TapTechNews August 7th news, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reiterated this week the decision made last September regarding the existence of safety hazards in a certain airbag inflation device, greatly increasing the possibility of recalling the involved 51 million airbags.
NHTSA's investigation found that the airbag inflation devices manufactured by ARC Automotive and Delphi Automotive have an explosion risk and may eject debris to injure the driver and passengers. Since 2009, there have been many accidents caused by this problem in the United States and Canada, resulting in at least 7 injuries and 2 deaths in the United States and Canada, and at least 1 death in areas outside the United States.
During the testing process, NHTSA found that some inflation devices were insufficiently welded or the airbag tank had excessive pressure due to impurities blocking the vents during the welding process. NHTSA stated that although most of the problem inflation devices will not rupture when deployed, based on previous cases of rupture due to the same friction welding process, all related inflation devices have a rupture risk.
TapTechNews noticed that General Motors has recalled the airbags that it believes may be equipped with dangerous inflation devices, requiring nearly 1 million car owners to send their vehicles back to the dealer for an update. BMW, Ford, and Volkswagen have also issued relevant recall announcements, and it is expected that more automakers such as Stellantis, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Jaguar Land Rover, Maserati, Kia, and Hyundai will also be affected.
ARC and some automakers, such as Stellantis, oppose large-scale recalls, believing that the low incidence rate is not sufficient to support such a large-scale action. Delphi sold its business to the Swedish company Autoliv in 2009, and NHTSA is still trying to determine who should be responsible for this problem.
NHTSA has given automakers and suppliers 30 days to submit their opinions, but the possibility of avoiding a large-scale recall is not optimistic.