New documents reveal Takata knew about airbag defects in 2003.

The Wall Street Journal (9/23, Spector, Subscription Publication, 6.37M) reports that a report released Friday shows that Japanese supplier Takata Corp. knew about the connection between its airbag design and safety risks back in 2003 but did not alert the authorities about tests in Switzerland that found the airbags could be deadly. A spokesperson for Takata said Friday that the company sends is “deepest” condolences to all “those who have been affected by the inflater failures.”

        Reuters (9/23, Shepardson, Lienert) reports “Takata also said in the report that its U.S. arm, not the parent company, was largely responsible for designing, testing and producing tens of millions of defective air bag inflators,” Reuters (9/23) also reports in a brief story. Law360 (9/23, Guarnaccia, 19K) also reports.