Takata's massive airbag recall could be worst than originally feared.
Bloomberg is reporting that a source familiar with the supplier — responsible for the biggest recall in auto industry history — is projecting a worst-case scenario recall cost of $24 billion. To put that staggering amount in perspective, the news agency had gotten a calculated estimate by a Jeffries Group LLC analyst of $7 billion just last month.
So, how did a source familiar with the situation arrive at such a number? Well, according to Bloomberg, the person, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, calculated a doomsday recall scenario as one that would entail replacing 287.5 million airbag inflators, which would in turn deliver that projection of almost a quarter of a trillion dollars.
Bloomberg additionally reports that the projection is nearly quadruple the amount of Takata's fiscal-year revenue projections ending this month.
"At this juncture, the possibility of negative net worth cannot be completely denied," Masahiro Akita and Koji Takahashi, Credit Suisse Group AG analysts, wrote in a statement to the news agency Wednesday.
While this projection may not pan out to be true and the actual recall cost could still be closer to $7 billion, there's no doubt that Takata's reputation has been shattered throughout this trying ordeal. Already, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has declared the company responsible for nine deaths in the U.S. after the airbag inflators burst, ejecting projectiles of plastic and metal.
"It is not difficult to imagine how hard it will be for Takata to rebuild its financial standing if the expenses are apportioned," Takaki Nakanishi, a Jefferies analyst, wrote in a report late last month, as reported by Bloomberg. "The Japanese automotive industry cannot avoid seriously adopting an exit strategy from the Takata issue."
Car and Driver estimates that 34 million vehicles are potentially affected in the U.S. by Takata's faulty airbag inflators with an additional seven million being recalled worldwide. Within that, the NHTSA released a list of vehicles affected, ranging from models belonging to the following automakers: BMW, FCA (Chrysler), Daimler Trucks North America, Daimler Vans USA LLC, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru, Toyota and Volkswagen.
