Takata Axes Its North American Management as Airbag Recall Expands to More BMWs
Takata, the damned Japanese parts supplier with the exceptionally dangerous airbags, has lost the two top executives at its United States headquarters. According to their LinkedIn profiles, former North American President Kevin Kennedy and former Executive Vice President Robert Fisher are no longer with the company.
Meanwhile, BMW Group is recalling roughly 230,000 vehicles in the U.S. after discovering that some could have been outfitted with defective Takata Corp. airbag inflators during repairs.
The affected vehicles used airbags produced by Petri AG — a German supplier bought by Takata in 2000. If those vehicles needed a replacement airbag module any time afterward, Takata’s defective PSDI-4 inflators would have been used, BMW spokeswoman Rebecca Kiehne told Bloomberg.
At-risk vehicles include the 2000-2002 3 Series, 2001-2003 5 Series, and 2001-2002 X5 SUVs. BMW dealerships will inspect these affected vehicles and replace any Takata inflators they discover, Kiehne said.
As for the company’s American management, the current management hierarchy is anyone’s guess. Inside sources told Automotive News that it was not clear whether the two executives resigned or had been fired, though their departures seemed sudden.
Takata has been involved in the largest recall in automotive history, with an estimated 100 million defective airbag inflators needing replacement worldwide. The defective inflators have been attributed to 16 deaths globally, 11 of which occurred in the United States.
[Image: Takata Corp.]
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
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Kennedy and Fisher will have Takata on their resumes... not necessarily a good thing, these days. Good luck to them.
What, so soon? 100,000,000 vehicles with Takata's wasn't enough, but 230,000 BMW's put someone over the edge? I guess we know what the big boss drives.
As a former owner of a 2004 Smart ForTwo, equipped with a Petri made steering wheel, I wondered if it also had a Takata bag in it and that it was in need of recall but had been overlooked, forgotten, or deliberately ignored by Takata or Daimler. It is now interesting to note that BMW has opened their can of worms and I'm wondering how many other OEMs will have new announcements.
"not clear whether the two executives resigned or had been fired" Your headline makes it pretty damn clear.