Fri, Feb 20 16:39 PM EST
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By Doina Chiacu and Paul Lienert
WASHINGTON/DETROIT (Reuters) - U.S. regulators on Friday slapped Takata Corp with a $14,000 per-day fine for failing to fully cooperate with a probe of its faulty air bags and revealed that a fraction of the 17 million cars recalled because of the problems have been repaired.
The Japanese parts supplier is still struggling to come to terms with the massive recall and investigation related to the air bags, which have been prone to rupture unexpectedly, spraying shrapnel into vehicle occupants.
Defective Takata air bag inflators - which activate the devices in case of collision - have been linked to at least six deaths and dozens of injuries, and have resulted in several lawsuits. .
Takata failed to comply with two orders U.S. safety regulators issued last year requiring documentation and other material for a probe into the faulty air bags, according to Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx.
The government is accusing Takata of dumping more than 2.4 million pages of documents on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration without any guide to or explanation of the content.
"As you are well aware, NHTSA has repeatedly engaged Takata and asked for the company's explanation of the content of the deluge of documents that it has produced thus far," NHTSA said in a letter to Takata lawyer Steven Bradbury, explaining the reason for the fine, to be levied starting on Friday.
Takata said it "strongly" disagreed with NHTSA's characterization, adding that it had been meeting regularly with NHTSA engineers to identify the cause of the issues with the inflators.
In another sign of Takata's struggles to put the issue to rest, the U.S. safety regulator also said Friday that nearly 90 percent of the vehicles recalled because of defective Takata air bags were still unrepaired as of December 31.
NHTSA has urged owners of certain vehicles from Toyota Motor Corp, Honda Motor Corp Ltd, Mazda Motor Corp, BMW AG, Nissan Motor Co Ltd, Mitsubishi Motors Corp, Subaru Co Ltd, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Ford Motor Co and General Motors Co to replace the air bags as soon as possible.
On Friday, Foxx also called on Congress to pass legislation requiring car rental agencies and used car dealers to fix safety defects in the vehicles they rent or sell.
Senators John Thune and Bill Nelson on Friday urged Takata to help federal regulators. "We cannot tolerate delays or limited cooperation when people’s lives are at stake," they said in a statement.
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Susan Heavey, Leslie Adler, Toni Reinhold and Christian Plumb)
Showing posts with label Honda. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Honda. Show all posts
Friday, February 20, 2015
Monday, August 01, 2011
ROUNDUP: Honda Q1 Profit Plunges On Quake Impact, Yet Lifts Forecast
TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - Japanese automaker Honda Motor Co. (HMC) reported an 88.3 percent decline in profit for the first quarter of fiscal 2012, with sharp declines in automobile sales and in all regions due to the impact of the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake. However, the company lifted its fiscal 2012 earnings and sales forecast.
Net income attributable to the company was 31.7 billion yen (about $408.9 million), sharply lower than 272.4 billion yen last year. Earnings per share were 17.64 yen, down from 150.27 yen a year ago.
The company noted that it still could make a profit despite the significant quake impact, 'due to the expansion of motorcycle business profit as well as the strong performance of financial services business primarily for automobile purchases.'
Net sales & other operating revenue dropped 27.4 percent to 1.71 trillion yen from 2.36 trillion yen in the previous year.
Segment-wise, net sales from Motorcycle business grew 3.2 percent, even though volumes fell 4.7 percent to 2.75 million units reflecting lower sales in Asia and North America.
Meanwhile, net sales in automobile business plunged 35 percent to 1.18 trillion yen with a sharp drop in volumes, due to the quake impact and negative currency translation effect. For the quarter, increased sales in North America and Asia was offset by poor sales in Japan and Europe.
Power Products net sales fell 5.9 percent, despite a 5 percent rise in volume with higher sales in all regions. Financial services net sales also declined 9 percent in the quarter.
The company recorded sharp decline in net sales for all regions. In Japan, the economy has remained severe since the quake, although signs of improvement such as steady capital spending and consumer spending could be seen, the company noted. Concerns remain due to limited electricity supply, nuclear power plant disasters and oil price hikes.
Looking ahead, for fiscal 2012, Honda now expects net income attributable to the company to be 230 billion yen or 127.61 yen per share, higher than previous forecast of 195 billion yen. Net sales & other operating revenue would be 8.70 trillion yen, higher than 8.3 trillion yen expected earlier.
However, on year-over-year basis, attributable net income is expected to decline 56.9 percent from last year's 534 billion yen, and net sales and other operating revenue is projected to decline 2.7 percent from prior year's 8.94 trillion yen.
In mid-June, the company said it expects 63.5 percent decline in full-year profit, citing lower production due to the restricted supply of parts after the quake.
HMC closed Friday's regular trading session at $39.78, up $0.28 or 0.71 percent.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2011 AFX News
Net income attributable to the company was 31.7 billion yen (about $408.9 million), sharply lower than 272.4 billion yen last year. Earnings per share were 17.64 yen, down from 150.27 yen a year ago.
The company noted that it still could make a profit despite the significant quake impact, 'due to the expansion of motorcycle business profit as well as the strong performance of financial services business primarily for automobile purchases.'
Net sales & other operating revenue dropped 27.4 percent to 1.71 trillion yen from 2.36 trillion yen in the previous year.
Segment-wise, net sales from Motorcycle business grew 3.2 percent, even though volumes fell 4.7 percent to 2.75 million units reflecting lower sales in Asia and North America.
Meanwhile, net sales in automobile business plunged 35 percent to 1.18 trillion yen with a sharp drop in volumes, due to the quake impact and negative currency translation effect. For the quarter, increased sales in North America and Asia was offset by poor sales in Japan and Europe.
Power Products net sales fell 5.9 percent, despite a 5 percent rise in volume with higher sales in all regions. Financial services net sales also declined 9 percent in the quarter.
The company recorded sharp decline in net sales for all regions. In Japan, the economy has remained severe since the quake, although signs of improvement such as steady capital spending and consumer spending could be seen, the company noted. Concerns remain due to limited electricity supply, nuclear power plant disasters and oil price hikes.
Looking ahead, for fiscal 2012, Honda now expects net income attributable to the company to be 230 billion yen or 127.61 yen per share, higher than previous forecast of 195 billion yen. Net sales & other operating revenue would be 8.70 trillion yen, higher than 8.3 trillion yen expected earlier.
However, on year-over-year basis, attributable net income is expected to decline 56.9 percent from last year's 534 billion yen, and net sales and other operating revenue is projected to decline 2.7 percent from prior year's 8.94 trillion yen.
In mid-June, the company said it expects 63.5 percent decline in full-year profit, citing lower production due to the restricted supply of parts after the quake.
HMC closed Friday's regular trading session at $39.78, up $0.28 or 0.71 percent.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2011 AFX News
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