By Yoko Kubota
OZU, Japan-- Honda Motor Co.'s chief executive apologized for
the company's failure to report to U.S. regulators more than 1,700
incidents involving death or injury over the last decade, saying
there had been "multiple mishandlings."
"From what I hear, the origin of this goes back to differences
in what we thought and what the regulators were seeking," Takanobu
Ito, Honda's chief executive officer, said Tuesday, referring to
the reporting of incidents. "But on top of that there appears to
have been multiple mishandlings and I am very sorry about that," he
told reporters at Honda's Kumamoto motorbike plant in Ozu, southern
Japan.
Mr. Ito's apology comes as Honda, embroiled in one of its
biggest recalls ever, faces criticism over its safety record. The
Japanese auto maker recalled around 9.7 million vehicles in the
last six years over explosive air bags made by Takata Corp. that
could shoot out shrapnel at people, a problem linked to five deaths
in Honda-made cars.
Honda said in a statement that it had used an overly narrow
interpretation of what it needed to report to the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration under the Tread Act. It also said
data entry and component coding errors had contributed to the
underreporting of claims.
Under the act, auto makers are required to notify the NHTSA of
all deaths and injuries involving their vehicles as "early warning
reports" or face a fine of up to $35 million for failing to do so
in a timely manner.
On Monday, Honda provided the NHTSA with its findings about
problems in its internal tracking system for death and injury
claims. It said failure to correctly enter dates of claims and to
match up internal and NHTSA component codes had led to
discrepancies in reporting along with its narrow interpretation of
what constituted a written claim.
Eight of the 1,729 unreported incidents were related to Takata
air bag problems, the company said in the statement. The NHTSA was
notified of those eight incidents through separate means, Honda
said.
The recalls by Honda, Takata's biggest customer, account for
more than half of the 17 million vehicles that have been recalled
over air bag problems globally since late 2008. As auto makers try
to replace potentially defective parts, the pace at which they can
secure replacement air bag inflaters is becoming a focal point.
Mr. Ito said he hoped Takata would boost its inflater production
capacity.
"We need Takata to be reliable and we need them to work hard to
figure out the cause of this issue as well as on supplying parts,"
he said.
He didn't speak about whether Honda is in talks with other
suppliers on replacement parts.
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