Takata CEO drops off the face of the Earth as airbag crisis worsens

Shigehisa Takada, the CEO of Takata, a Japanese automotive component manufacturer that’s currently at the center of a massive airbag crisis that’s ensnaring some of the world’s biggest automakers, has failed to come forward to address the crisis, according to The Japan Times, which risks shaking investor confidence in the 81-year-old manufacturer’s prospects.

According to Jalopnik: “The last public showing by the head of the maker of air bags linked to four deaths was in June, at an annual shareholders’ meeting closed to the media. Since then, his only statement was issued seven days after the U.S. urged immediate fixes to cars recalled because of Takata products.”

“It’s not good for the CEO to keep silent in a critical situation like this,” said Kazuyuki Terao, Tokyo-based chief investment officer of Allianz Global Investors Japan, which sold all the Takata shares it held earlier this year, as quoted by Crain’s Detroit Business. “Takata’s share price may fall further if investors started to think they better sell while it’s still possible.”

“If people have died and it appears that the defects were your responsibility, obviously there is an immediate need for the board and management to publicly react,” said Nicholas Benes, head of The Board Director Training Institute of Japan. “The board has to jump on it immediately, to make sure the firm has a plan, takes action and continuously reports to the world the steps they’re taking.”