you know sometimes we spend a lot of time lifting up sports heroes and nobody is a bigger sports fan than i am. we extol the virtues of our singers and our movie stars. i like entertainment too, but we have to remind ourselves constantly that so much of what has set us apart economically, culturally is our commitment to science and we have to continue to broaden opportunities for young scientists especially girls and minority students to enter into the field and we have to remind them of how exciting it is to be able to shape the world, unlock its secrets, make

new stuff. that's who we are. so hopefully in addition to being able to highlight the extraordinary work of extraordinary individuals that we are going to go out there and remind ourselves once again about why science and discovery and invention is so important. i hope all of you have a wonderful reception. i hear the food here is pretty good. [applause] [applause]

millions of vehicles in the u.s.. were recalled because of defective airbags made by the takata corp. that were linked to at least five deaths. the senate commerce committee questioned takata officials and representatives of honda and chrysler about the recalls. you'll also hear from acting head of the national highway traffic safety of and the first witness of this hearing is a victim of the airbag defect. this is just under three hours. >> good morning. may i ask everyone if they would take their seats.

[inaudible conversations] good morning everyone. senator thune and i have been looking forward to this. we want to thank the witnesses for coming. we are here to investigate the link between defective airbags and the numerous injuries and deaths across the country and indeed across the globe. more than 7.8 million vehicles in the u.s. have been recalled because of defective airbags and

just this week the national highway traffic safety administration announced that it was calling on all automakers to expand their recall from a few states what they called a regional recall to the entire country. well, the first thing that needs to be done is to take care of consumers. automakers need to get a replacement part so that the airbags can be replaced at least to be sent to the dealers and they need to call the people potentially driving around with the defective airbag in their steering wheel and dashboard, the dealers, the automobile makers need to provide a loaner vehicle or a rental car for

those whose cars cannot be immediately fixed. general motors recently took that kind of step for certain models with faulty ignition switches and there is no reason why the automakers covered by this notice should not be required to sake -- take the same kind. i think it is absolutely imperative in view of the fear that has gripped the public by virtue of what has already been said and what will be stated in this hearing today that a loaner or a rental car would be provided for someone if they cannot get their replacement of their defective airbag on the recall list done immediately.

the owners should have a right to expect the cars that they drive are as safe as possible. and so that is going to be what we are going to be facing in the next immediate future as we dig into the question of what in fact is the problem. now i have written to secretary fox urging him to impose civil penalties up to the full extent of his law on any company that refuses to provide drivers with an alternative form of transportation if they are going to have to wait to have their car repaired. the american people have a right to know about the story behind this airbag recalls. that is why we are here today.

now let me just show you some of the items. this is part of the steering mechanism. it would be facing the driver like this and it would look like this and that we'll get of the steering column. and of course the chemicals inside this mechanism upon impact, the chemical reaction causes and inflation of the airbag and upon close examination you will see the little holes around the

mechanism that the gas that is created by the chemical reaction comes out, inflates the airbag and it's a device that has saved many, many people's lives. this compound, ammonium nitrate, seems to have a problem. along about the turn of year 2000 when it was changed as the compound, perhaps some of the metal as well, and when the explosions occurred, instead of the gases to fill the airbag additionally it explodes with such force that this metal

shreds and as a result what you see in this particular case of an airbag, metal has shredded it. here's a big hole. here is another whole. and the very device that is supposed to save lives becomes a device that has taken lives. so, that is absolutely unacceptable. now after the opening statements of the respective chairmen and ranking members i have asked an air force active duty first

lieutenant who happens to be stationed in a large edlund air force base at ft. walton beach florida to be our first witness and she will give you a first-hand account as to what her encounter has been with the defective airbag. and so let me turn to our ranking member senator thune, our future chairman of this committee. senator thune, thank you for participating. >> thank you senator nelson for serving as chairman of this morning's hearing to examine the alarming takata airbag recalls and the actions of the national highway traffic safety administration. these are currently issues that belong on the commerce committee's agenda and i appreciate very much your calling this hearing to examine these issues in greater detail.

i first want to thank stephanie erdman for being here today and thank you also for your service to our country. we appreciate you coming here and telling her story to help inform this committee. this hearing is an important one. the discussion will explore matters of public safety and accountability. ensuring the safety of america's motorists is a priority but the public's trust has been shaken to the record number of recalls this year and the beliefs many have about problems in the industry and at nhtsa. this year fines levied against gm toyota and hyundai and the latest news of problems with takata airbag's we are examining the apparent failure with serious safety consequences. today we will be asking takata nhtsa and other stakeholders questions about how these faulty products made into consumer vehicles when the problem was first discovered and steps if any could have been taken sooner that may have saved lives.

in this case many would especially like to know whether the allegations supported that takata relayed to the pit of to risk virtue in the wisdom of the agency's initial decision to request regional rather national recalls a decision which nhtsa has since reversed for some of the affected vehicles. the troubling string of recalls this year should be a wake-up call. i believe we can do a better job of addressing safety issues as they arise holding automakers their suppliers and it's accountable for their shared mission of ensuring safety on america's roadways. in recent years congress has enacted and sought to implement a robust early reporting regime. the major automakers and other manufactures have also instituted are sought to improve safety reporting systems that encourage employees to report safety problems.

the reports of employees whose concerns may have been ignored silence or possibly even covered up persists. i believe we can do more to ensure that it says informed of potential defects as early as possible. that's why later today i along with senator nelson will be introducing the motors vehicle safety whistleblower act. and please senators haller and mccaskill who have been at the forefront of the committee's efforts on the gm recalls are also sponsors of this legislation. this bill 1 set of eyes employees to uncover serious allegations of vehicle defects or violations of motor vehicle safety laws delet to the departf transportation. such information leads to deal to your department of justice enforcement action totaled more than $1 million in penalties the whistleblower would be eligible to share an important shift of total penalties collected. this bill will protect whistleblowers identities and allow them to share information

with the department of justice and federal agencies were appropriate. other agencies have similar programs including programs that incentivize individuals to report information to securities and exchange commission and the irs. there are potential whistleblowers with important information to help us identify more defects we want them to come forward so these problems can be identified early in the process. i think we would all agree that it's better to address a problem before injuries or death occurs if at all possible rather than relying primarily on points after that but i look forward to working on oversight and the safety matters. we'll undoubtedly revisit any of these issues when we consider the president's nominee. i've written president obama twice in the last eight months urging him to swiftly filled administrative position at nhtsa that has been vacant for 343 days but am pleased to present family announced his intention to nominate dr. mark rosekind on

the eve of this hearing. this nomination is long overdue and i look forward to reviewing the nominee's qualifications qualifications and his plan for nasa in a timely manner. finally as my constituents watch this hearing to pay attention to recalls or field actions and if you determine your vehicle is subject to a recall to get it repaired quickly by an authorized repair facility. i want to thank the witnesses for being here today and i look forward to your testimony. thank you mr. chairman. >> thank you senator thune. we want our two leaders and the subcommittee to make a short opening statement. the chair of the subcommittee senator mccaskill. >> thank you senator nelson. i find it troubling but more importantly i am sad that i am not surprised that we find ourselves examining another example of manufactures the

