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Takata logs huge annual loss

May 11, 2016

The Japanese auto parts maker behind a massive recall over exploding air bags, Takata, has reported a huge annual net loss. But despite its current crisis, the firm hopes to return to profitability in 2017.

https://p.dw.com/p/1IlXL
Honda SRS air bag from Takata
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. Robichon

Takata said Wednesday it logged an annual net loss of $120 million (105.4 million euros) as it struggled with a massive recall crisis over exploding air bags tied to 13 deaths in the US and Malaysia.

Only last week, US auto safety regulators ordered the Japanese company to recall between 35 million and 40 million air bags installed in US cars to replace the dangerously explosive inflators. Some 50 million such faulty air bags have already been replaced globally.

The bottom-line loss came after several forecast downgrades and completely unhinged Takata's original prediction of a substantial profit for fiscal 2015.

Crisis over soon?

Surprisingly, the auto parts maker said it was forecasting a decent net profit in the current fiscal year to March 2017, but did not initially offer an explanation for the optimistic outlook.

US investigators had reported on accidents in which Takata air bags ruptured, sending shrapnel into car drivers and passengers. More than 100 incidents and 10 deaths have been linked to the faulty inflators in the US alone.

The latest was a 17-year-old teenager from Texas who died from injuries sustained on March 31, after her 2002 Honda Civic collided with another car, activating a defective Takata air bag.

hg/cjc (dpa, AFP, AP)