DETROIT– US auto safety regulators say they stand by their conclusion that more than 50 million airbag inflators are dangerous and should no longer be used, marking another step toward a large-scale recall.
Wednesday’s decision by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration concerns the inflation devices made by ARC Automotive Inc. in Tennessee and another parts maker. It comes despite opposition from automakers.
The inflators in approximately 49 million vehicles from 13 manufacturers can explode and throw shards in drivers and passengers.
The agency said the air pumps have been responsible for at least seven injuries and two deaths in the United States and Canada since 2009.
According to NHTSA, seven of the airbags in the U.S. have ruptured. Each airbag component showed evidence of inadequate welds or excessive pressure in a cylinder designed to contain the explosion and inflate the airbags in a crash.
In addition, the agency said 23 of the inflators ruptured during testing with causes similar to the inflators that burst in the field. Four inflators also ruptured outside the U.S., killing at least one person, the agency said.
“It is certainly true that the vast majority of affected inflators will not rupture upon deployment,” NHSTA wrote. “However, based on the evidence that previous ruptures have been linked to the same friction welding process, all affected inflators are at risk of rupture.”
Several automakers argued in public comments that NHTSA found no safety defect and that none of the millions of airbags in their vehicles ruptured.
But NHTSA said the only way to know which of the ARC-designed inflators will explode is if they deploy in a crash. The federal Motor Vehicle Safety Act “does not allow such a failure to go undetected,” the agency said.
The agency will again take comments for 30 days and then use them to make a final decision on whether to proceed with the mass recall. The government could sue ARC in an attempt to force a recall.
A message seeking comment was left Wednesday from ARC of Knoxville.
Regulators asked ARC to recall the inflators in April 2023, but the company refused to issue a full recall, clearing the way for a potential lawsuit.
NHTSA held a public hearing on the dispute last October, where it appeared poised to request the recall due to a production error which could send metal shards flying through the interior of a car.
At the heart of the problem is the metal inflator canister inside the airbag device. The government claims that a critical flaw could cause this canister to “rupture” on impact. Instead of releasing pressurized gas to inflate the airbag, the canister actually explodes, sending metal fragments flying into the vehicle at head height.
NHTSA alleges that byproducts from welding during manufacturing can clog a vent in the can that is designed to release gas to quickly inflate airbags. In the defective products, pressure can build up so high that the can blows apart.
The agency said injuries caused by the shrapnel can be serious and the inflators pose an excessive risk of serious injury or death to drivers and passengers.
But ARC and many automakers are resisting a recall. Several manufacturers say the problem is so rare that NHTSA has not yet determined it to be a safety issue.
For example, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, a unit of Stellantis, wrote in comments that it has never had an inflator break in an FCA vehicle that would match NHTSA’s theory of why the inflators fail. The company said it has 4.9 million older vehicles on the road with ARC driver and passenger inflators.
An inflator in a 2002 Chrysler Town and Country minivan exploded in 2009, but ARC determined it had a unique cause not found in other ruptures, FCA wrote. “In the 14 years since that event, there have been no further incidents in an FCA U.S. vehicle,” the company wrote.
Vehicles from BMW, Stellantis, Ford, General Motors, Hyundai, Jaguar-Land Rover, Kia, Maserati, Mercedes, Porsche, Tesla, Toyota and Volkswagen all have inflators made by ARC or parts supplier Delphi. A complete list of vehicles with the inflators has not been released. Delphi has made approximately 11 million of the inflators under license from ARC.
Automakers have issued smaller recalls of ARC inflators over the years, with GM leading the way with more than 1 million vehicles. The smaller recalls, NHTSA said, were done based on the belief that there was a production problem at a particular plant for a short period of time.
But NHTSA said its investigation showed cracks in inflators made at different time periods, factories and production lines, “warranting a broader recall.”