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By Bloomberg

Honda Motor Co. will expand its recalls for faulty air bags made by Takata Corp. globally and provide financial support to the supplier if necessary, the Nikkei newspaper reported.

Honda will ensure Takata can continue operating as allowing it to fail would create trouble for automakers, Nikkei reported, citing an interview with Honda President Takanobu Ito. Akemi Ando, a Honda spokeswoman, said the Tokyo-based company hasn’t made any decisions related to providing financial help to Takata.

“Honda will keep cooperating with Takata until all the necessary parts are replaced,” she said by phone.

The number of Honda vehicles called back for repair will double in the U.S. and increase by a total of about 1 million in China, Japan and elsewhere, bringing the tally to 13 million, according to Nikkei. At least 10 automakers have recalled cars worldwide to replace Takata air bags that can deploy with too much force and spew metal parts at passengers.

Honda, which is Takata’s biggest customer and holds 1.2 percent of its shares, is willing to shoulder part of the added costs from the wider recalls to get to the bottom of its supplier’s air-bag problems, the newspaper cited Ito as saying.

Takata’s shares climbed as much as 7.8 percent and traded up 0.4 percent as of the 11:30 a.m. break in Tokyo trading. Honda slid about 0.4 percent, compared with the 0.8 percent decline for the benchmark Topix index.

Takata spokesman Toyohiro Hishikawa said he couldn’t immediately comment about the Nikkei report.

Japan Changes

Japan Transport Minister Akihiro Ohta said Honda notified the government today of its plan to expand recalls in Japan. The ministry and Honda share an understanding that prompt action is needed to address the anxiety of consumers, he said.

While Japan doesn’t have immediate plans to change its recall system, which requires recalls only after manufacturers determine a root cause of their defects, the ministry will discuss whether to modify regulations, Ohta said.

Honda was planning to widen recalls globally following an expansion of its safety campaigns in the U.S. of driver-side air bags, Atsushi Ohara, a company spokesman, said yesterday. Takata air bags have been linked to five fatalities in the U.S. and the death of a pregnant woman and her unborn child in Malaysia.

A rift in Honda and Takata’s relationship emerged last week when the carmaker turned to Stockholm-based Autoliv Inc. to supply replacement air-bag parts for recalled vehicles. Honda also said it was negotiating with Japan’s Daicel Corp. to secure more of the components.

The carmaker volunteered to conduct a nationwide recall to replace driver-side safety devices, hours after Takata snubbed a deadline set by the U.S. auto regulator to take similar action.

Toyota Motor Corp., Honda and other carmakers have called for hiring an independent testing firm to study Takata air-bag inflators and supplement the supplier’s own investigation into the root cause of its devices rupturing.