- America’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is close to announcing a huge recall of up to 51 million airbags it claims are dangerous.
- The NHTSA says airbags made by ARC Automotive and Delphi Automotive could accidentally explode and should not be in use.
- GM has already recalled almost 1 million cars with ARC inflators, but Stellantis, VW and Hyundai vehicles are also affected.
The auto industry is on the brink of another colossal airbag-related recall nightmare that could result in up to 51 million inflators needing replacement. America’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration this week doubled down on its September 2023 decision that the inflators under investigation are dangerous, making a recall increasingly likely.
NHTSA investigators say the inflators made by ARC Automotive and Delphi Automotive could accidentally explode sending shrapnel in the direction of drivers and passengers, and has already identified several cases, some fatal, where this has happened. The agency says the faulty inflators are responsible for at least seven injuries and two deaths in the US and Canada since 2009, and at least one death outside of the US.
Related: NHTSA Wants To Recall 52 Million Airbag Inflators In The U.S.
During testing the NHTSA discovered that some inflators contained insufficient welds, or the canister intended to inflate the airbag in a crash contained too much pressure because a vent became clogged with material from the welding process.
“The overwhelming majority of the subject inflators will not rupture upon deployment,” the NHSTA said. “However, based on the evidence linking past ruptures to the same friction welding process, all of the subject inflators are at risk of rupturing.”
GM has already issued a recall for airbags it believes could be fitted with dangerous inflators, telling almost 1 million drivers to return to their dealers in order to have the airbags updated. BMW, Ford and VW have also issued related recalls, but many more automakers could also be caught up in the problem, including Stellantis, Mercedes, Porsche, JLR, Maserati, Kia and Hyundai.
ARC and some of the automakers, such as Stellantis, aren’t in favor of a recall, claiming that the low incidence of ruptures doesn’t warrant such widespread action. Delphi sold its business to Sweden’s Autoliv in 2009 and the NHTSA is till trying to work out who would carry the can for its mess-up, Bloomberg reports.
The NHTSA has now given the automakers and suppliers 30 days to submit their thoughts on the matter, but we don’t fancy their chances of avoiding a giant recall.