Class Action Claims Audi ‘Concealed Knowledge’ of Takata Airbag Defect

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Audi of America, LLC and its German parent corporations are the defendants in a proposed class action lawsuit that asks what the companies knew, or should have known, and when exactly they came upon this knowledge with regard to the deadly inflator defect found in Takata airbags.

“On information and belief, [the defendants] were intimately involved in the design and testing of the airbags that contained the Inflator Defect. When the Defendants approved Takata’s airbags, and purchased them for installation in their vehicles, they were or should have been aware that the airbags used the volatile and unstable ammonium nitrate as the primary propellant in the inflators.”

The 51-page lawsuit sticks on the claim that the defendants, upon receiving word of “startling airbag failures” as early as 2003 and later when Honda issued a public recall in 2008, should have heeded such warnings and taken reasonable measures to protect their customers. Despite overwhelming evidence, Audi failed to so much as warn consumers, the lawsuit claims, leaving drivers in the “frightening position” of having to operate their vehicles for months or years while waiting for the automaker to take action.

“[Audi] knew, and certainly should have known, that the Takata airbags installed in millions of vehicles were defective. By concealing their knowledge of the nature and extent of the defect from the public, while continuing to advertise their products as safe and reliable, [the defendants] have shown a blatant disregard for public welfare and safety. Moreover, [the defendants] have violated their affirmative duty, imposed under the Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability, and Documentation Act (the ‘TREAD Act’), to promptly advise customers about known defects.”