Takata incident continues, AQSIQ summons Volkswagen, GM, and Mercedes-Benz

Yesterday, the Law Enforcement Supervision Department of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine held a collective meeting with Volkswagen, General Motors and Mercedes-Benz regarding the rupture of Takata airbag inflators, and reported the results of the investigation into the defect. It required the relevant companies to take corresponding measures as soon as possible, fulfill their legal obligations for defect recalls, and effectively eliminate safety hazards.

The relevant person in charge of the Law Enforcement Supervision Department of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine pointed out that according to the defect investigation results and expert evaluation opinions of the General Administration's Defective Product Management Center, the ammonium nitrate gas generators produced by Takata without desiccant objectively have the risk of rupture and pose safety hazards. The production enterprises should attach great importance to the existing problems, earnestly fulfill the main responsibility of recall, take effective measures to eliminate safety hazards, and avoid the occurrence of injury cases. The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine will implement the functions conferred by the "Regulations on the Management of Recall of Defective Automobile Products" and administer according to law, and resolutely deal with relevant illegal acts.

On June 26, local time in the United States, Takata Corporation of Japan formally applied to the Tokyo District Court of Japan to apply the country's "Civil Rehabilitation Law" to enter bankruptcy protection procedures. According to statistics, at least 16 people have died worldwide due to Takata airbag hazards, and the related car recalls caused by Takata airbags have exceeded 60 million, becoming the largest car recall case in history.

Takata Airbag

In China, the number of domestic automobile recalls exceeded 10 million for the first time in 2016, reaching 11,331,565 vehicles. Relevant experts analyzed that most of them were caused by Takata's problematic airbags. According to data previously released by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, in 2016, my country recalled 64 times due to airbag and seat belt problems, reaching 6.4302 million vehicles, accounting for 57% of the total number of recalls of various assemblies of automobile products in my country in 2016, more than half.

So far, the Takata airbag inflator rupture problem has involved 37 automakers in China, involving more than 20 million vehicles, of which 24 manufacturers have implemented 102 recalls, involving 97 models and 10.59 million vehicles; another 5 manufacturers have proposed recall plans for all their vehicles and will file recall plans with the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine in the near future, involving 1.26 million vehicles. The 8 manufacturers of the three brands of Volkswagen, General Motors and Mercedes-Benz who were interviewed this time only proposed to recall a small batch of vehicles for test analysis, and did not propose effective recall measures.

Takata's bankruptcy will also affect the interests of many parties. According to the documents submitted by Takata to the court, it has more than 700 creditors, the largest of which is the US government, with an amount of 41.57 billion yen. The automotive industry is more directly affected by Takata's problematic airbags, especially the Japanese automakers, which are Takata's largest customers, and the losses are even greater. According to statistics, Toyota will lose 570 billion yen, Honda will lose 556 billion yen, and Nissan will lose 90.7 billion yen.

Takata's bankruptcy is also reflected in the stock market. Since filing for bankruptcy protection, Takata's stock price has plummeted and its market value has fallen by 75%. Due to the need to bear huge recall costs, Takata is insolvent and its stock value is likely to return to zero.

In the future, the impact of the "Takata airbag incident" will continue. Cui Dongshu, deputy secretary-general of the China Passenger Car Association, said that the Takata airbag incident was a serious product quality issue in the world, and its impact has not completely subsided.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.