Honda Boss Stepping Down Over Air Bag Deaths

TOKYO - Japanese carmaker Honda (IW 1000/29) said Monday that its president was stepping down as the firm grapples with an exploding air bag crisis linked to at least five deaths that also led to the recall of millions of vehicles.

The firm said the move was squarely aimed at strengthening its global expansion strategy with a younger leader.

But the departure of company veteran Takanobu Ito, 61, comes at a difficult time for Japan's number-three automaker and for parts maker Takata, whose air bags are at the center of the scandal.

The maker of the Civic sedan said Ito, who joined Honda in 1978, would remain on its board, while managing director Takahiro Hachigo, 55, would step into the top job after a shareholders' meeting in June.

Takata has been plunged into a public relations crisis as it faces lawsuits, calls for a criminal probe and accusations of "deception and obfuscation" over the deadly defect that has seen air bags deploy with excessive explosive power, spraying potentially fatal shrapnel into the vehicle.

One U.S. woman's death was initially investigated as a murder due to her grisly injuries until police switched their focus to the vehicle airbag.

On Friday U.S. regulators said they were fining Takata $14,000 a day, over claims it was stonewalling the investigation into the company's defective airbags.

In Tokyo, Honda shares slipped 0.91% to 3,928.5 yen with Ito's resignation announced after markets had closed.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2015