failures to fulfill safety obligations that could save lives. honda is under investigation for failure to provide early warning reports to nhtsa related to the deaths the company is linked to takata airbag. takata itself is also under investigation by nhtsa and federal prosecutors over troubling claims that it might've known a long time before it notified manufactured customers of a safety defects associated with millions on its airbags. 10 automakers have now recalled at least 7.8 million vehicles in the united states. under either safety recall or service campaigns related to the defective takata airbag. what i want to get to the bottom up in this hearing is what is the difference and isn't that different important? a safety recall versus a service campaign. there seems to be some confusion among the driving public about the scope and severity of these recalls and part of that is

because not all manufactures are treating this the same, using the same language and we have failed to have clarity from nhtsa in this regard. in this committee's consumer protection subcommittee we have held three auto safety hearings and general motors recalled autos for defective ignition switch that was virtually ignored by the company and safety regulators for more than 10 years. sadly i think today we will hear many of the same themes are heard in the gm investigation and industry that there's no consequences for not complying with the law companies more focused on defending against private litigation than promoting safety and a regulator that lacks resources and technical expertise to effectually do its job. i'm pleased at the present is finally nominated a candidate to serve as nhtsa administrator position that it's been vacant for nearly a year, a critical year. i look forward to hearing from him in regards to his plan to

strengthen the agency's oversight of the auto industry. dr. mark rosekind has been nominated and certainly as a resume that reflects years of work in the area of automobile and transportation safety. this committee should move quickly on a hearing to consider his nomination. i certainly have a lot of questions. as we head into a new session of congress this committee should also make legislation reauthorizing nhtsa a priority. there aren't going to agree on everything but i think there's enough common ground on the reform that are needed to act without delay. i look forward to working with the new chairman in that regard and all the members of this committee and the next congress. thank you senator nelson. >> thank you senator. senator heller and the ranking member of the committee. >> mr. chairman think i'll keep my statement brief but but before it began i wanted knowledge the lives that were lost due to the takata airbag. ever like to thank you for your service to this country and for

sharing your story with this committee today. mr. chairman i think this is the year of the airbags. gm has defects with airbags that would not deploy and now we have takata airbag's that send shrapnel into the face of those that are driving. as this committee knows i know a little bit about cars. i raise them. i build them, i break them and they fix them. i probably break them more than i fix them but that seems to be the way it works out. but i will tell you the most terrifying thing a driver sees the crash and at that moment the only thing that matters in their lives is that airbag. we have common themes emerging from all of our hearings this year from this committee and our subcommittee. it has taken far too long for the information found in the company that there is a defects defect and in getting these cars off the road. i am proud to stand with senator thune and senator nelson senator

mccaskill introducing legislation that would bring this information forward faster by rewarding whistleblowers. it's my hope is our hope that the motor vehicle safety whistleblowers that will solve the problems we are seeing time and again with these recalls and employees in these companies have raised in the warnings have not been properly vetted. my hope that a significant monetary payout will get this information to the public faster and faster means saving lives. today this committee have takata here. we want to know what they knew and when they knew it. i'm very troubled by "the new york times" article alleging that there may have been a cover-up and i'm glad to have nhtsa here. just yesterday the president submitted his nomination to the senate and i have called on the president to do this for months now. we will review this nominee and i'm hopeful we will be able to process them accordingly.

nhtsa needs a senate confirmed administrator. it's been almost a year and i fear the trust in this agency has been eroded greatly three when the major concerns i have is that this is not able to recognize these defects fast enough. nhtsa is far too important for this to happen and i want to work with nhtsa and my colleagues on solutions to that. as you know -- will be producing producing cars in with the new tesla center. we need to make sure that nhtsa can handle these cars of the future as well as the cars we have here today so thank you mr. chairman and i look forward to the testimony and i look forward to this hearing. >> with the indulgence of the committee we want to get on into the testimony. after the lieutenant they will have the next panel. the chairman will defer his questions so we can get the members plenty of time to have their questions and then we have

a third panel which is the administration, nhtsa. so let's get right to it. lieutenent, we are certainly appreciative that you would be willing to step forward. first lieutenant of the united states air force stephanie erdman a graduate of the university of texas system rotc graduate. one of her first duty stations of which she is a compliant andd at eglin air force base and if you all can turn the posters you can start to see something of the impact. she was driving a 2002 honda and

this is what happened to her. the shredded airbag just like the one that i showed you here on the left poster, this is what the car looked like. she had a passenger. you can see the airbag still inflated in the car. and unfortunately and she has given us permission when the lieutenant was being carried to the hospital that is what she looked like. so the lieutenant erdman if you would share with us your story of what happened. >> good morning everyone, ladies and gentlemen. my name is stephanie of erdman and i'm honored to be here today

to serve as a voice for the people who have been forever silenced from exploding takata airbag. on behalf of everyone who have suffered because of these defective airbags i would like to thank the committee for holding this hearing. i hope no other families will have to go to the terrible ordeal that my family and i have had to endure because this happened to me. on september 1, 2013 my life was changed forever. it was driving my 2002 honda civic on highway 98 at near eglin air force base florida where i was stationed. i was on my way with a friend. as i was driving a car took a left in front of me and our cars collided. when the impact occurred shrapnel from my car's airbags shot through the airbag cloth and embedded into my right eye and cheek. i was instantly blinded on my right side. i felt gushing blood running down my neck and i was terrified. when i got to the hospital they

did a ct scan to my face. the image showed there was a metallic foreign object which have punctured and fractured my right nasal bone and the tip of the shrapnel, the tip of the shrapnel had embedded in my right sinus. since that day i've endured multiple surgeries and therapies. i have more to go still. my vision will never be the sa same. i will never be the same. by accident involved a moderate frontal impact. the headlights on the front of the vehicle were even broken. my passenger only had mild scrapes and bruises. i should not have been injured in a shocking and terrifying way that i was. what happened to me was gruesome. the photo the emt took of me with the shrapnel embedded in my eye is scary to look at but i believe it is necessary to grab the attention of those who have the ability to do something and

keep this from happening to anyone else. it's easy to think that i'm the only one that has suffered because of this accident but it has also been exceptionally tough for my family. they try to be strong for me and i see it but i can tell whenever i talk about if they are also hurting. i know i have physical scars about this tragedy but the people who care about me have scars as well. they are just the kind you cannot see. this company should have done everything they could. they claim they notified customers as soon as they found out about the problem. they extended their recalls as they learned about each set of additional potentially affected vehicles as soon as they could. i believe believe the facts it differently. it's been six years since the first recall covering these deadly takata airbags starting at 3940 vehicles that has ballooned to over 7 million vehicles with the exact same

vehicle in one state is not even were called in the next state over. i do not understand how crossing a border simply means that vehicle is now safe. i do not also understand why the dealerships that sell these vehicles are not notifying customers. american honda motor companies claim they notified the certified dealership where brought the civic about the recall for the airbag came in february 2010 could i took my car into the dealership for service three times after they supposedly receive the information. the honda dealership never told me about the recall. they never perform the repairs on my vehicle and never warned me about what might happen if my air bags deployed today did nothing could have also learned that honda claims they have sent a recall notice to my house in 2010. they have records showing the information containing critical information was returned to them as undeliverable and set of trying to notify me in another

