Honda has no plans to help Takata
Honda’s new chief executive Takahiro Hachigo, said the Japanese carmaker has no plans to provide financial aid to Takata, the airbag supplier currently at the heart of global airbag recall that has dented Honda’s reputation as well as its earnings.
Speaking at his first news conference since taking the wheel in June, Takahiro Hachigo said on Monday Honda has now set aside enough this year to cover the cost of recalling over 2 million cars with potentially faulty air bag parts made by Takata. The automaker recently restated last year’s earnings to account for additional costs.
‘We have money budgeted for quality-related costs, as we did last year, and we think we can respond within this allocated amount,’ said Takahiro. Last month Honda revised its operating profit for the year ended March to 606.88 billion yen ($4.92 billion) from the 651.68 billion yen it reported in April to account for expanded recall costs.
The Japanese firm are now on a mission to restore its reputation for quality. In the Takata air bag safety scare regulators have linked eight deaths to an airbag component, all in cars made by Honda.
Takahiro’s predecessor Takanobu Ito and other executives took a pay cut last October following a fifth recall of its Fit hybrid subcompact in a year, which had quality glitches unrelated to Takata-made inflators.
The newly appointed chief executive also said the company remains open to alliances with other car manufacturers, as long as it is of benefit to its customers and to Honda. The firm already has an alliance with General Motors to develop hydrogen fuel-cell technology.
