Japan's Takata said Thursday its chief had formally resigned after the completion of a takeover by a US firm, bringing the curtain down on the crisis-hit brand tainted by a deadly airbag scandal. The takeover resulted in the extinction of the 85-year-old Takata brand, with CEO's Shigehisa Takada grandfather starting the company in 1933 as a textile maker. "We again express sincere apologies to our customers, creditors, shareholders and many others for the great deal of inconvenience related to our airbags," Takata said in a statement announcing the resignation.
Takata's name is now synonymous with the deadly airbag scandal which affected almost every major global automaker, including Toyota and General Motors, and triggered the auto industry's biggest-ever safety recall. Last June, the firm filed for bankruptcy protection with liabilities reportedly exceeding one trillion yen ($9 billion).