Everything you need to know about the Takata deadly airbag compensation

Toyota, BMW, Mazda and Subaru have signed an agreement worth 496 million euros to address the claims of customers affected by Takata’s defective airbags. The number of vehicles affected among these four car manufacturers already amounts to nearly 16 million vehicles.

Toyota will pay 250 million, as the most affected manufacturer with the fitting of these airbags in 9.2 million vehicles in its fleet, followed by BMW, which will have to contribute 118 million to compensate the 2.3 million affected vehicles. For its part, Mazda will pay 69 million and Subaru will disburse 61 million euros. The agreement has recently been presented and is awaiting approval from a Federal Court in Florida.

The defective airbags have cost the lives of 16 people and injured more than 180The four car manufacturers will compensate owners affected by their financial losses, repair time and they will even be reimbursed for the expense of replacement vehicles. Of the 496 million euros, the manufacturers will use nearly 45 million to provide rental cars if those affected need them. Despite taking these measures, none of the brands has taken responsibility for what happened.

Other brands that have been reported for fitting defective airbags in their vehicles are Honda, Ford and Nissan, but they have not yet made any statements about whether they will take any action in this regard.

In January, Takata pleaded guilty before a Detroit Court for installing airbags knowing they were dangerous, and agreed to pay 1 billion dollars in fines and compensation. Of that figure, Takata will pay 850 million dollars to the 19 manufacturers that installed the devices in their vehicles, which later had to be replaced.

The origin of the airbag problem

Due to a problem with the inflator, the Japanese brand’s airbags have caused explosions that have cost the lives of 16 people and injured more than 180. Around 100 million defective airbags have already been recalled worldwide.

When the airbag is about to inflate due to the activation of a sensor, the defective airbag part breaks and forcefully releases small metal fragments, like shrapnel, causing serious injuries to people. This problem could be caused by the oxidation capacity of a material that makes up the part, ammonium nitrate (NH§h44Mazdah45§NO§h46Nissanh47§), which causes the deterioration of other parts.