New cars use dubious air bagsDETROIT — Four automakers are selling new vehicles with Takata air bag inflators even though the devices are potentially defective and likely to be recalled within a few years, according to a Senate report.Some Fiat Chrysler, Mitsubishi, Toyota and Volkswagen vehicles from the 2016 and 2017 model years are equipped with a type of inflator that is prone to rupture and presents a potential danger to drivers and passengers, Democrats on the Senate Commerce Committee said in the report issued Wednesday.Takata has agreed to recall about 69 million air bag inflators in the U.S. by the end of 2019. The new model years aren’t yet covered by the recall, so the automakers can legally sell the cars. But at least one lawmaker thinks that decision is a risky one for car buyers.“Consumers are buying new cars not realizing that they’re going to be recalled,” said Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida, the Commerce committee’s top Democrat. Nelson wants the automakers to replace the inflators before the cars are sold so they don’t have to be recalled.

Auto sales in U.S. take fall in MayDETROIT — U.S. car buyers are tapping the brakes.Sales of cars, trucks and SUVs fell 6 percent last month, to 1.54 million, according to AutoData Corp. It was the biggest monthly drop in nearly six years. The decline was unusual for May, a month when Americans typically buy cars ahead of summer road trips.Most major automakers reported lower sales. General Motors’ sales fell 18 percent, Ford’s slipped 6 percent and Toyota’s sales dropped 10 percent compared with the same month a year ago. Volkswagen’s sales sank 17 percent. Fiat Chrysler and Subaru bucked the trend, with sales up 1 percent each, and Hyundai’s sales jumped 12 percent.The declines could be a sign that U.S. auto sales are finally reaching a plateau after six straight years of growth — a streak not seen since the 1920s.Sales rose 6 percent between 2014 and 2015 but are only up 1.2 percent so far this year.

U.S. bank earnings decline 2% in 1QWASHINGTON — The impact of low oil prices has continued to hobble the finances of U.S. banks, which posted increased loan losses in the first quarter driven by a huge jump in delinquent energy loans.U.S. bank earnings dipped 2 percent in the first three months of the year to $39.1 billion from $39.8 billion a year earlier, data issued Wednesday by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. showed.Banks posted the biggest quarterly increase — 65.1 percent — in commercial and industrial loans that are 90 days or more past due since the first quarter of 1987.A large portion of the problem loans came in the energy sector, where low oil prices hurt oil and gas producers and made it harder for them to repay their loans.Big banks were most affected.By The Associated Press