way, they did nothing to warn me. it's an honor of my family and friends who support me so very much that i asked the committee to demand real answers. it is an honor that families and friends of all who have been injured by these suspected takata airbags that i asked the committee to insist why these companies explain why they waited so long to identify these potentially deadly vehicles and an vehicles and an honor of those who cannot be here today today because they have been hurt or killed by these dangerous products that i asked the committee to get to the bottom of why these companies did not try harder to warn us. i am so honored to be here today to have the opportunity to tell my story but please understand i am one of many people who have been affected by these defective airbags that i'm hopeful that congress will look at ways to improve the recall notification process but i hope there'll be no more mothers taken from their children or no more fathers

blinded by excluding airbags. i asked the committee to do everything in his power to make sure every vehicle with a defective airbags is made safe. thank you. >> we will do that lieutenant grade you have our promise and that is why we had this hearing today. we want to thank you for the courage of use stepping forward to, and tell your story. between what the lieutenant has said and the pictures i think you get the picture. so with the committee's permission i would like to get right on into the next panel. thank you lieutenant. you are very kind. appreciate it. all right, if we could ask the next panel please to come up.

mr. hiroshi shimizu is the senior vice president global quality assurance for the takata corporation, the manufacturer of the airbags. mr. rick schostek executive vice president of honda north ameri america. mr. scott kunselman senior vice president vehicle safety and regulatory compliance at the chrysler corporation group. gentlemen, thank you for coming. please be seated.

mr. shimizu we will start with you. you are very accommodating to speak in english and this committee appreciates that. you have with you a translator if there is any difficulty and for you making the effort to speak in english today we want you to know that we appreciate it. mr. shimizu please proceed. >> thank you. chairman and ranking member thune and distinguished members of the committee my name is hiroshi shimizu and i'm senior vice president of takata corporation. i am honored to appear before this committee to offer the

prospective on the takata corporation on important issues and examination at today's hearing. takata's commission is to make products that save lives and prevent serious injuries. however one of our products does not perform as expected. it is our top priority to understand the root causes of the issue. if we identified a program -- a problem in the product design production are installation we do not haste to take the necessary steps to ensure it is addressed properly and promptly. the airbag ruptures have been the subject of recent recalls and very important issues.

even though millions of takata airbags are put in place and are saving lives and avoiding serious injuries and hundreds of thousands of accidents and a failure of an airbag to perform in automotive accident is compatible with standards. we are deeply sorry about each of their reported instances in which a takata airbag is not performed as designed and a driver or passenger has suffered injury or death. her serious condolences go out to all those who have suffered in these accidents and to their

families. we are supporting with this is the ongoing recourse and we are devoting extraordinary resources to producing qualitative steps necessary to fulfill the automakers orders. we also are devoting extensive efforts and attention to answering the request for information about these from nhtsa and other investigators. we are committed to being fully transparent with the government. takata strongly agrees with the position stated by nhtsa on november 9, 2014 that the current focus of the ongoing recalls should remain the specific missions of absolute humility.

our best information supports the view that these visions must be the priority for the depressant of suspect -- it is imperative that all owners of these vehicles in these regions respond to the notices at the earliest opportunity. we are confident that the airbag takata is -- including recalled units are safe. we have confidence in the integrity in their origin in their current manufacturing processes. we believe properly manufactured and installed airbag where purchasing today are designed to save lives for the expected life of all -- for each instance of an airbag is terrible and

unacceptable to takata and it's also important to remember that takata airbags continue to deploy as they were designed. airbags are helping to save lives and prevent injuries on the road every day. as we move forward we will cooperate with automakers and government leaders and take whatever actions at the time to be in the public interest and those will advance the goal of safety for the driving public. finally as the committee is aware english is not my native language. i will do my best to answer questions in english but i may asification and i may need assistance from the interpreter here from time to time for help in understanding the committee's questions.

thank you mr. chairman. >> of course he will have that assistance and one of the things that we will want you to answer is about the change to ammonium nitrate and the problems that occurred thereafter. mr. schostek you are representative of honda being the executive vice president of honda north america and also talk to us about the recalls and the provisions of loners and/or rental cars. mr. schostek. >> thank you chairman nelson, senator thune and members of the committee by name is rick schostek executive vice president of honda north america. on behalf of more than 20,000 honda employs in the u.s., 1300 automobile dealers in more than 600 north american suppliers thank you for the opportunity to be here today. i want to begin by expressing our deepest sympathies to those individuals and families who

have been affected by these tragic incidents. we offer our sincere apologies to the families of those who have died, to those who have injured including the tenets erdman and to those who have been in any way inconvenienced due to the defects and takata airbags in our vehicles. airbags save thousands of lives each year but we recognize that even one customer who is injured or loses their life when an airbag does not perform as intended is one too many and is completely unacceptable. we understand the urgency of the current situation and are taking proactive steps to encourage honda and acura owners to get their vehicles repaired. specifically, to meet the needs of our customers related to these airbag recalls we have posted written messages prominently on their web sites

to reassure customers that we have procedures in place to address their individual needs. customers with affected vehicles who desire alternative transportation until until their cars fixed have access to loaner cars and rental vehicles at no cost to the customer. and we are working in our service and parts divisions with their dealer network and internationally recognized safety systems suppliers. as the manufactures a complete vehicle we have relied on takata for its expertise in a specific area of technology. we provided our performance requirements and takata designed to airbag components to those criteria. beginning with the 2001 model year takata began to supply honda with the new generation of airbag components. by 2004 we had sold several million vehicles equipped with these takata airbags. it was then in 2004 when they

learned of an airbag inflator rupture in one of our vehicles and reported that to nhtsa. this remained the only airbag inflator rupture we were aware of until three years later. since 2007 we have been involved in the safety investigation of takata airbag inflators. takata identified specific manufacturing issues as the primary factors of the rupture events. starting with the recall in november 2008 and with every subsequent recall we gather component parts from the time. back the correspondence to takata's manufacturing issues and provided those to takata for further investigation. additionally we recalled vehicles that were outside of the range of takata identified for the purpose of additional analysis. as new evidence identified new risks onto acted to expand our

recall population. the investigation process has since 2007 been designed to replace defective to cod inflators and also to seek out data using the public recall process. the investigation continues to this day. with regard to the 2000 for inflator rupture takata advises that their analysis demonstrated that it had distinctly different characteristics compared to the ruptures that led to the first recall. at honda the founding principle of our company places the highest priority on the quality of our products and the satisfaction of our customers. now today we are operating with even greater energy and greater focus to quickly address our customer's needs. and with every action of our

company dedicating ourselves to honor the relationship we have with our customers. thank you. >> mr. schostek you did say anything about loners or rental cars. >> mr. chairman i believe i did. customers with affected vehicles who desire alternative transportation the form of loners or rental cars have them available to them at no cost. >> immediately? >> we have them in place now sir. >> for all of your dealers across the country? >> in the form of loners we have expanded our loaner program and happy option of loaner cars. we will take care of her customer sir. >> okay let the record show that has been said. we have certainly had contrary information to this point. if that's the case then i certainly want to congratulate you for the obvious reasons. all right mr. kunselman. mr. kunselman senior vice president vehicle safety and

