Takata Yet to Identify Root Cause of Air Bag Explosions

TOKYO--Takata Corp. (7312.TO) CEO Shigehisa Takada said Friday that the company is diligently working to identify the root cause of why some of its air bags have exploded, a problem linked to five deaths and more than 24 million vehicles recalled by 12 auto makers.

"Our priority is to ensure safety so we will focus on carrying that out," he told a small group of reporters at a Tokyo hotel Friday, on the sidelines of an event hosted by Honda Motor Co. (7267.TO) Mr. Takada declined to comment on how long it will take for the company to fully identify the causes.

Asked whether he has taken any measures for ensuring that the company has enough capital, he said: "That's an issue for us executives to think about," without elaborating further.

Friday's comments by Mr. Takada, 48, were the first he has made to a group of reporters since the air bag recalls escalated from mid-2014.

While he has released written statements, to date he has not held a news conference. He didn't answer a question asking whether he would hold a news conference in the future.

Separately, an executive of Autoliv Inc. (AVL), Takata's rival air bag and inflater maker, said the company is in talks with auto makers besides Honda about possibly supplying replacement parts for vehicles recalled over Takata air bag problems.

Sweden-based Autoliv is not ready to announce details yet, said Bradley Murray, Autoliv Japan's president.

Honda, Takata's biggest customer, has said it is working with Autoliv and Daicel Corp. (4202.TO), another air bag inflater maker, to speed up replacement parts production in vehicles that have been recalled.

Write to Yoko Kubota at [e-mail]

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