— This is the script of CNBC's news report for China's CCTV on June 3, Wednesday.
Welcome to CNBC Business Daily, I'm Qian Chen.
Airbag maker Takata faces a long hard road to recovery after its faulty products prompted the largest auto safety recall ever.
Various recalls have trickled out in recent years but it's the latest -- affecting 34 million vehicles, or one in seven cars on U.S. roads.
Here's the number of this auto recall by brands --
BWM
Chrysler
FORD
Honda
(VO congress tesimony)
Takata faces questions from a U.S. congressional panel about the recall on Tuesday.
In testimony prepared for the hearing, Kevin Kennedy, an executive at Takata's North American operation,
(VO Takata airbag)
said the company has identified the type of inflator in driver-side airbags that caused 67 to explode in the field, causing most of the serious injuries and all six deaths associated with the airbags.
Takata will stop making those inflators and will transition to a different version. Kennedy did not give details as to when that change will be complete.
(PAUSE)
[SCOTT UPHAM, Founder & CEO, Valient Market Research] "They did commit today eventually to facing out usage of that chemical, they competitors are actually producing about 50% of the replacement today, and they are not using ammonium nitrate, so it's a major concession for them to finally admit today that ammonium nitrate is problematic, and they have been trying to mitigate some of those issues over time."
Kevin Kennedy, the Japanese supplier's North American executive vice president, said at a congressional hearing on Tuesday that ammonium nitrate is "certainly a factor" in rupturing air-bag inflaters but added: "There are many, many other factors."
(WALL - Takata - 7312.T/Autoliv - ALV.N/Daicel - 4202.T)
Honda, one of Takata's biggest customers, has asked competitors Autoliv and Daicel to boost airbag production to help with the recalls.
Analysts say airbag problems have plagued Takata for at least a decade. And Takata's failure to act quickly and early enough caused huge damage which will take years and billions of dollars to repair.
[Karl Brauer, Kelley Blue Book, Senior Analyst] "Probably tough to call at the moment, but it's going to be a long time, and it will take a long time to replace all these bags and get straighten out, that's one thing that's almost ensuring their continuing existence, just keep them around so we can confirm what's going on, and have them help us replace all these bags, but long term, it's hard to believe they are gonna stay healthy and profitable company in this industry."
On top of that, Takata faces mounting costs of defending itself in class action lawsuits, paying compensation, and regulatory fines. Plus, any loss of confidence in Takata could hurt its business in coming years if customers switch to alternative suppliers.
CNBC's Qian Chen, reporting from Singapore.
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PENTHOUSE FLIPPING HAS REACHED AN ENTIRELY NEW LEVEL IN MANHATTAN. TROPHY APARTMENTS THAT SOLD A YEAR OR TWO AGO ARE NOW BACK ON THE MARKET FOR UP TO 50% MORE.
TAKE A LOOK AT PENTHOUSE AT WALKER TOWER IN CHELSEA. IT BROKE THE RECORD FOR HE MOST EXPENSIVE APARTMENT DOWNTOWN WHEN IT SOLD LAST YEAR FOR $51 MILLON. IT'S AROUND 6,000 SQUARE FEET, FIVE BEDROOMS, FIVE BATHS AND GREAT VIEWS. NOW IT'S BACK ON THE MARKET FOR $70 MILLION, SO A PRICE JUMP OF $19 MILLION IN ONE YEAR -- AND THE BROKER TELLS ME THERE HAS BEEN ABSLULTEY NO WORK DONE ON THE APARTMENT.
THIS PENTHOUSE IN SOHO SOLD FOR $10 MILLION ABOUT TWO YEARS AGO. ITS GOT THREE BEDROOMS, FOUR BATHS AND 23 FOOT CEILINGS NOW IT'S BACK ON THE MARKET FOR $19.8 MILLION -- SO BASICALLY DOUBLE.
EVEN RUPERT MURDOCH HAS JOINED THE FLIPPING GAME. HE BOUGHT THE TOP FOUR FLOORS OF ONE MADISON FOR $57 MILLION LAST YEAR. HE'S PUTTING THREE OF THOSE FLOORS BACK ON THE MARKET. THE PRICE: $72 MILLION. HE'S DONE A LOT OF WORK ON THE PLACE, AND THE NEIGHBORS INCLUDE TOM BRADY AND GISELLE. BUT THAT'S A PRICE HIKE OF $15 MILLION, FOR A SMALLER APARTMENT. SO ABOUT $9,500 PSF.
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