Japan's transport ministry has created a task force to deal with air bag-related vehicle recalls, specifically to handle those made by Takata. The ministry has also urged automakers to be prompt in replacing faulty air bags.
The task force has also been asked to conduct an investigation into Japanese automaker Honda for underreporting issues in the U.S., said Akihiro Ohta, Japan's transport minister, on Tuesday, according to Bloomberg.
Close to 16 million vehicles equipped with Takata air bags have been recalled globally. More than 10 million of those vehicles have been sold in the U.S., according to Reuters.
Takata is the subject of a criminal investigation in the U.S. due to the faulty air bags, faces over 20 class-action lawsuits and a probe by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The task force will deal with the recall of 2.54 million vehicles in connection with Takata's air bags. Honda is being probed to figure out if the company avoided reporting 1,700 claims of injury or deaths over the last 11 years.
The supposed faulty air bags can cause inflators in some air bags to rupture, spraying metal shards into vehicle occupants.
The auto components maker has conducted investigations on its airbags after a 2004 accident. It told workers to delete the test results, according to a recent New York Times report, citing Takata employees.
Takata meanwhile has denied those claims. Last week, Takata's senior vice president of global quality assurance, Hiroshi Shimizu, said during a senate hearing that the recalls had been mostly linked to places with high-humidity since moisture was causing the air bags to inflate.
Takata's shares have fallen over 50 percent since January, meanwhile Honda's shares have dropped nearly 14 percent over the same time period.
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