Takata urges new-design inflators or rival-made ones - CBS News
Note: This story has been corrected to show Takata is encouraging use of its newly designed air bag inflators or those made by rivals without ammonium nitrate, not replacing the chemical altogether. is encouraging automakers to replace defective air bag inflators with newly designed ones from the company, or with those made by competitors that don't include a volatile chemical. Kennedy says in written testimony for a U. S. House hearing Tuesday that the percentage of air bag inflators likely to have a problem is "extremely small" but Takata is replacing all of them. Takata uses the chemical, ammonium nitrate, to inflate the air bags. In replacing many faulty air bags, Takata is looking to make air bag inflators with a new design that use ammonium nitrate, or to use inflators made by rival suppliers which don't use the chemical, Kennedy said. "We are working with our automaker partners to transition to newer versions of driver inflators in our replacement kits, or inflators made by other suppliers that do not contain ammonium nitrate propellant," Kennedy said in testimony prepared for... Already, half the replacements that Takata shipped to automakers last month had inflators made by its competitors, Kennedy said. Source: www.cbsnews.com
