AUDIE CORNISH: The company Takata can't explain why its air bags can rupture and send shards at drivers and it's still ignoring a government order to expand recall nationwide. That was the bottom line of a Congressional hearing today. Meanwhile, automakers whose cars have those air bags are under increasing pressure. Honda is the latest company to expand its recall.
NPR's Sonari Glinton reports.
SONARI GLINTON: To begin with, let's remember this piece of information - December is one of the most important shopping months in the car business and customers who are shopping are paying attention. Armed thusly, cut to a hearing of a subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee lead by Lee Terry, a Republican from Nebraska.
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CONGRESSMAN LEE TERRY: Safety recalls are often marked by tragedy. That's what brings it to our attention, but they are even more troubling when they - the very equipment being recalled is intended to save lives.
GLINTON: That's part of why this recall has stuck so intently in the news. Takata contends the problem is confined. Here's Illinois Democrat Jan Schakowsky questioning Takata's senior VP, Hiroshi Shimizu.
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CONGRESSMAN JAN SCHAKOWSKY: So are you saying that it is only in high-humidity areas that this is a problem? That that is the root cause?
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HIROSHI SHIMIZU: We considered it's a main contribution to the problem. It's high temperature and high humidity, absolute humidity, together with age of the product and probably may be in combination with malfunctioning issues.
GLINTON: Takata is defying the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA. NHTSA wants the recall to be national, the idea being partly that you may have bought a car in Florida and driven it there for years and then moved to Minnesota. Here's New Jersey Republican Leonard Lance questioning Shimizu.
(SOUNDBITE OF HEARING)
CONGRESSMAN LEONARD LANCE: So you are dramatically and diametrically in opposition to the view of NHTSA. Is that accurate?
GLINTON: And after pausing to confer with his interpreter, Shimizu responded.
(SOUNDBITE OF HEARING)
SHIMIZU: Yes that is correct. That is our statement.
GLINTON: While Takata isn't taking its recall nationwide, automakers like Honda and BMW are. Honda today announced today its expanding its recall nationwide. Unlike Takata, which is a supplier and has a dozen or so customers, car companies deal directly with millions of consumers, consumers who pay attention to the news.
Sonari Glinton, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
