Airbag recall

See if your car is covered by any recall by putting in your vehicle identification number (VIN) at https://vinrcl.safercar.gov/vin/

Generally see  www.recalls.gov

Takata hires NY lawyer to handle air bag scandal.

Reuters (11/18) reports Takata Corp has retained prominent New York defense lawyer Andrew Levander of Dechert LLP to oversee legal issues including the criminal probe on its defective airbags, the source of over 17 million car recalls since 2008. Last week a Federal grand jury subpoenaed Takata’s US Unit to produce documents on the defects, this while multiple class-action law suits, a probe by the US auto safety regulator, and a Senate hearing await Takata and its executives. Another partner at Dechert, David Bernick, will also represent Takata.

Defective Takata airbag grows into global problem for manufacturer. The New York Times (11/19, Gough, Soble, Tabuchi, Subscription Publication, 9.9M) reports that “What began as a largely American problem for Takata is taking on ever-wider proportions, confronting drivers and regulators in multiple countries with differing legal systems and attitudes toward automobile safety.” Last week, the first fatality of a non-US driver was linked to the Japanese airbag manufacturer’s defects thus confirming that faulty inflaters, made at North American plants, ended up in overseas vehicles. “The problem is that nobody knows how far it’s going to go — how many millions more vehicles,” said Koji Endo, an expert on the Japanese automobile industry at Advanced Research Japan. Adding to the company’s troubles, Federal regulators in the US on Tuesday urged automakers to recall cars nationwide that contain driver’s-side airbags made by Takata. Takata executives are scheduled to testify on Thursday at a Senate hearing on auto safety.