regulatory compliance for chrysler. >> thank you. chairman nelson ranking member thune members of the committee has stated my name is scott kunselman and on the senior vice president and head of vehicle safety and regulatory compliance at chrysler group. i lead an organization with the mission of safeguarding our customers, emission we embrace wholeheartedly. i would like to thank the committee for the opportunity to appear today to discuss this important matter. today's automobiles are among the most sophisticated and complex consumer groups on the market. auto manufacturers are more committed to than ever to reduce fatalities and injuries resulting from motor vehicle crashes. on a daily basis who worked to design engineer and manufacture vehicles to fix expand a myriad of operating conditions. promoting and ensuring vehicle

safety is a responsibility shared by automakers suppliers government and consumers. we look forward to continuing this collective engagement with takata and is set to address the current situation. chrysler group has been actively engaged since takata first informed us in april of 2013 that certain airbag inflators used by other automobile manufacturers may malfunction. the stiff waiters described by takata have since been lit -- linked to at least four for tel aviv. this group of inflators has never been used in our vehicles. our vehicles were equipped with takata's population and inflators. in april 2013 takata assured us the manufacturing nonconformance that led to the also population recall had been corrected. chrysler group engineers

subsequently conducted a follow-up investigation and confirmed the data inflators benefited from an upgrade manufacturing process. in october of 2013 we learned that one of our vehicles in southern florida was subject to a high-pressure deployment involving a driver's airbag and causing personal injury. this remains the one incident of its kind involving one of our vehicles. in response to this incident and working with takata and in consultation with the zoe launch an investigation and conducted component testing. in may of 2014 takata defies chrysler group of four incidents involving vehicles produced by other auto manufacturers. those beagles were equipped with takata inflator similar to they inflators use in our vehicles and in june of 2014 this ear chrysler group announced plans to replace inflators purchased

in four areas known for high humidity of factor believed to have played a role in high-pressure deployment. we will begin notifying affected customers on or before december 19 when they may schedule service replacement interaction covers and 71,000 vehicles in florida hawaii puerto rico and u.s. virgin islands. it's important to understand the distinction between the office and data populations. the alpha inflators are associated with some of the most severe offense is substantially higher incident rate and were found to contain a defined manufacture defect. none of our vehicles were built with and now for inflator population. our vehicles were equipped with data inflators. in our vehicles they were known to have deployed is intended more than 10,000 times across the u.s. and 830 times in the areas that i just mentioned that are covered by your field action. as i previously stated there is one incident involving a

high-pressure deployment and one of our vehicles that took place in florida covered by the regional action. chrysler group continues to work with nhtsa is a situation evolves and will respond to the agency's most recent request for additional information which the company received on november 18. in closing i would like to reiterate our belief that promoting and ensuring vehicle safety is a responsibility shared by automakers suppliers government --- not chrysler group will continue to work with takata and send others to address this matter. i once again extend my thanks to the committee for discussing this very important issue. >> was that airbag deployment in south florida, was it alpha or beta? >> it was from the beta population. >> and therefore opposed better in your vehicles are you providing loaners and rental cars until they can get it fix fixed? >> as we deploy our field action

we will have rental cars available to those who need them. what i would reiterate our number one goal as you suggested at the opening is to have the parts available and quickly service the product. that is the number one goal. when i can't be accomplished we will make more cars available. >> he said that's not until the middle of december. >> we launch that in the middle of december when were able to initiate this section. >> so will they get loaners and rental cars in the next three weeks? >> concern customers can cahon texas texas dura hotline and we will on a case-by-case basis suggests. >> for making that clear. >> mr. shimizu you mention in your written test mind that your confidence in your engineering processes and my question is what changes have you made to your manufacturing processes that give you the confidence to

testify that the replacement of takata are in fact save? >> senator let me explain about the history of the vehicles. every time since 2007 or eight time period we have had issues identified and i identified the root cause of the issue and we are addressing the issues to fix the problem at the same time we did the recall. every time we identify that all the issues are taken care of and currently we believe that products we are purchasing right now have come from the manufacturing processes and we

believe these products are safe. >> but what change have you made in that process that lead you to believe that? >> yes, there are two major causes of the problems. one is the problem -- and we control the compression force to get -- however at that time at the beginning of the productio production,, the combustion

force control has not worked well and as we expected we did an investigation so we changed it and it's now the press machines can control the compression force for each cylinder and at the same time also we have a device called auto eject device which if it compression force is not as designed then it would detect the failure and the detection device would reject the problem. so this device was taken off the production force. the other one is humidity control. aluminum nitrate is a material

and there is an advantage to use that however it's sensitive to humidity. so we put some special control of this humidity during processes in manufacturing and also -- however because the issue exists in the past and also the humidity controls since then we control the humidity during the process much later so since then we can control the issue much better in manufacturing the inflators. >> your immediate reports as i referenced earlier that takata may have been aware of the dangers there the dangers airbag effects as early as 2004 and you deny those allegations to the media but we need answers from an independent source about when

takata became aware of the airbag defect and whether the defect was concealed from nhtsa. as you know general motors commissioned an internal investigation and released a report on the ignition switch issue. will takata initiate an investigation release a report about whether there was any wrongdoing? >> according to the record of communication that date since may of 2005 and the communications include a picture also. according to my understanding we started the investigation in 2005. if there are any communications before that point i am not aware of that. again the record i confirmed shows the date as 2005.

at that time the pictures were available and it's not available at this point. we checked the picture and the production record and at that time the picture shows an anomaly however the record we check does not show -- and reported the bag to the other makers. >> that you initiated some sort of an independent investigation. i know you are talking some about some the things you looked into but i think there is a real concern here that perhaps isn't as independent as it could be. so have you given thought or would you initiate some sort of independent investigation where someone outside the company or who takes a look at these things who can report back whether or not there was wrongdoing and if not why wouldn't you do that?

>> senator since i was not involved at that time therefore i can answer your question. >> understand at that time you want but i guess prospectively now would that be something, for most of us that something that would make sense to have somebody that's independent take a look at this and examine this and similar to what general motors did with the ignition switch issue. >> yes, senator. i agree with that and we repeated independent nhtsa to look independently. >> we can revisit that issue. it very quickly if i might mr. chairman mr. schostek there are as we heard from lieutenant erdman when she referenced better vehicle to service multiple times at dealerships,

and after the recall that prior to the tragic accident, is there not some policy where your dealers actually when someone brings a car in like that would at least notify the customer of some of the safety matters that she didn't received notification until three days after her accident? >> indeed senator thune there is such a policy and we failed lieutenant erdman and their dealer failed lieutenant erdman. you heard her speak about notifications from honda that she did not receive so we did not effectively help her with a recalled vehicle. in addition she told me she brought the car to a honda dealer for other service. her thin number was not checked and as a result we lost opportunities to repair her vehicle.

we failed lieutenant erdman and the dealer failed lieutenant erdman. our dealers are independent franchisees as you know communicate to them regularly about the importance of checking each car when it comes in for service to see if there are any outstanding recalls. we communicated that in march of this year and we communicated that the week or so ago. very often we are doing that. if you look at the complete testimony that i made we are endeavoring to continuously improve the way we reach out to customers. i have to say the population involved in these recalls are older vehicles. it is harder to track down the current owner. that is not an excuse. we have to do better. the failed lieutenant erdman and i dealer failed lieutenant erdman. >> because of vehicle is older it was him i can act ideal time to bring in them. >> i agree senator thune into our everlasting regret we lost those opportunities.

