NISSAN MOTOR CO LTD (Reuters) - Following are some key events leading to the recall of several million cars fitted with potentially defective air bags made by Japanese firm Takata Corp (>> Takata Corporation).
2008:
Nov 4 - Honda Motor (>> Honda Motor Co Ltd) recalls 4,000 Accords and Civics (2001 models) globally as Takata air bag inflators may produce excessive internal pressure causing them to rupture and spray metal fragments in the car.
2009:
May 27 - Oklahoma teen Ashley Parham dies when her 2001 Honda Accord air bag explodes, shooting metal fragments into her neck. Honda and Takata deny fault, settle for undisclosed sum.
July 29 - Honda recalls 510,000 Civics, Accords and Acura 3.2 TL cars (2001-02 models) globally.
Dec 24 - Gurjit Rathore is killed in Virginia when the air bag in a 2001 Honda Accord explodes, severing arteries in her neck, court documents show. Her family sues Honda and Takata for more than $75 million in April 2011, claiming they knew of the air bag defects as early as 2004. Honda and Takata settle in January 2013 for $3 million, according to court documents.
2010:
Feb 9 - Honda recalls 437,000 Acura cars and other Honda vehicles (2001-03 models) globally, expanding earlier recalls.
2011:
April 27 - Honda recalls 896,000 Honda and Acura 2001-03 cars in order to find defective Takata air bag inflators installed as replacement parts.
Dec 1 - Honda recalls another 304,000 cars globally as a bad inflator may have been installed at the factory, and a further 613,000 to find defective replacement inflators.
2013:
April 11 - Toyota Motor (>> Toyota Motor Corp), Honda, Nissan Motor (>> Nissan Motor Co Ltd) and Mazda Motor (>> Mazda Motor Corp) recall 3.4 million vehicles globally due to possibly defective Takata air bags.
May 7 - BMW (>> Bayerische Motoren Werke AG) recalls 220,000 vehicles globally for Takata-related air bag issue.
May 10 - Takata posts record $212.5 million annual net loss; books 29.9 billion yen charge for recall costs; names Swiss national Stefan Stocker as president.
Sept 3 - Devin Xu dies in a 2002 Acura TL sedan near Los Angeles from "apparent facial trauma due to foreign object inside air bag," according to coroner's report.
2014:
June 11 - Toyota expands recall to 2.27 million vehicles globally; adding 650,000 previously not recalled in Japan, and 1.62 million overseas for a second time.
U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opens probe into whether driving in high humidity regions contributes to the risk of Takata air bag explosions.
Takata says inflators in the recall also supplied to Honda, Toyota, BMW, Chrysler
June 23 - Honda, Nissan and Mazda recall 2.95 million vehicles, expanding April 2013 recall, bringing the total recall to about 10.5 million vehicles over five years. Later, Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Mazda, BMW, Chrysler and Ford say they are recalling more vehicles in some U.S. high humidity regions.
June 26 - Takata CEO apologises to shareholders at AGM.
June 30 - Takata says some potentially defective inflators also shipped to Subaru (>> Subaru Co Ltd) and Mitsubishi Motors (>> MITSUBISHI MOTORS CORPORATION).
July 16 - BMW recalls about 1.6 million cars worldwide to replace Takata air bags, going beyond the regional U.S. recall.
Oct 2 - Orlando woman Hien Thi Tran dies four days after her 2001 Honda Accord air bag explodes, shooting out shrapnel. [ID:nL2N0T9300]
Oct 20 - Toyota recalls 247,000 vehicles in the U.S. for Takata air bag problems. [ID:nL2N0SF130]
Oct 21 - Takata shares drop 23 percent in Tokyo.
