Japan's Takata denies $24bn cost of airbag recall report

More than 28 million airbag inflators have been recalled so far

Takata Corp has denied it has calculated the cost of the global recall of its faulty airbags, after a report alleged it could be as much as 2.7 trillion yen ($24bn; £16.7bn).

On Wednesday Bloomberg reported the figure citing unnamed sources.

Takata has acknowledged some airbag inflators explode with too much force and spray metal shrapnel into the car.

The fault has been linked to the loss of ten lives globally, according the US traffic safety authority.

Takata's shares plunged 20% after the report which called it the "auto industry's biggest recall ever", but were in positive territory on Thursday.

"We have not announced anything to the effect of the report, and it is untrue that we have calculated the estimated costs (of the recall)," the Tokyo-based company said in a statement.

It also said that it was difficult to determine the recall cost given the investigation into the cause of the exploding airbag inflators was still underway.

In a worst-case scenario, Takata's recall would involve 287.5 million airbag inflators, Bloomberg reported.

The latest official figures provided on 22 January said the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) had recalled more than 5 million inflators, bringing the total recall to more than 28 million inflators in the US.

In November, Takata agreed to pay a $70m fine for safety violations and may face deferred penalties of up to $130m.