Takata airbags

A senior Takata executive yesterday defended the Japanese company’s rejection of a nationwide US recall of its potentially deadly airbags, insisting that testing data did not back such an action.

But the top US auto safety official warned that Takata had not yet solved the reason for shrapnel-firing airbag eruptions thought to have killed five people, and said the company and car makers could face court action for their reticence to widen recalls.

Hiroshi Shimizu, senior vice president for quality control at the auto parts maker, told a Congressional hearing that Takata did not agree with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s demand for a recall of all cars in the US with the suspect Takata airbags on the driver’s side.