Who owns key safety systems

The agreement on Wednesday marks the denouement in the drawn-out demise of family-run Takata. Most Takata air-bag inflators contain a chemical compound which could explode with excessive force, spraying shrapnel into vehicle compartments, which have been linked to numerous deaths and injuries, mainly in the United States.

The company has struggled to churn out replacement parts after a global recall of tens of millions of inflators. In it pleaded guilty to criminal wrongdoing over its inflators, including submitting false inflator test results to automaker clients to induce them to buy its defective products.

As part of its bankruptcy, Takata has been broken down into three parts: one holding its good assets, including operations for seat belts and other safety systems which were acquired by KSS; operations to manufacture replacement inflators until the global recall is complete; and an entity which will oversee claim payments and be wound down eventually.

Breed Corp. Company founder Allen K. Breed was born in in Chicago. According to Inc. Allen Breed would himself become an acclaimed innovator. Breed graduated from Northwestern University in Five years later, after working for RCA as an engineer, he launched a defense-oriented joint venture, Waltham Engineering, with Gruen Watch Company, a maker of gears.

Breed left that company in after a falling out with investors. Breed developed an electromechanical airbag sensor using his fuse technology in However, the auto industry did not embrace the airbag concept until prompted by a mids federal mandate to develop passive restraint systems.

Breed delivered its first automotive crash sensor in The airbag sensor business was spun off as Breed Automotive Corp. Within a couple of years, Breed would be supplying airbag sensors for most Ford and General Motors automobiles. In , Congress decreed that all new cars for sale in the United States be equipped with airbags by During the year, the company's name was changed to Breed Technologies, Inc.

Breed accounted for 59 percent of the airbag sensor market for U. It had begun to shift manufacturing there three years earlier to a former Sooner Defense plant. The rural location on a acre campus was suited to the company's new business of making airbag inflators, which incorporated small amounts of explosives. In , the company more than doubled the size of its facilities in Florida to , square feet.

In the mids, Breed offered airbag-equipped replacement steering wheels as retrofits for 16 different car models made between and Breed tapped Midas Muffler as a retail distribution partner, starting with a test run in Florida.

Unlike most airbag systems, the retrofits included the crash sensor in the steering wheel itself, rather than up front in the engine compartment. Jaguar, Fiat, and Toyota used this system as original equipment on certain models; Jeep began using this all-mechanical, self-contained airbag system in its Cherokees during the model year. Breed airbag sensors were found in many brands of vehicle, including Ford and General Motors which together made up 72 percent of Breed's sales , Mazda, Nissan, Fiat, Toyota, Chrysler, and Jaguar.

Not only were airbags becoming more prevalent among passive restraint systems the other main type being automated seat belts , but the market for cars and trucks was booming in the United States. However, the market was becoming more competitive, with Ford and GM developing their own electronic airbag sensors to replace Breed's electromechanical ones.

Breed had developed its own electronic sensor, and was working on the next generation of inflators as well. Breed set out on an acquisition drive in order to become a supplier of complete automotive safety systems. In August , the company acquired Hamlin, Inc. The next year, Breed bought circuit board manufacturer Italtest, S. Holding, S. MOMO , a maker of steering wheels and alloy wheels.