>> the mail we are finding out isn't the most effective way to get that message out there and these dealerships may be dropping the ball so i'm interested in knowing what u.n. mr. kunselman from chrysler what you intend to do to improve that in the future and my time is up mr. chairman bet if i could get mr. kunselman quickly to respond to what chrysler's policy is and what we are going to do differently. >> certainly. similar to what mr. schostek set of policy clearly through the dealership is to communicate to consumers when they come to the dealership web open recalls are on their dealership. in fact electronic systems that are available automatically has this information. it's readily available and they don't have to work hard to find it. it is our policy that they not only communicate that make every effort not to have the consumer leave the dealership without scheduling or performing that service on-site. >> banks.

>> mr. kunselman i would suggest that the next three weeks might be critical and that you all need to be forward-leaning on that. and mr. schostek thank you for stepping forth and taking some responsibility, specifically with regard to the lieutenant and mr. shimizu i would urge you and senator thune has requested and this committee will follow up, that this independent inquiry be quick and swift and public. senator klobuchar. >> thank you very much mr. chairman. thanks for holding this hearing. thank you to our witnesses. i wish to say that i really believe there has to be a full investigation of what happened here and i say this on behalf of

effective in my state who was driving in her car and north oaks minnesota. it was a 2002 bmw but this actually happened in 2013 and there had not been a recall and that airbag exploded in her fa face. she has permanently blind. so that is why looking back and trying to figure out what happened is very important to me. why did it take to kylie years to disclose the danger of the defective airbags despite numerous red flags, when when did takata know the defective part was not limited to certain honda vehicles and did takata conduct secret tests on those airbags and not report the findings. ..

we recalled based upon that information. we expanded the recall when another issue was brought to our attention by takata, and in all we did several recalls. i think it recalls. i think it is important for the committee to understand that the recalls which we

did had no geographic boundary. they have no geographic boundary, and the injuries that have occurred, there have been 45 45 injuries because of ruptures and honda vehicles. forty-three of those forty-three of those correlate to the time of those takata manufacturing. to our regret, all four fatalities correspond to that same time. we are talking about recalls that were done 2008 through 2011 because of different manufacturing issues that takata made us aware of, and there is drawing data that show strong data that show this is where the majority of problems have been occurring. >> i understand. i was i understand. i was not saying they were regionally limited. clearly there are red flags. the reason that matters so much to the constituent who

is permanently blind, blind, this was in 2013. a different manufacturer. but if but if takata had done a more global look, i don't think this would have happened. november 6 new york times article reported that takata secretly conducted tests in 2,004 in your michigan location in response to the release of metal fragment issue with the honda accord. according to article tool this deal inflator allegedly cracked during the test, and takata executives ordered the data deleted. takata has disputed the report. what what specifically about the report was inaccurate? >> yes, senator. again, it is regarding the incident of a honda vehicle,

according to my knowledge informed takata may 2005. there is no way that we can do any test relating to that beforehand. also, 2007, and at 2,007, and at that time we started an investigation about identifying the problem. and then at that time we have this series of tests. all test results since 2007, the starting.of the investigation by us, shared with automakers. >> just to get to 2004, 2,004, my issue is my constituent was blinded in 2013. in 2010 bmw sent a letter a

letter that it was aware of that takata airbag under recall. of course, recall. of course, she was driving a bmw. it had received documentation from teesixteen. what documentation takata. what documentation was provided? remember, this is post- 2,007. we are in 2013. so i am asking specifically about bmw. if bmw. if you do not know, you can send it to me later. i want i want to know what documentation was provided to bmw about their situation they said they knew about the problem, had received documentation indicating that the mw vehicles were not affected. >> senator can i confirm one thing?

driver-side airbag? >> i believe so. >> answer best on what i know. we do the recall of the honda vehicles at that time. as you mentioned multiple times, the psd i. driver's-side inflator. at that time, bmw we supplied the psd i four. the psd i for four is a structure of the inflator, looks the same from the outside but is different and is produced in a different line. that is the major reason. we answered that it is a

different a different structure, so you will not be affected. >> my last question, when did you become aware there were problems with the bmw airbag? >> i'm sorry, i'm not familiar with that. i don't know the exact date. >> albright. >> thank you. >> just so it is clear to everybody, what we are talking about, about, this is the steering, middle of the steering wheel. this is the inflator. when the impact occurs the explosion is supposed to come this way, but as we said earlier, if the explosive force is too great it breaks off this metal,

metal, and the metal starts coming through the middle. every one of us at this hearing table has had constituents affected by this in florida, right in central florida we have had one death. and in the case of cory bernick, corey bernick, a fireman, a firefighter, he has know why. very similar to the situation of the lieutenant, but in this lieutenant, but in this case the metal penetrated his actual life. this is why we are so concerned about this and to get to the bottom of this. senator ayotte. >> i want to thank the chairman and ranking member for holding this important hearing. i wanted to follow-up on a question that the senator

asked you about with regard to the report in the new york times about the 2,004 secret test by teesixteen. as i takata. as i heard your testimony in response to her question, you said that takata was not informed until 2,005 about a a particular incident. what incident was that q mac >> 2,004, honda vehicles. drivers injured. >> and then you said there were a series of a series of incidents in 2,007 that prompted an investigation within. >> yes. >> when did you first notify >> according to my knowledge 2,007.

deeply investigate the cause of the problems. did? >> we did. we received a picture. our engineers checked the pictures. and as i said, recognized an anomaly from the picture. however, personal record did not show any abnormality. at that time there is not enough technical evidence at that time we believe it

required further investigation action at that time. >> so you did not take any further steps to investigate the anomaly that your engineers sought? did you report it to anyone, anyone, or did you talk to units a about it? >> according to my understanding, we did inform honda. >> i would like to understand whether takata believes that as it receives reports, and i would like to inquire,, when it received reports of incidents of injury and unfortunately these horrible incidence of death, when do you believe that you reported them? do you believe you have complied with the tread act? >> and if i might to supplement the discussion you have been having, the first event of a rupture in

a honda vehicle occurred in 2,004. we received notice of that event through our legal department in may of 2,004. we are still checking our records, but as he said, what we can find now is that we provided that information in 2,005. we did report the 2,004 event on our trend report which is provided. as we were discussing, in 2,007 there were several events, and it was at this time that we engaged in the beginnings of an investigation. ultimately in that investigation we were made a presentation a presentation that show the 2,007 events

in the manufacturing efficiencies that caused the defect and also compared it to the 2,004 event. the 2,007 event, those manufacturing times clearly show improper density in the inflator propellant. the 2,004 event ultimately was fully investigated and shows a proper density for the inflator propellant, so it is not an excuse, senator, but that information we could have gleaned maybe sooner in 2,004 would not have helped us predict the events in 2,007. as i look back on our activity, i think we acted with urgency, but do i think that we could have moved faster in some respects? i absolutely do.

