Cash-equivalent gift cards of $150 or $50 will be mailed to about 40,000 Arizona consumers with defective Takata airbags, but the cards can be activated only after a consumer takes his or her vehicle to a Honda dealership for free airbag replacement.
Whether consumers get a $150 or $50 gift card depends on the specific type of inflator used in their airbags.
Honda previously reached a settlement with a multi-state group, but Arizona chose not to take part because the settlement did not provide any restitution or incentives to get dangerous airbags fixed, Brnovich said.
The Arizona attorney general alleged that Honda should have warned consumers purchasing its vehicles about the airbag issues by September 2012, but consumers did not receive notice until November 2015, when federal regulators fined Takata $200 million. Takata filed for bankruptcy in June 2017.
Besides the restitution and gift-card incentives, Honda agreed to pay $650,000 for outreach to inform consumers of the recall, $100,000 to the state for other consumer outreach efforts and a $500,000 payment to the state.
Honda also agreed to refrain from deceptive or misleading advertising and set up a system for employees to report safety concerns to management.
Contact senior reporter David Wichner at [email protected] or 573-4181. On Twitter: @dwichner. On Facebook: Facebook.com/DailyStarBiz
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