(Bloomberg) -- Takata Corp. President Shigehisa Takadamade his first public apology for the eight deaths and hundreds ofinjuries related to the company’s air bags dating back more than adecade.

Takada, 49, bowed and apologized at a press briefing in Tokyoafter the company’s annual shareholders meeting Thursday. He saidthe auto-parts maker is considering ways to help victims, includingby setting up a fund to compensate them.

“I apologize for not having been able to communicate directlyearlier, and also apologize for people who died or were injured,”Takada said. “I feel sorry our products hurt customers, despite thefact that we are a supplier of safety products.”

The grandson of the Japanese company’s founder spoke hours afterToyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co., two of Takata’s biggestcustomers, recalled another 3 million vehicles with air bagsproduced by the supplier. All fatalities relatedto Takata air bags, which can deploy too forcefully andshoot shrapnel at vehicle occupants, have occurred in Honda MotorCo. cars, and the devices have injured more than 100.

Takata will continue to use ammonium nitrate as thepropellant that inflates its air bags through a chemical reaction,Senior Vice President Hiroshi Shimizu said. The company hasproduced more than 200 million inflators that use the material,cited by at least one automaker as a cause for safety concern.

Ammonium Nitrate

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV said this week it is switchingsuppliers to replace driver-side air bag inflators madeby Takata in more than 4 million recalled vehicles. Thedecision was related to choosing a safe chemical propellant insteadof Takata’s ammonium nitrate, Scott Kunselman, FCA’s head ofvehicle safety for North America, said Tuesday during a Senatehearing in Washington.

Takata, carmakers and regulators are still investigating theroot cause behind why the company’s air bag inflators are rupturingand shattering metal and plastic parts. The company has said itbelieves replacement air-bag components it’s making are safe.

Some shareholders who attended the meeting criticized Takata’shandling of the crisis. Masahiro Yamazaki, 46, from Yamanashiprefecture, said the company’s president was unable to say when itsinvestigation will be resolved.

“Takada said this is going to drag on as the root cause hasn’tbeen found,” said Yamazaki, who invested in Takata lastyear and owns 100 shares. “Honestly, I’m worried they will gounder, and they did nothing to ease my concern today.”

Root Cause

Takada said at the press conference that he didn’t know how longit will take for the company to discover the root cause for thedefects. He has previously apologized in written statements andprint advertisements in U.S. newspapers.

Takata has fallen 38 percent in Tokyo trading in the last12 months, while Japan’s benchmark Topix index gained 33%. Takadaand his mother, Akiko, own about 5% of the Tokyo-based company’sshares. Another 52% is owned by TKJ KK, an investment firm thatlists the family as board members.

The air-bag maker faced pressure earlier this week from U.S.Senator Richard Blumenthal to set up a victims’ compensation fund,similar to what General Motors Co. established for people killed orinjured due to faulty ignition switches in 2.56 million recalledcars. Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, called for the company torespond to his request within two weeks.

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