have we met our obligations to report? we have not, and i think as the community may know, we have an ongoing internal review about the process. information is due to be provided on monday, monday, this coming monday. below provided on time. we will share with them any gaps or deficiencies in our reporting at that time. >> i know that i know that my time has expired, but let me just say i echo the comments of my colleagues. this really does warrant a thorough investigation because these time frames, frames, the reporting requirements, the questions that have been raised, and as you know, gm undertook this know, gm undertook this activity with regard to the ignition switch and given the seriousness of this matter, i would think that takata and honda would want

to undertake the same. let me urge you to do that as well. my time is up. let me just say, i am troubled about the december 19 piece because i think you should, instead of waiting for people to call you with concerns, affirmatively reach out to your customers while they are waiting regardless of how you view the data airbag differently than the alpha. so i think i am concerned. >> thank you, senator ayotte sen. >> senator. >> mr. chairman, thank you. thank you for holding this hearing. i did read your testimony. and it does discuss your english, and i can understand your commitment to addressing this issue properly and promptly.

however, i think there was something amiss in your testimony, and that was that nowhere does it say that takata takes full responsibility. i want to ask you right now. >> confirm your question. >> sure. that's mac. >> senator, can i confirm this time, which tragedy are you talking about? >> i'm talking about the five deaths. >> five deaths. five deaths. >> do you take full responsibility for those five deaths? does takata take responsibility? >> excuse me.

cognize the three victims case relating to our product during accident, but my understanding, still under investigation. >> okay. let's take the three. does takata take takata take full responsibility for those three deaths? >> my understanding is our products in this accident worked abnormally. so that cause abnormally. so that cause accident. from that sense, yes. >> okay. >> i got a phone call from my wife recently.

a good morning america piece was done on this issue. she is probably issue. she is probably doing what every parent is doing in america today. we have a 2,007 honda civic. we did not buy a brand-new. so we probably did not get recall notices on that. i will give to you the same question she asked me. if our 18-year-old daughter were to drive that car today, would she be safe? >> senator, we have several different analysis of what the problems are with these airbags and our vehicles. as i mentioned before, the recalls recalls we did in

2,008 through 2,011, week connected those two takata manufacturing issues and urged customers without geographic limits to get those vehicles repaired because there is a risk. with regard to the more recent regional recalls where there is not as much information available as to what is the cause of the ruptures in the airbags, there is a concern about humidity. we have the same concern about humidity. we look at the 45 45 injuries that have occurred, 17 in florida,, puerto rico, texas, the large majority of these issues are occurring in southern areas. so we are trying to understand if there is any additional risk. when we find risk we act to

resolve. it is resolve. it is our responsibility to recall those vehicles when we find risk. >> as a parent we did run the van number. they said in 2,006 or earlier a vehicle would have been subject to the recall. how can you assure me today a 2,007 vehicle for any young adult? >> senator, with your indulgence and understanding, i am not sure of all the exact models as i sit here now. if that vehicle was subject to every call, we want it fixed. if it was not, we have not determined risks or deem it safe for the driver. >> we had a conversation earlier in my office, and you said it was difficult to determine the safety of the

device because of proprietary reasons. would i. would i be accurate in assuming that you can't be 100 percent assured not knowing what the necessary changes made in these airbags? >> we are not chemical propellant experts. there is proprietary technology involved. involved. there have been improvements made as time has gone on. for. for example, there are differences in the shape of the propellant wafer. i am not an engineer. to me, that makes sense the different shape may result in better manufacturing, but respectfully, senator, i defer questions about the intellectual property and proprietary aspects of the chemistry two takata. >> thank you. mr. chairman, my time has run out. i think i represent every parent across america, concerned with their america, concerned with their young adults and the

cars they are driving today as to whether or not they have an airbag sitting in front of them today. thank you. >> senator, let the record show that the pauses that occurred to your to direct questions to the two gentlemen, that those pauses, pauses, i can say for this senator, or painful and, perhaps on the basis of his response, you better tell your daughter not to drive south in her honda. senator markey. >> thank you, mr. chairman, very much. in the audience today is kim cox sitting right over here.

her sister was killed in arizona in november of 2,003 sitting in the passenger side of a subaru model that contained defective takata airbags. that model has only been recalled in humid states, which arizona certainly is not. my first question to you is, would you, first of all, right now given your testimony, agree with the position that has been taken, recalling that you have said so far that takata strongly agrees with the position stated, that the recalls be limited to the so-called humid states that they finally changed their position and called for a nationwide recall.

does takata support the new nationwide recall? >> i understand. the reason behind is i understand one incident happened in north carolina. >> but do you agree or disagree with the call for a nationwide recall? >> senator, it is hard for me to answer yes or no. >> it is not hard for you to answer yes or no. do you support the nationwide recall of airbags that the department of transportation has issued, yes or no?

>> again, senator, if we identify the data from any incident to support the directions we want to work to take care of issues. >> i'm going to take that as i know, you do not agree with the decision, and decision, and i think you are playing here. i think it is disturbing to any american family who has a vehicle with a a takata airbags, to think that is your position today. i i think your company is making a big mistake in not supporting this recall wholeheartedly. let me move on if i can. her sister was killed with the passenger side bag and

there is a roulette like quality to this hoping that the airbag that was installed in people's cars was on the driver side that is now being recalled but not the passenger side. i don't think that is right. i don't think anyone should have to worry about any of their family members being in danger. she lost her sister forever. does honda support a recall of passenger side bags as well given what we now know about the ticking time bombs that each one of these airbags potentially is as a risk to american families? >> senator, there are two confirmed airbag ruptures, passenger airbag inflator ruptures and honda vehicles. we have we have not experienced any injuries. they are part of the

improvement campaign. we have actually recalled in, i believe, it is ten states. we we are actively working on that right now. again, those are concentrated. >> do you support passenger-side recalls that would be the equivalent of the driver side recalls? >> we support, we have ongoing a passenger-side recall. for us, the key is to understand what the technical information is. >> not a voluntary or geographic recall but a nationwide a nationwide recall of passenger side bags, yes or no? >> as to a national recall,, we have not refused. we are actively considering. right now. >> right now.

