Takata refuses US regulator demand for airbag recall

Takata's Hiroshi Shimizu (l) and Honda's Rick Schostek are among several testifying in Washington, DC

The Japanese airbag manufacturer Takata has refused a request by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to expand a recall of cars containing its faulty airbags.

The current recall applies only to cars in high-humidity states.
In a letter to the NHTSA, Takata insisted that was sufficient.
The NHTSA can now fine Takata up to $7,000 (£4,460) per day for each unrecalled car on the road.
The airbags - which can explode with shrapnel - have so far been linked to five deaths, and nearly 14 million cars worldwide have been recalled.
Expanding the recall to include all of the US - as opposed to Florida, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and other areas associated with high humidity - would add an additional eight million cars to the total.