Takata CEO: internal probe into failing air bags 'not progressing'

TOKYO (Reuters) - The head of Takata Corp <7312.T> said an internal probe into why the Japanese supplier's air bag inflators were failing was not progressing well, as millions of cars continue to be called back to replace the potentially deadly component.

Chief Executive Shigehisa Takada, grandson of the company's founder, made the comment at Takata's annual shareholders' meeting on Thursday in response to a question as to when analyses of the problem would be concluded.

Takata's inflators - the component that allows an air bag to open up in a fraction of a second in the event of a crash - have been linked to eight deaths so far, exploding with too much force and sending metal fragments into vehicle occupants.

For the majority of the tens of millions of vehicles recalled, the root cause of why the inflators can fail has not been identified despite multiple investigations underway including those commissioned collectively by 10 automakers as well as an internal probe by Takata.

"The analysis isn't progressing very well," Takada told shareholders, declining to speculate on when a conclusion would be reached. It was the first public appearance by the 49-year-old executive since its annual shareholders' meeting a year ago.

At the annual general meeting, shareholders took Takada to task for his failure to appear in public to address the issue, the slow progress in resolving the crisis and the lack of a dividend.

In response to a question about how he viewed his responsibility in the recall saga, Takada said he believed the best way forward was to carry on leading the company and see it through the crisis. He added he hoped to resume dividend payments "as soon as possible" once the crisis was resolved.

Since the last shareholders' meeting, Takata's safety crisis has escalated into the biggest recall in automotive history, leading to a net loss last year and a 40 percent plunge in its share price. Takata has forecast a return to profit this year but made few provisions for the possible costs of the ballooning recalls.

U.S. lawmakers this week raised the possibility that Takata put profits before safety in a way that contributed to the air bag recalls. Takata has disputed the finding.

Takada is also due to hold a news conference at 4:30 p.m.(0330 ET) in Tokyo, his first since Takata's recall crisis erupted. Chief Financial Officer Yoichiro Nomura and Senior Vice President Hiroshi Shimizu will also attend. Shimizu, the head of quality issues, represented Takata at U.S. congressional hearings in December.

(Editing by Chris Gallagher and Edwina Gibbs)

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