mr. councilman for chrysler, yes or no, do you do you support a nationwide recall, not voluntary, not geographic, nationwide? >> respectfully, senator, i want to.out the answer to this question obviously is one we interact on. this is not strictly based upon the data. i have not received a specific request but i would respond quickly using our rigorous internal process to make that decision and a five day time frame. >> listen, these airbags are the same. they should be recalled. each of you should be today saying that you support that wholeheartedly. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator. thank you for making it so direct. yes yes or no, just like senator heller did as well. senator blumenthal. >> thanks, mr. chairman. you know, i know that you

are here in good faith, so i faith, so i hope you won't take anything i am going to say personally, but it strikes me that these airbags failed,, but the system failed equally if not more. first of all, i want to join sen. senator markey in his calling for a national recall of all cars with these airbags on the passenger as well as the driver's driver side. we have made that.previously, he and i. i am also calling on the sec. of transportation to immediately accelerate the replacement process. at the current rate of production by takata of 300,000 airbags per month,

there is no way that there will be sufficient products available. i ask you, will i ask you, will you cooperate and an accelerated replacement process so that competitors of takata will be called upon to supply those products? to each of you. >> i can start. i mentioned that we have a responsibility to our customers. >> so that is a yes. >> and will you take non- takata parts to replace those airbags? >> senator, we want to get these cars fixed. the safety of our customers is the highest priority. all options are on the table >> well, well, i will ask the secretary of transportation to order that

you do so, but i hope you cooperate. when i say say the system failed, we are here because of delay , nondisclosure as well as potential deception and concealment. in fact, both of your companies entered into company's entered into settlements that were deliberately and purposely concealed in court orders. damien fernandez in florida, ashley pond in oklahoma city in 2,009, jennifer griffin, wrath more virginia 2,009, christy williams in georgia 2,010. the first was driving a chrysler. the others were driving and honda. your companies settled with

them. if that information had been made public more people would know about this deadly, defective airbag and fewer people would have been killed. do you agree? >> respectfully, i respectfully, i would highlight that that incident did occur in the fall of 2,013. i highlighted it in my opening statement. while it is while it is our policy when we enter into confidential settlement terms that the existence of that incident was not concealed in any way. >> but the details were. and the devil and the death was in the details here. don't you agree? >> i would ask for a definition of details. >> well, the. >> well, the details of how and why and what the role of

the airbag was in that crash. do you agree? and let me ask both of you, will your companies commit to declining from now on to enter into these kind of secret settlements and concealing the facts surrounding crashes that result from defective products? >> senator, two of the cases you cite, we provided information about those inflator ruptures. we have talked about them. >> but not to the public. your company deliberately concealed the fact that otherwise would have been known to the public as a result of this court action. >> i respectfully disagree. the case was reported in the tread material. i understand your., but we

were in 16 days after the report was due giving them all information we had. with respect to confidential settlements, our legal system recognizes confidential settlements. we do not intend to hide behind his settlements. safety information should be available. >> i want to show you some standards that are used in testing american cars. these are these are standards used to test, specifically required by american law to test. were those standards used prior to the sending of those airbags to these american companies?

>> i'm not familiar with this, but i am sure there is someone in the company who knows about this. >> someone in your company knows, but knows, but you don't know whether the standards were used? well, i would like to get an answer from you and writing after this hearing that these standards apply to the substances used in the airbags, the hermetic sealing of those airbags to protect them from moisture. if you are unable to provide this committee and assurance

that the standards were used and apply, i want apply, i want to know from someone in your company under oath whether those standards were applied to every airbag design, and other words, if the designs were changed over the years, and whether they were tested with those standards when there were reports of defects. >> senator, yes, if you allow me, i will talk to the responsible engineers and get back to committee about a response. is this is this acceptable? >> thank you. and let me conclude. i hope that your companies will join in supporting the legislation i have introduced. litigation legislation that would prevent these kind of settlements that contributed to the problem. the courts ought not be complicit, and i hope that your companies will cooperate and join in supporting this kind of

legislation. thank legislation. thank you. >> senator mccaskill. >> thank you. is your company the only company that uses ammonium nitrate that manufactures airbags? >> senator, i don't know what kind of materials exactly our competitors using. some use similar kind of materials. >> the information we have is, four is, four or five companies make airbags and yours is the only one using ammonium nitrate. are you still using are you still using ammonium nitrate in the manufacture of your airbag q mac? >> yes, senator. >> that is worrisome to me. let me now move let me now move to chrysler and honda. i am confused.

if i am, your customers are. the letter that chrysler sent on june 202014, i would like these to be made part of the record listen to this paragraph. although they have not been made the subject it is there intention to conduct a field a field action to replace the driver airbag inflator's as well as the passenger airbag inflator's. i'm guessing a lawyer wrote that. then. then i have a letter from honda that says we determined a potential defect relating to motor vehicle safety exist written in 2,008 and another letter in 2,014 saying we decided to conduct a safety improvement campaign. we we have not made a determination a safety defect exists. you go down the lists of the notifications. i will start in june of 14.

a service campaign, service campaign, a honda safety recall and a a mazda service campaign and a mitsubishi service campaign, a nissan safety recall,, i nissan service campaign, a nissan safety recall, subaru safety recall, a subaru service campaign. do you understand the issue here? what is going on what is going on is a refusal to characterize a problem in a way that a way that is clearly understandable to the consumer. we have been having more recalls in the last year and a half than in the history of american car manufacturing. the the problem is, i don't think people driving these cars understand the risk

because you guys are not comfortable being consistent as to whether or not you are saying it is a service campaign or safety recall. in in your mind, other than avoiding litigation and liability, why would you differentiate between a service call and safety recall? >> yes, i would yes, i would like to start by saying it is chrysler's policy regardless of which way these actions are initiated or how they are characterized the customer facing information is identical. the same information. >> they say this is a safety recall and you are in danger and need to get this car in or this is a notice that this part has been recalled. >> it is my understanding it characterizes it as a safety concern. >> i would like to see all

the ones that involve your companies, service campaign versus safety recall. i would like to see the notices that went to your drivers. i would like to see the language. if, in fact, the language is the same to the drivers, why is it different q mac? >> the. >> the characterization in terms of how we characterize these events, chrysler is agreeing to do this with one incident. a lack of understanding of root cause. the thing that is still open in this instance with this data is an absence of a defined a defined group cause. in absence of a defined root cause it makes the next steps difficult in terms of what to do. this is a nuance of definition as to why you see it characterized this way. >> and do you say the same?

is it your notification to your drivers identical as to whether or not it is a service campaign or safety recall? >> there is confusion. the regulatory framework has terms that are part of that regulatory framework. i am not an engineer. i have asked the same question. what is the practical difference for the customer. i have been told none. in terms of how we are looking for evidence of risk and so forth, that should be the manufacturers responsible working with suppliers, but i would support if we could make this clearer for consumers honda is happy to work with. >> are you sending the same notification to your drivers whether or not it is a safety recall or service

campaign? >> senator, i would like to double check, check, but i believe there are similar notifications. our interest is to tell the customer, please calm, call, come get the part replace, whether it's for the purpose of an identified defect or the purpose of getting more information,, the safety improvement campaign. we should help the consumer. >> if i get. >> if i get a letter saying we are investigating something, i'm busy. if i get a letter saying, if you drive saying, if you drive this you could have a piece of shrapnel embedded in your eye and if your daughter is sitting next to you she could be blinded or you could die, that is a lot different. too many lawyers. we found this ngm. as as you all know. you had to have followed closely. lawyers were trying to avoid litigation.

it was not lawyers trying to make sure every consumer knew the danger, and we have got to get out of this defensive crouch about liability litigation and get into an offense of position of making sure drivers are safe. until your companies decide to do that, consumers are going to be in the dark. the exchange between sen. heller about whether senator heller about whether or not his daughter was safe was incredible. he is united states senator asking someone in charge of the company who made his daughter's car whether it safe to drive and it was clear you were not sure how to answer. that is a problem. we have a problem. we will keep having these hearings and working on legislation and keep yelling and tell until we get this right for the driving public. this is unacceptable. thank you.

