Regulators say 85 million U.S. Takata air bags may still face recall

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. auto safety regulators said on Wednesday there were about 85 million unrecalled Takata air bag inflators in U.S. vehicles that would eventually need to be recalled unless the company can prove they are safe.

This is the first public accounting by the U.S. government of the total number of unrecalled Takata air bag inflators. So far 28.8 million inflators have been recalled by 14 automakers over the issue.

The air bags can explode with too much force and spray metal shards inside vehicles. More than 100 people have been injured in the United States and 11 killed worldwide in incidents linked to defective Takata inflators, including the March 31 death of a 17-year-old driver in Texas.

Reuters reported on Feb. 22 that there were 70 million to 90 million unrecalled Takata air bag inflators in the United States, citing a person briefed on the matter. Under an agreement signed last year, Takata Corp (7312.T) has until 2019 to demonstrate that all of the unrecalled air bag inflators are safe.

A U.S. House panel is set to hold a hearing with the head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and auto trade groups on Thursday, and the Takata recall and other safety issues are expected to be raised.

NHTSA said on Wednesday that potentially defective Takata air bags still on the road include 43.4 million passenger side inflators, 26.9 million side air bag inflators and 14.5 million driver side inflators.

Takata could not immediately be reached for comment.

The company reached an agreement with NHTSA in November to pay a $70 million penalty to NHTSA in a settlement that included its commitment to stop making inflators that use ammonium nitrate by 2018. It also pledged to declare all remaining ammonium nitrate inflators defective by 2019 unless it can demonstrate they are safe.

Reuters reported in the same Feb. 22 story that Takata produced between 260 million and 285 million ammonium nitrate-based inflators worldwide between 2000 and 2015, of which nearly half wound up in U.S. vehicles.

Takata has begun looking for a financial backer amid a global recall of its air bags, and plans to draw up a list of candidates by August, two people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

Takata is also considering overhauling its management structure and selling overseas subsidiaries as part of a restructuring, other sources have said.

(Editing by Chris Reese and Matthew Lewis)