TOKYO -- Takata's impending bankruptcy filing in Japan may finally bring some closure to the company's drawn-out air bag debacle. But with many people having died nearly a decade on since the problem first surfaced, Japanese cars' sterling reputation for safety and quality has taken a hit.
Honda Motor -- the Tokyo-based company's biggest customer -- recalled its vehicles over related issues back in 2008. The first fatality in the U.S. caused by the rupture of a Takata air bag inflator was reported the following year. But it took until December 2014 for Honda to announce a nationwide investigative recall in America.
