Air bag maker Takata shakes up executives, cuts pay

Auto industry component supplier Takata announced an executive shakeup Wednesday in Japan as it continues to reel from the recall of millions of cars with air bags that can injure or kill car passengers when they deploy.

Takata offered an apology and says its president, Stephan Stocker, is leaving his position. His responsibilities will be assumed by Chairman Shigehisa Takada, the Associated Press reports. Stocker will remain on the company's board and Takata said in its statement that the move was not intended as a demotion. The change at the top is meant to "centralize and speed up decision making," according to spokeswoman Akiko Watanabe.

Executives are also taking pay cuts ranging from 20% to 50% in addition to the company's apology, the AP says.

At least 10 automakers in the U.S. have ordered recalls involving vehicles with Takata air bags, which can inflate with such force in a crash that they spew passengers with plastic and metal shrapnel. Four deaths have been blamed on the issue. At first the recalls were regional, confined to states where high humidity could exacerbate the problem, but more automakers in the U.S. are making their recalls national.