Honda Motor Co. identified problems with Takata airbag inflators and requested changes to them as early as 2009, according to a new report.
But Honda, Reuters reported, did not notify U.S. regulators about the issue despite federal requirements that automakers disclose safety risks and detail steps taken to prevent them.
Honda, which confirmed the timeline after Reuters reviewed internal Takata documents, argued that the request did not highlight a broad design flaw and therefore did not fall under the disclosure requirements.
Legal experts, however, disputed that characterization and told Reuters that the revelation could pose problems for both companies in dozens of pending state and federal lawsuits.
Takata airbag inflators that deploy using ammonium nitrate can explode and send shrapnel into vehicle interiors.
As of August 2009, when Honda sought the design change, four injuries and one fatality were attributed to airbag inflators in the company's vehicles.
To date, federal authorities blamed the inflators for nine deaths in the U.S. and dozens of injuries.
Some 24 million vehicles were recalled to replace defective airbags since 2008. Honda recalled 8.5 million, but Reuters noted that the vast majority were recalled in 2014 or later.
A Honda spokesman said that the redesign worked and that the company implemented it in its cars beginning in 2011. The expanded recalls, he added, came after the company became aware of additional problems.
Honda, formerly Takata's largest customer, dropped the auto parts supplier last year amid allegations that it manipulated and misrepresented testing data.
