June 25, 2015—At a press briefing in Tokyo on Thursday, Takata Corp. president Shigehisa Takada made a public apology for the eight deaths and hundreds of injuries related to the company’s airbags dating back over a decade, according to a story by Bloomberg.
“I apologize for not having been able to communicate directly earlier, and also apologize for people who died or were injured,” Takada said, according to the report. “I feel sorry our products hurt customers, despite the fact that we are a supplier of safety products.”
The apology came hours after Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. recalled another 3 million vehicles with airbags produced by the supplier.
The reason for the inflator failure for the majority of the recalled vehicles has not yet been identified, despite multiple investigations.
In response to a question about how he viewed his responsibility in the recall saga, Takada said he believed the best way forward was to carry on and see the company through the crisis, adding he hoped to resume dividend payments “as soon as possible” once the crisis was resolved, according to Bloomberg.
