U.S. demands recall of 67 million air bag inflators
Send a link to a friend
[May 13, 2023]
By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
(NHTSA) demanded the recall of 67 million air bag inflators because it
believes there is a safety defect, but auto supplier ARC Automotive Inc
rejected the U.S. regulator's request, documents released on Friday
show.
The auto safety agency said the inflators pose an unreasonable risk of
death or injury.
Even as ruptures mount, "ARC has not made a defect determination that
would require a recall of this population," NHTSA said in its demand
letter to the Tennessee-based company. "Air bag inflators that project
metal fragments into vehicle occupants, rather than properly inflating
the attached air bag, create an unreasonable risk of death and injury."
ARC air bag inflators are in General Motors, Chrysler-parent Stellantis,
BMW, Hyundai Motor, Kia Corp and other vehicles. GM on Friday agreed to
recall nearly 1 million vehicles with ARC air bag inflators after a
rupture in March resulted in facial injuries to a driver.
ARC rejected NHTSA's tentative conclusion that a defect exists saying it
is based upon seven field ruptures in the United States. NHTSA "then
asks ARC to prove a negative – that the 67 million inflators in this
population are not defective" that were produced over 18 years. The
company said it will continue to work with NHTSA and automakers to
evaluate ruptures.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/May/13/images/ads/current/chicagost_sda_SHG_2023.png)
NHTSA in 2016 upgraded a probe of more than 8 million air bag inflators
made by ARC after a driver was killed in Canada in a Hyundai vehicle and
has been investigating more than seven years.
NHTSA initially opened an investigation in July 2015 following two
reported injuries.
NHTSA said through January 2018, 67 million of the
subject driver and passenger frontal air bag inflators. Delphi, acquired
by Autoliv, manufactured approximately
11 million of the inflators under a licensing agreement with ARC, which
manufactured the remainder of the inflators.
[to top of second column]
|
![](../images/051323PIX/news_m85.jpg)
A nighttime view of vehicle traffic
along the Interstate 405 (I-405) highway in Carson, California,
U.S., March 11, 2022. Picture taken March 11, 2022. Picture taken
with a drone and long exposure. REUTERS/Bing Guan
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/May/13/images/ads/current/debbiesfloral_lda_MOTHERSDAY_2022.png)
ARC noted there have been several testing programs of inflators
collected from scrapped or other vehicles but not a single rupture
occurred during these tests.
The 67 million inflators were produced for the U.S. market on
multiple production lines across different plants and used by 12
vehicle manufacturers in dozens of models. "None of these
manufacturers has concluded that a systemic defect exists across
this broad population," ARC said.
NHTSA said that ARC in January 2018 completed installation of
devices on inflator manufacturing lines used to detect excessive
weld slag or other debris. NHTSA said it is unaware of issues in ARC
inflators produced since then. ARC said weld slag has not been
confirmed as the root cause in the ruptures.
NHTSA has been scrutinizing air bag inflator ruptures for more than
15 years.
Over the last decade, more than 67 million Takata air bag inflators
have been recalled in the United States and more than 100 million
worldwide, the biggest auto safety callback in history.
More than 30 deaths worldwide -- including 24 U.S. deaths -- and
hundreds of injuries in various automakers' vehicles since 2009 are
linked to Takata air bag inflators that can explode, unleashing
metal shrapnel inside cars and trucks. The latest death was in July
2022 in a 2010 Chrysler 300, one of three Stellantis deaths in a
seven-month period.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Leslie Adler and David
Gregorio)
[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |