The death raises to five the number of U.S. fatalities tied to air bag inflators suspected of spewing shrapnel when deployed in a crash.

The U.S. government demanded automakers expand recalls involving faulty Takata Corp. air bags, prompting pushback by the Japanese supplier, which said problems with the devices were limited to humid areas.

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation into an alleged Infiniti EX35 defect after two nearly identical complaints of total steering loss.

U.S. senators are calling for a criminal investigation into the Japanese auto-parts maker at the center of an air-bag recall crisis.

The number of fatalities tied to the General Motors Co. ignition-switch defect has more than doubled from initial company estimates, based on the latest data from a victims compensation program.

More than seven years before General Motors Co. began the biggest wave of auto recalls in history, an investigator for Vanguard Car Rental USA Inc. contacted the carmaker about a fatal rollover crash in California.

General Motors Co.s Chevrolet Volt passed the U.S. insurance industrys toughest frontal crash test, while Nissan Motor Co.s battery-electric Leaf couldnt make the grade.

General Motors Co.s Chevrolet Volt passed the U.S. insurance industrys toughest frontal crash test, while Nissan Motor Co.s battery-electric Leaf couldnt make the grade.