高田總裁首次爲問題氣囊公開道歉

TOKYO — For the first time since a crisis erupted over deadly defects in airbags made by his family’s company, the reclusive chief executive of the Japanese supplier Takata publicly addressed the issue on Thursday. He offered an apology but defended Takata’s products as fundamentally safe.

東京——自從因家族企業製造的安全氣囊被曝有致命缺陷的危機爆發以來，本週四，此前很少露面的日本高田公司總裁第一次公開回應此事。他對此致歉，但堅稱高田的產品從根本上來說是安全的。

“I apologize from my heart to those who have died or been injured,” the chief executive, Shigehisa Takada, said after bowing deeply in a show of remorse. “I feel a heavy responsibility.”

“我向因此死亡或受傷的人表示由衷的歉意，”社長高田重久在表示悔恨地深鞠躬後說，“我感到責任非常沉重。”

Yet Mr. Takada, the 49-year-old grandson of the company’s founder, did not explain why he had remained all but absent during the crisis that has been at full boil for more than a year.

但是公司創始人的孫子，49歲的高田仍未解釋他爲何在危機持續的一年多時間裏一直置身事外。

Even after Toyota and Nissan said on Thursday that they would recall 2.86 million more vehicles equipped with Takata airbags than first announced, Mr. Takada dismissed suggestions that he should resign over what has become the largest automobile safety recall in history. So far, about 35 million vehicles worldwide have been affected.

甚至在豐田和日產於週四宣佈，將召回比第一次宣佈時還要多286萬輛的配備高田安全氣囊的車輛之後，高田面對史上最大規模的一次因安全原因導致的汽車召回，仍然拒絕辭職。目前，全世界共有大約3500萬輛汽車受到影響。

Takata admitted last month that faults in its airbags could cause their inflaters to explode with too much force when they deploy, endangering the drivers and passengers that the safety devices are intended to protect. At least eight deaths and 130 injuries have been linked to the defect.

高田公司於上個月承認安全氣囊的缺陷可能導致增壓泵因工作時的過大壓力而爆炸，從而危及安全氣囊原本應該保護的駕駛員和乘客。至少有八個死亡案例和130個受傷案例被認爲與這一缺陷有關。

Mr. Takada shed little new light on the nature of the defects, and he acknowledged that Takata was making slow progress with its investigation. The company said it had identified manufacturing failures, which it says have since been resolved, as being responsible for faults in about 10 million airbag inflaters.

高田並未對缺陷的本質作出新的解釋，同時承認高田公司的調查進展緩慢。公司聲稱已經確認了此前稱已經解決的生產環節的故障，這些故障導致了大約1000萬個安全氣囊增壓泵的缺陷。

Defects traced to the manufacturing problems, mainly careless handling of inflater components at two North American factories, were called “alpha cases” inside the company, Takata executives said on Thursday.

高田的經營主管人員於週四時說，可追溯到生產環節的缺陷在公司內部被稱作“阿爾法案例”。這些生產問題主要是指北美兩家工廠處理增壓泵部件時的疏忽。

Questions still surround what the company calls “beta cases,” involving inflaters that were not subject to any known mishandling during production but that ruptured anyway. Prolonged exposure to heat and humidity is suspected to be a contributing factor to the failures, but Takata said it was still trying to pinpoint the exact cause or causes.

疑問仍圍繞着被公司稱爲“貝塔案例”的情況，即部分增壓泵在生產環節中未受到任何已知操作錯誤影響時仍然發生了破裂。長時間暴露在高溫度和高溼度中被認爲是導致故障的一個因素，但高田公司稱仍在試圖查明確切的原因。

Mr. Takada and other executives rejected the theory, put forward by some experts, that the basic design of Takata’s inflaters was dangerous because the company uses an explosive propellant, ammonium nitrate, that other airbag manufacturers have avoided because it is deemed potentially unstable.

高田和其他經營主管人員否認了部分專家提出的觀點。這些專家認爲高田公司的增壓泵的基本設計就很危險，因爲公司使用了爆炸性的推進劑——硝酸銨，這是其他安全氣囊製造商因其潛在的不穩定性而避免使用的物質。

“We have been working with ammonium nitrate for more than 10 years, and have tested it in a variety of ways,” Mr. Takada said. “As far as I’m concerned, it is safe and reliable.”

“我們已經使用硝酸銨超過10年，並已通過多種方式進行了測試，”高田說，“我認爲它是安全可靠的。”

One automaker, Fiat Chrysler, told the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation that it would no longer use Takata inflaters in replacements for driver’s side airbags in its cars, citing Takata’s use of ammonium nitrate.

汽車製造商菲亞特克萊斯勒公司告知參議院商務、科學和運輸委員會，因高田公司對硝酸銨的使用，公司將不會在更換駕駛員的側安全氣囊時使用高田公司的增壓泵。