Report : Honda Audit Finds Takata Engineers Manipulated Air-Bag Data

(RTTNews) - Japanese air bag maker Takata Corp. (TKTDF.PK) routinely manipulated results of air-bag inflator tests reported to Honda Motor Co. (HMC), Bloomberg reported citing ongoing audit commissioned by both companies.

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

The results of the audit will factor in Honda's investigation into whether it should recall some additional Takata inflators, Bloomberg noted. The company has already said no new Honda or Acura models under development will be equipped with Takata-supplied inflators.