In one of the most significant recall announcements in recent times, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is urging global auto manufacturer ARC Automotive to issue an immediate recall of 67 million airbags inflators because of what they call a dangerous defect.

In a letter issued to Knoxville, Tennessee-based ARC Automotive, the NHTSA explains that they have “tentatively concluded that a defect related to motor vehicle safety exists in the frontal driver and passenger air bag inflators.” The notice for recall comes after the NHTSA conducted an exhaustive investigation into the company's manufacturing process and the inflators’ specifications, performance, potential failure modes, and usage.

As a result of the company's product design and manufacturing process, The NHTSA explains that ARC airbag inflators "may explode during deployment, due to a manufacturing defect." Following an explosion, defective airbag inflators project metal fragments and shrapnel instead of inflating the attached airbag.

As a result, drivers and passengers can become victims of harmful and fatal injuries even in minor accidents when the airbag is deployed.

The NHTSA details that ARC Automotive licenses out its airbags to at least 12 vehicle manufacturers throughout the world. However, the agency did not name the impacted vehicle manufacturers. It is known that the ARC airbag inflators are used in a variety of popular automotive brands including Ford, Volkswagen, BMW, General Motors, and some older Chrysler, Hyundai, and Kia models.

In its letter, the NHTSA highlights that General Motors is currently recalling one million vehicles outfitted with the ARC airbag inflators. GM announced that impacted vehicles include certain models of the 2014-2017 Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse, and GMC Acadia SUVs.

Millions of other airbag inflators are already under recall, including airbags manufactured by a now-bankrupt Japanese company, Takata. Takata’s defective airbags resulted in 18 deaths and over 400 drivers facing a variety of injuries including blindness and maiming. The Takata airbag recall which was announced on May 4th, 2016, remains to be the largest in history impacting 35 - 40 million airbag inflators. If ARC Automotives is forced to issue the recall, their notice would top the list of the largest recall yet.

Concerns about airbag safety continue to grow amid reports of injured drivers. In 2016, a Canadian woman was killed after her older model Hyundai Elantra’s airbag system was deployed. In 2021, another driver of a 2015 Chevrolet Traverse was killed after the airbag inflator ruptured.

ARC Automotive has since responded to the NHTSA’s concerns, defending the quality of its products and its commitment to driver safety. The company’s response explains, “ARC takes any potential issue with its products very seriously. As discussed in further detail below, however, ARC strongly disagrees with the Agency’s ‘tentative conclusion’ that a safety defect exists in the 67 million toroidal driver and passenger inflators produced during the 18-year period prior to January 2018.”

ARC’s statement adds, “The Agency’s current position is not based upon any objective technical or engineering conclusion regarding the existence of a defect, but rather conclusory statements regarding hypothesized blockage of the inflator orifice from ‘weld slag’ and a subjective inference that a defect exists based upon the occurrence of seven field ruptures in the U.S.”

Despite this pushback, the NHTSA explains that the number of incidents over the past couple of years has risen to a level where a broad recall of the airbag inflators is necessary.

Following its notice to ARC Automotive, the NHTSA is set to schedule a public hearing. It has not been decided when such a hearing could take place.