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 United States continue to be at risk of injury or death from unsafe front and passenger airbag inflators manufactured by ARC Automotive Inc. and Delphi Automotive Systems Inc.

of Supplemental Initial Decisions According to the report released Wednesday, approximately 51 million of the affected inflators were manufactured and installed in approximately 49 million vehicles in the U.S. The affected inflators were built into airbag modules made by five airbag module suppliers and used in vehicles from 13 manufacturers.

“These airbag inflators pose a risk of rupturing when a vehicle’s airbags are commanded to deploy, forcing metal fragments into the vehicle occupant compartment,” NHTSA said. “If an airbag inflator ruptures, it creates an unreasonable risk of serious injury or death to occupants.”

Federal authorities say seven people have been injured and one has died after an airbag inflator ruptured in the United States.

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The investigation into ARC and Delphi began in 2015 when NHTSA received reports of vehicle explosions.

At a hearing in October, NHTSA argued that inflators made by two airbag manufacturers should be recalled because they could explode and send metal shrapnel flying. After automakers protested in December, the agency did not immediately issue a decision.

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An airbag warning label is displayed on the sun visor of a Toyota Motor Corp. vehicle at the Toyota Mega Web showroom in Tokyo, Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2017. (Tomohiro Osumi/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)

The agency on Wednesday reiterated an initial decision it first made in September, saying it would give automakers an additional 30 days to respond before formally requesting a recall.

If the recall goes ahead, it would be the second largest in U.S. history.

An airbag sign is seen inside a car in Krakow, Poland, June 21, 2022. (Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images/Getty Images)

According to Reuters, the inflators in question were used in vehicles manufactured between 2000 and early 2018. Manufacturers on the list include BMW, FCA, Ford, General Motors, Hyundai, Jaguar Land Rover, Kia, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Tesla, Toyota and Volkswagen.

Delphi Automotive, a subsidiary of Autoliv, manufactured approximately 11 million inflators under a license agreement with ARC through 2004, with ARC producing the remaining 40 million.

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“Common sense dictates that metal fragments projecting at high speeds and causing injury or death pose an unreasonable risk to safety,” NHTSA said.

Reuters contributed to this report.