Takata airbags also a worry for Audi
01/08/2016
In 2015, Ferrari announced that it was recalling 2,400 vehicles because of a fault in the leather covering of airbags on the driver’s side. However, the problem was not with the leather itself and was not the fault of tanners.
Takata told Ferrari that it had discovered a “production nonconformance issue” with the airbags, but said these had reached its assembly plants pre-assembled by a tier-two supplier. Specifically, it explained that the problem was a fault in the way the leather had been attached to a plastic shell. This attachment of the leather to the plastic takes place downstream of the tannery.
Now Audi has revealed in its half-yearly financial report that one of the reasons for a decline in profits is that it has set aside €133 million “in connection with Takata airbags possibly susceptible to faults”.
Audi had already announced delivery of 950,000 vehicles in the first six months of this year. It followed this up at the end of July with an announcement that its revenues for the January-June 2016 period were €30.1 billion, an increase year on year of just over 1.1%. Operating profit for the period this year, however, were down by 8.5%, reaching just less than €2.7 billion before special items. Earnings were reduced by special items totalling €265 million. The provision Audi has had to make for possible problems with Takata airbags accounts for half of this.
Finance director, Axel Strotbek, said on announcing the figures that Audi is making use of its financial strength to “shape our future with our own earnings”.
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