Japanse airbag supplier Takata is planning to move BMW airbag inflator production from Mexico to Germany amid U.S. regulators' investigation of the Mexico plant, according to Reuters.
The German automaker said in a filing posted online by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that it is assisting Takata in moving the production to a plant located in Freiberg, Germany.
Other automakers including Toyota said that moving the production is not viable during the height of a recent airbag recall because it might take two years to complete and delay the replacement production.
Toyota is now looking at the option of changing its airbag inflator supplier. Nissan, on the other hand, suggests that Takata should focus more on increasing production, Reuters reported.
Takata spokesman Alby Berman told Reuters that the move to the German plant is specific for BMW units only.
BMW declined to comment but said the replacements for airbag inflators should be available by December.
Meanwhile, GM Product Chief Mark Reuss said Wednesday that the car industry should focus on identifying the root cause of the faulty airbag, apart from the known humidity issue. He cautioned that the current recall might hamper other automakers from issuing more recalls especially because the media is covering every recall whether big or small, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Representatives from Takata, Honda, Chrysler and the NHTSA will attend a Senate hearing on Thursday. The U.S. Senate committee questioned Takata on the slow progress of the recall and replacement.
"The American people deserve to know the whole story behind this airbag recall," said Sen. Bill Nelson (D.-Fla.), the committee's chairman. "That's why we're holding this hearing to get them some answers and spur automakers to do more to help get these dangerous cars off the road and fixed as soon as possible."