>> thank you, sen. sen. you, senator. senator cantwell. >> i would like to follow up on a couple of points that my colleagues have made. i share their frustration and angst when there is such upon his or we a pause or we are just doing what they say. i think today's hearing is a good opportunity to discuss the changes to be made, not what is required, but now that we are here what do we need to improve the situation. first, i want. first, i want to follow-up on this airbag recall situation. i wanted to ask you, if we actually, would you be able to meet demand if it was for all of the passenger-side airbags, would you be able to meet that demand, or do we need the sec. secretary to help in expediting this with other manufacturers? there was a little bit,, i

read hesitancy internet. i am asking you now, can you meet that demand? if not, let's get to the bottom line. >> provide replacement kit in the beginning of this recall of the passenger-side airbag. currently we are producing 300,000 a month. and then we understand we had to speed up. we had two more. we also committed in the beginning. we will do as committed. increased to 450 kits. also, we have globally, a

plant in mexico is the main producer running at full capacity right now. we found out the plant has extra capacity. we decided to move some product from mexico to germany to open up the capacity to mexico so that mexico can open up some capacity to thread more replacement kits. >> you are saying you have capacity, is that what you are saying? you have capacity, and the sec. does not need to take action? it should not be a mystery. we should be clear. >> we understand we have to speed up the replacement

kits. maybe still not speedy enough. we are looking for options to speed up the replacement. >> i will ask the other two. do you think we need to have the secretary take action, yes or no? >> at the present time we have enough supply for the demand, demand, but the demand could change based upon future action. i am not in a position a position to judge the ultimate capacity of takata. for us, all options should be on the table to get parts replaced and customer vehicles. >> i have about a minute left. i will follow-up on this with each of you and the

secretary,, but why are we not here today discussing why not make manufacturers responsible for 100 percent recall success? in the gaps that i see, i i don't see an e-mail system, and amber alert, people are dying, and we are hiding behind,, well, we had an agreement ended a settlement no one really knew what was going on. my understanding is, germany has more like a 100% recall success. we have a gap year with people who are second purchasers not knowing. so why not just say that you're responsible for getting 100 percent recall? the the cars are yours. they are out there in the

public. there are lots of there are lots of tools to use. why not set a better goal than what we have? >> 100 percent would be what we want to achieve and what we are trying to achieve. we are trying different methods. especially an older vehicle populations, we have been unable to achieve 100 percent. i do percent. i do not know the average recall completion rate. i would want to check further. i believe further. i believe it is about 60, 70, 80 percent. to me, that is not good enough. >> my understanding is germany is getting 100 percent. >> i would just submit, senator, and my full, written opening statement we talk about that. that. germany, to my understanding, has a process whereby before a car can get registered it needs to be

checked if there are any outstanding recalls, similar recalls, similar to some states in the united states. please don't please don't misunderstand. honda will use any new tools to find customers and get these recalls done. that is what we want to have happen. it could be support on the state level. >> the more the manufacturers, what you would like to see. thank you, mr. chairman. >> senator rubio. >> thank you, mr. chairman. this question is for all three. can you guarantee as here today that no one driving one of these vehicles outside of the territories currently covered, the places with high humidity, if you are driving one of these vehicles with one of these devices and it outside of these territories can you guarantee as no one will be

injured by this device in the way we have seen in other places? >> maybe i will start. as i mentioned in the opening statement, currently all issues from the past incidents or problems have been addressed and taken care of. according to my understanding, i believe, product right now, including replacement kits are produced under well-controlled processes and should work as designed and are safe. regarding the recall you mentioned, according to our record, this area due to the high humidity environment.

>> i understand. i'm sorry. i don't mean to cut you off. my question is straightforward. if you spend the entire time in north dakota or south dakota or wisconsin, not one of these places, can you tell us today that you are confident no one will be injured the way we saw in florida? >> if it is not currently under recall, covered by recall, i believe the product in the car is safe, as i said before. >> so we will never read about a story of someone outside of these areas covered by the recall injured in the same way, for example as we saw in florida is that your testimony? >> according according to my knowledge. again, i believe they are safe. >> senator rubio, we have

recalls outstanding that are connected to takata manufacturing issues. we did these do thousand 88 through 2,011 with no geographic limit. i was just discussing with senator cantwell our struggles to get those completed. those customers, we want them to come in. there is risk. we want to get to 100 percent. >> people that are not covered by the recall for various reasons. you reasons. you are talking about the recalls that have nothing to do with geographic limits. if your car is not currently covered under the existing recall you have nothing to worry about? >> we have identified higher risks in the humid areas, and that is what we are working on right now, together more information about those vehicles both

there and in nonhuman states. >> senator, i would characterize in my opening statement the situation as an ongoing investigation. at least once during testimony i reiterated in the absence of a defined group cause for the data population of vehicles i think we would find it difficult to guarantee 100% as to the risk outside of the geographic regions identified. i believe identified. i believe the test data and incidents confirm those data are of high risk and utmost importance to deal with first. with the open status of the root cause i could not affirm. >> to the best of your knowledge with the minute i have left, to any of your companies at any time calculate that the cost of conducting a recall outweighed the benefits of alerting consumers and therefore decided not to

move forward with some of this earlier? in essence, was there ever a time where copulation was made that it would cost so much financially to deal with this that we are better off not doing anything about it because the safety risks don't justify it. did that happen? >> i can confidently say that is not the case at chrysler. >> to the best of my knowledge, no, sir. >> is not the case. >> my last question. if i am driving one of these cars now and don't live in one of these areas covered, what should i do, i do, just go on about my life and not worry about it cost to mark. >> we have communicated to our dealers, if a customer has a concern, worry about driving a vehicle. >> my question is, should they have a worry? should you have a worry? >> again, we again, we see the risk much higher in the humid states and as to the cause, that is what we are trying to get to with regard to the regional asic.

>> sen. rubio, i would say for the chrysler vehicles not covered by the recall him my would drive them myself. >> senator rubio, they see the risk much higher in humid states, but associated press reported on november the 17th that honda had quietly decided to replace impacted takata airbags nationwide rather than just in hot and humid states. and so they also indicated in those reports that honda had no intention of actually notifying customers and other states about the remedy. instead,. instead, as stated, they would have to go to their dealer. so, why did honda believe it was appropriate to provide a

remedy that not tell anybody? >> chairman nelson, this is not a a secret or quiet policy. it is on the website, and it is there because we put it there. this is a communication to our dealers. when we want to deal with our customers needs in the non- humid areas on an individual basis. if we find a customer that has a concern, we are asking our dealers to take care of that customer and replace that airbag. understanding that we believe the repairs are more priority in the humid areas, but we have an approach to our customers that we want to provide customer service. it is service. it is not secret. we did not mean it to be quiet. please respond to concerns. >> so a dealer in senator thune state of south dakota

or sen. senator marquise state or senator club chars state, but we are a mobile society. there are people people in massachusetts and minnesota and south dakota that drive south and come to florida during all times of the year >> especially january. >> especially january, but when the kids are out of school they come in the heat of the summer to disney world. now, isn't something missing here? >> we are trying to understand the reasons for the inflator ruptures, and we are looking, collecting inflator's from vehicles that have been in the humid states, ever registered,

spent time, doing our best to collect that information, sir. t10 >> >> it was a