Oct 22 - NHTSA expands U.S. recall to 7.8 million over 18 months. [ID:nL2N0SH15K]
Oct 27 - A first case seeking class-action status is filed in Florida, claiming Takata and automakers concealed crucial information on defective air bags. [ID:nL1N0SN070]
Oct 30 - NHTSA orders Takata to provide documents and answer questions under oath in air bag probe. [ID:nL1N0SP28M] On Nov 5, NHTSA orders Honda to do the same. [ID:nL1N0SV37X]
Nov 6 - Takata takes 49.9 billion yen charge for recall-related costs; pays no interim dividend. [ID:nL4N0SW1PN]
Nov 7 - New York Times reports Takata ordered technicians to destroy results of tests on some air bags after finding cracks in inflators. [ID:nL4N0SX1AN] Takata later refutes this.
U.S. lawmakers urge criminal probe of Takata.[ID:nL1N0SX1BR]
Nov 10 - Takata shares drop 17 percent to 5-1/2 year low.
Nov 12 - Takata says it has modified the composition of an air bag propellant, giving no details. [ID:nL2N0T22LN]
Nov 13 - Honda discloses fifth fatality, and first outside the U.S. Law Suk Leh died in Malaysia on July 27 after being hit by a piece of metal from a Takata air bag in her Honda City compact car. [ID:nL3N0T508X]
Honda recalls another 170,000 cars in Asia and Europe, taking its total Takata-related recalls to nearly 10 million.
Takata says its U.S. unit subpoenaed by a federal grand jury to produce air bag-related documents. [ID:nL3N0T35H7]
Nov 18 - NHTSA urges Takata, Honda, Ford, Mazda, BMW and Chrysler to expand regional recall U.S.-wide. [ID:nL2N0T82ZE]
Nov 19 - Mark Rosekind nominated for vacant NHTSA chief post. [ID:nL2N0T931D]
Nov 21 - U.S. Senate Commerce Committee hears testimony from Takata, Honda and Chrysler executives. [ID:nL2N0TB0C3]
Two U.S. senators hold news conference with sister of someone who died in an Arizona accident in 2003 - potentially a sixth fatality linked to Takata air bags. [ID:nL2N0T922R]
Japan's transport minister orders Takata to investigate its defective air bags. [ID:nL3N0TB1GK]
Nov 24 - Honda says it failed to notify U.S. regulators of 1,729 claims of injuries and deaths related to accidents in its vehicles - including those with Takata air bags - in 2003-14. [ID:nL2N0TF09P]
Nov 26 - NHTSA orders Takata to expand regional recall of driver-side air bags to cover the entire U.S. [ID:nL2N0TG1JD]
Nov 27 - Daihatsu Motor (>> DAIHATSU MOTOR CO., LTD.) announces its first Takata air bag inflator-related recall in Japan. Toyota adds 57,000 Vitz/Yaris and RAV4 models to global recall. [ID:nL3N0TH05W]
Dec 2 - Takata CEO says it's up to automakers to expand a regional recall U.S.-wide. NHTSA says this response to its order for a nationwide recall is "disappointing". [ID:nL3N0TN1O3]
Takata recruits three former U.S. transportation secretaries to help it navigate the air bag safety crisis. [ID:nL2N0TM1AA]
Dec 3 - Reuters reports that Takata investigated an air bag inflator rupture in a BMW vehicle as early as 2003. It also tested inflators for defects in 2004, more than a year before it has said it first learned of defects. [ID:nL3N0TN2FE]
Takata, Honda, Toyota and BMW appear before a second U.S. congressional hearing on dangerous air bags. [ID:nL2N0TN1CD]
Ford, Chrysler expand U.S. recalls [ID:nL2N0TN2A1]
Dec 4 - Toyota expands recalls in Japan and China. [ID:nL3N0TO24H] Mazda recalls more U.S. cars. [ID:nL2N0TO22N]
Dec 5 - Honda recalls another 135,000 vehicles in Japan.
Dec 8 - Honda expands U.S. recalls nationwide, bringing its total to 5.4 million vehicles. [ID:nL1N0TS1FG]
Dec 9 - Honda says it expand recalls globally, taking the total Takata-related call-back tally across all brands to more than 19 million since 2008, Reuters calculations show. [ID:nL3N0TT1FD]
(Compiled by Ben Klayman; Editing by Ian Geoghegan)
