Tens of millions of air bag inflators pose safety risk, possible recall looming: US auto safety regulators

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said people driving tens of millions of vehicles in the U.S. are still at risk of injury or death due to unsafe front and passenger air bag inflators manufactured by ARC Automotive Inc. and Delphi Automotive Systems LLC.

The supplemental initial decision released Wednesday says approximately 51 million subject inflators were manufactured and installed in approximately 49 million vehicles in the U.S. Those subject inflators were incorporated into air bag modules manufactured by five air bag module suppliers and used in vehicles by 13 manufacturers. 

“These air bag inflators are at risk of rupturing when the vehicle’s air bag is commanded to deploy, causing metal debris to be forcefully ejected into the occupant compartment of the vehicle,” the NHTSA said. “A rupturing air bag inflator poses an unreasonable risk of serious injury or death to vehicle occupants.”

Seven people have been injured and one person killed by rupturing air bag inflators in the U.S., the federal agency said.

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The investigation into ARC and Delphi started back in 2015 after the NHTSA received reports of ruptures in vehicles.

During a hearing in October, the NHTSA argued that inflators produced by the two air bag manufacturers should be recalled because they may rupture and send metal fragments flying. After automakers raised objections in December, the agency did not immediately finalize its decision.

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The agency said on Wednesday it was reiterating and updating its initial determination first issued in September and giving automakers another 30 days to respond before it could formally demand recalls.

If the recall proceeds, it would be the second-largest in U.S. history.

The inflators in question had been used in vehicles produced from 2000 through early 2018, according to Reuters. The manufacturers listed are BMW, FCA, Ford, General Motors, Hyundai, Jaguar Land Rover, Kia, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Tesla, Toyota and Volkswagen. 

Delphi Automotive, part of Autoliv, manufactured approximately 11 million of the inflators through 2004 under a licensing agreement with ARC, which manufactured the remaining 40 million.

“Common sense demands acknowledging that metal shrapnel projecting at high speeds and causing injury or death presents an unreasonable risk to safety,” NHTSA said.

Reuters contributed to this report.