The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration insisted Tennessee-based automotive supplier ARC Automotive Inc. recall 67 million airbag inflators made through January 2018 that have ruptured during crashes — a move ARC rejected Friday.
The federal safety agency says the rupturing inflators can cause injury or death. Vehicles from BMW, General Motors, Hyundai Motor, Kia Motors and Stellantis use the device.
Certainly, General Motors seems convinced. The company said Friday it will recall almost 1 million vehicles it built with the inflators, after the inflator on a 2017 Chevrolet Traverse ruptured during airbag deployment, inflicting facial injuries to driver in March.
The recall affects driver’s-side airbag on 994,763 vehicles built from 2014 through 2017, including the Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse, and GMC Acadia. The company has issued recalls for vehicles in the past for this problem, including the 2010-11 Chevrolet Malibu, 2008-17 Buick Enclave, 2015 GMC Acadia, and 2013-17 Chevrolet Traverse.
Other automakers have issued recalls as well.
BMW recalled 2017 X5 sDrive35i, X5 xDrive35i, X5 xDrive50i, X5 xDrive35d, and X5 xDrive40e models while Ford did the same for 2017 Mustangs and F-150s. Volkswagen Group has also recalled certain 2016 Volkswagen and Audi models as well.
Yet it remains one of the longest-running defect investigations at NHTSA, one that’s taken eight years.
What the agency said
In a letter to ARC Automotive’s Vice President of Product Integrity, Steve Gold, NHTSA said that after the inflator has killed a vehicle occupant, “multiple additional ARC inflator field ruptures involving the forceful propulsion of metal fragments into the passenger compartment.”
The agency goes on to state that, “NHTSA has tentatively concluded that a defect related to motor vehicle safety exists” In violation of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act.
The agency states that rupture occurs when the airbags inflator has excessive weld slag as a result of its manufacture. When the airbag detonates, the weld slag and other debris follow the airflow out, injuring or killing occupants.
Its airbag inflators that have led to the recall of more than 100 million Takata airbags worldwide, which have killed, not saved, more than 30 people — 24 of them in the U.S. As a result, Takata executives were criminally charged, and the Japanese supplier was forced to declare bankruptcy.
Which vehicles are affected
The letter goes on to state that incidents in which the part ruptured. The Incidents started to arise in 2009 when a driver side airbag inflator ruptured in a 2002 Chrysler Town and Country minivan. It was followed in 2014 by a 2004 Kia Optima, in 2017 by a 2010 Chevrolet Malibu, and in 2021 in a 2015 Chevrolet Traverse, which ended up killing the driver.
But the problems continued in 2021 with a 2015 Chevrolet Traverse and 2016 Audi A3 e-Tron, and in 2023 in a 2017 Chevrolet Traverse. There were even two incidents outside the United States, a 2016 Canadian accident in a 2009 Hyundai Elantra that killed the driver, and a crash in Turkey in a 2015 Volkswagen Golf that resulted in no injuries. In all, about 6,400 vehicles have been recalled, a small amount considering the number produced.
“The subject inflators pose an unreasonable risk of death or injury that may result from an item of motor vehicle equipment that, when not defective, is designed to save lives,” NHTSA states.
What happens next
ARC had until Friday to respond, at which point, the company refused, stating that it wasn’t able to prove the item defective after manufacturing 67 million of them during the part’s 18-year lifetime. Of those, 11 million were manufactured under license by Delphi; the rest were built by ARC.
According to ARC, inflators taken from destroyed or other cars have been put through a number of testing programs, but according to the company, not a single rupture has happened. The company goes on to state the 12 manufacturers that employ the inflators in their airbags have detected a defect, but the company didn’t address why the recalls already enacted were necessary.
“We disagree with NHTSA’s new sweeping request when extensive field testing has found no inherent defect,” the company said in a statement.