Washington/Tokyo — Four car makers agreed to a $553m settlement to address class-action economic loss claims covering owners of nearly 16-million recalled vehicles with potentially defective Takata airbag inflators, court documents filed on Thursday showed. Toyota’s share of the settlement costs is $278.5m, followed by BMW at $131m, Mazda at $76m and Subaru at $68m. While the settlement does not mean an end to legal headaches faced by Takata or its car maker clients, the resolution could help the embattled Japanese airbag maker’s efforts to search for a financial sponsor by removing one litigation uncertainty. Shares of Takata, which was not named as a plaintiff in the case, jumped 20% in Tokyo on Friday. Takata has been searching for more than a year to find a financial sponsor to pay for costs to replace its inflators, which are at the centre of the car industry’s biggest-ever recall. US car components maker Key Safety Systems (KSS) and private equity fund Bain Capital are trying ...
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