Air bag maker Takata files for bankruptcy

Inside the Takata factory.
(Image credit: Behrouz Mehri/AFP/Getty Images)

Takata, the Japanese air bag maker whose defective air bag inflators were responsible for at least 16 deaths and 180 injuries, has filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States and Japan.

The company said most of its assets will be purchased by a Michigan-based rival, Key Safety Systems. Numerous lawsuits were filed over Takata's faulty inflators, which would explode with too much force and send shrapnel flying, spurring the largest automotive recall in U.S. history.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.