opened.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has said Takata airbag inflators have caused nine fatalities in the U.S. by rupturing and spraying plastic and metal shards at motorists. The regulator is investigating all Takata inflators that use a chemical propellant that’s been banned from future models and is giving the company until as long as the end of 2019 to determine the root cause of the flaw or prove the inflators are safe.
