Japan's Takata may reverse policy and move to setup a compensation fund to pay damages in cases of injury or death because of faulty airbags made by the firm, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, drawing on a similar plan used by General Motors in 2014 related to deficient ignition switches.
The potential fund comes as Takata is expected to plead guilty to criminal conduct on Monday in a U.S. federal court in Detroit over actions related to the faulty airbags. It is also said to be using the services of lawyer Kenneth Feinberg, who has run similar funds in the past, including for Sept. 11, 2001, attack victims.
Takata will pay $1 billion as part of a broad settlement, with some of that money heading for the fund, the WSJ said, adding the use of the cash could be complex as the company has already settled some lawsuits and the scale of a recall for the company's products may reach 42 million vehicles with nearly 70 million Takata air bags.