Don Terrill’s Speed-Talk

After years of lies and hiding facts, TAKATA finally admitted that they knew about their production problem and were covering it up so, they could move forward and get past it. As if it was just a minor imposition.

TAKATA and most Japanese companies are more arrogant than any American could ever imagine. I am not sure that a BILLION dollar fine was enough to thwart any further bad happenings from being hidden.

I have been to the Takata factory in NC. Even stayed in the Takata house while I was there. I am amazed at the ignorance surrounding this issue. Takata and most every other company involved in safety device manufacturing are ALWAYS between a rock and a hard spot. Be thankful you do not operate in that industry. Trapped between compliance mandate and unrealistic expectation. They are or were proud of their design and production capabilities which are or were top tier. Likely this is the end of Takata. Their fault is not in designing a faulty product, but rather producing millions and millions of products in which a statically small (very small) (Very very small) number failed in a manner that caused a death. No credit is given for the countless lives saved and injuries averted. Only fault found in a complex product that deteriorated over time and failed to last...forever. How long do you expect an engine to last? Really?