Review panel calls for Takata to make QC part of company culture

Washington

TAKATA Corp must make quality a part of company culture if it hopes to avoid future safety defects such as the exploding airbags at the centre of the largest automotive recall in US history, a review panel appointed by the Tokyo-based manufacturer concluded.

The car-parts maker needs to better monitor potential safety defects in its products, including establishing teams to track data from incident reports and giving quality control personnel the ability to halt production when necessary, the independent panel of former government regulators and engineering experts said in a report issued on Tuesday.

"Quality needs to be something you breathe every day," said Samuel Skinner, a former US transportation secretary, who headed the review. "It needs to be a higher priority." The panel was ass…