VW testing Takata air bags as US weighs wider recalls

Tokyo

VOLKSWAGEN AG said it is collecting Takata Corp air bags from its vehicles for testing and told the US regulator that getting replacement parts would take more than a year if recalls are expanded.

The need to develop and test new air bag inflators and a shortage of production capacity would contribute to the wait, Volkswagen said in the Oct 15 letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The carmaker listed VW, Bentley, Porsche, Audi and Lamborghini models sold in the US as using about 2.4 million Takata air bag inflators.