The president and chief operating officer of Japanese airbag maker Takata has stepped down from his post as a result of recalls of millions of vehicles carrying the company's defective airbags.
Takata announced in a statement that Stefan Stocker resigned to enable the company's chairman and CEO Shigehisa Takada to take over his posts.
The company is currently facing several class action lawsuits and a criminal investigation in the US for its handling of the safety crisis and sale of defective airbags that could explode and spray shrapnel on driver's face, and has been linked to at least five deaths.
Noting that the management change was intended to accelerate decision making, Takata also announced pay cuts ranging from 20% to 50% for five executives, including Stocker and Takada, for four months.
Takata spokeswoman Akiko Watanabe was quoted by The Wall Street Journal as saying that Stocker's resignation is not being characterized as a move to assume responsibility for the safety crisis.
"Mr. Stocker decided to resign due to personal reasons.
"He believes it is better for Takata to streamline its efforts to deal with the situation," she said.
Stocker, who became Takata's first non-Japanese president in 2013, will remain with the company as an executive director and will have his monthly salary cut by nearly 30%.
Since 2008, Takata's airbag problems have prompted 12 auto makers, including Honda, Toyota and General Motors to recall more than 24 million vehicles worldwide.
Takata has set aside JPY47.6bn ($395m) in reserves for the fiscal year to deal with the increasing recalls and expects an annual loss of JPY25bn ($207m), Financial Times reported.
Image: Takata's airbag problems have prompted 12 auto makers to recall millions of vehicles worldwide. Photo: courtesy of Pakorn / FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
