Honda says has no plans to offer new support to Takata

By Naomi Tajitsu

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Honda Motor Co Ltd on Wednesday repeated that it was not planning to extend new financial support to Takata Corp, as a costly global recall of the air bag maker's potentially faulty inflators broadens.

The Japanese auto parts supplier is facing additional pressure to step up its recall after U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday said the company manipulated data to cover up problems with its products.

Separately, the results of an investigation initiated by a group of 10 automakers including Honda on Tuesday showed that issues including humidity and design and manufacturing issues were the cause of the defective inflators, which have been linked to 10 deaths and more than 100 injuries.

As evidence mounts that responsibility for the faulty airbags may lie with Takata, the Japanese company so far is facing a massive bill to replace its inflators. At the moment, automakers have been paying recall costs.

"We've said this before, but we are not considering offering any financial support to Takata," Chief Executive Takahiro Hachigo said during a media conference to announce the company's strategy update.

While Honda vehicles account for roughly half of the 50 million vehicles recalled over the issue since 2008, Hachigo said Honda was one of many automakers which were affected by the inflator issue, and that it had no plans to deal with the issue on its own.

(Reporting by Naomi Tajitsu; Editing by Christopher Cushing)