Takata Corp., the Japanese manufacturer at the center of massive air bag recalls, reported today that fines in the US will push it into the red for the fiscal year through March. Tokyo-based Takata said Friday that instead of posting a 20 billion yen (USD 176 million) annual profit, as it had earlier projected, it will sink into a 64 billion yen (USD 562 million) loss. Last month, Takata agreed to plead guilty to a single US criminal charge and pay USD 1 billion in fines and restitution related to air bag recalls. In the US 19 automakers are recalling 69 million inflators in what has become the largest automotive recall in the nation's history. April-December sales declined nearly 10 percent to 491.6 billion yen (USD 4.3 billion).

Source: dna February 10, 2017 10:54 UTC