Honda audit finds Takata engineers manipulated air-bag data

Tokyo

TAKATA Corp, the air-bag supplier behind the industry's largest ever recall, routinely manipulated results of air-bag inflator tests reported to Honda Motor Co, according to an ongoing audit commissioned by the parts maker and its biggest customer.

Takata engineers removed some test results to artificially reduce variability in air-bag inflator performance, Brian O'Neill, a former Insurance Institute for Highway Safety president, said. Takata and Honda jointly hired Mr O'Neill to begin the audit in late October, days before Honda first announced findings of data manipulation.