May 22, 2015—Takata’s recent safety recall has become one of the largest recalls in U.S. history, and U.S. auto safety regulators are also calling it one of the most complex.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has begun the legal process to coordinate the industry’s recall effort, prioritize the flow of replacement parts and, if necessary, speed up the process according to an NHTSA document outlining the procedure published Wednesday in the Federal Register.
In the document, Mark Rosekind, NHTSA administrator, said that the individual recall plans of each manufacturer are a “patchwork solution that NHTSA believes may not adequately address the safety risks presented by the defective Takata inflators within a reasonable time.”
The NHTSA wants the defective airbags replaced quickly and is requesting comments from the industry on how to best execute the recall, whether it should issue an order to accelerate the recall and, if so, how such an order could be effective.
“We anticipate convening one or more meetings among the affected manufacturers, Takata and other suppliers as part of our coordinated remedy proceeding,” NHTSA spokesman Gordon Trowbridge said in a statement.
Takata’s efforts are producing 500,000 inflator replacement kits per month and has plans to raise it to 1 million per month by September. Other suppliers, such as Autoliv and Daicel, have also said they are ready to boost production of Takata replacements.
