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DETROIT (AP) – The United States is asking General Motors to recall and repair nearly 6 million full-size pickup trucks and SUVs fitted with potentially dangerous Takata airbag inflators.
The move announced by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Monday will cost the automaker about $ 1.2 billion, or about a third of its bottom line this year.
GM says it will not fight the recall and will repair another million vehicles around the world.
The Detroit automaker had petitioned the agency four times from 2016 to avoid a recall, saying the inflation cartridge air bags were safe on the road and during tests. But owners say the company has prioritized profit, not safety.
The explosion of Takata inflators triggered the largest series of auto recalls in US history, with at least 63 million inflator recalls. The US government says that as of September, more than 11.1 million had not been repaired. Around 100 million inflators have been recalled worldwide.
Takata used volatile ammonium nitrate to create a small explosion to fill the air bags in an accident. But the chemical can deteriorate when exposed to heat and humidity and explode with too much force, detonating a metal canister and spitting out shrapnel.
Twenty-seven people have been killed worldwide by exploding inflators, including 18 in the United States
The recall involves GM pickup trucks and full-size SUVs from model years 2007 to 2014, including the Chevrolet Silverado 1500, 2500 and 3500 pickups. The Silverado is GM’s best-selling vehicle and the second-best-selling vehicle in the United States. . Chevrolet Suburban, Tahoe and Avalanche, Cadillac Escalade, GMC Sierra 1500, 2500 and 3500, and GMC Yukon are also covered.
It took more than four years for the agency to reach its decision, which comes near the end of President Donald Trump’s four-year term.
The NHTSA said in a statement that it had analyzed all available data on air bags, including technical and statistical analysis, aging tests and field data.
“Based on this information and the information provided in the public register of the petition, NHTSA concluded that GM inflators in question are at risk of the same type of explosion after long term exposure to heat and high humidity that other Takata inflators recalled, ”the agency told me.
The company has 30 days to give NHTSA a proposed timeline to notify vehicle owners and initiate the recall, the statement said.
GM said that although it believes a recall is not warranted based on the factual and scientific records, it will comply with the NHTSA ruling.
The safety and confidence of those who drive our vehicles is at the forefront of everything we do at General Motors, ”the company said in a statement.
GM spokesman Dan Flores said on Monday that none of the inflators had exploded in the field or during laboratory tests. But he said GM didn’t want a protracted fight with the government.
“While we are confident that the inflators in GMT900 vehicles do not pose an unreasonable safety risk, continue to perform as intended in the field, and will continue to perform as intended based on the results of our accelerated aging studies, we will comply with the NHTSA’s decision to maintain the trust of customers and regulators, ”he said in an email.
The ruling means all Takata ammonium nitrate inflators in the United States will be recalled, NHTSA said. Earlier this year, the agency decided not to request a recall of inflators containing a moisture-absorbing chemical called a desiccant. But NHTSA has said it will monitor these inflators and take action if there are issues.
In a petition to the NHTSA in 2019, GM said the inflators were designed according to his specifications and was safe without explosions, although nearly 67000 airbags were deployed on the ground.
But Takata has declared GM’s front passenger inflators to be faulty under a 2015 agreement with the government.
In its petition, GM said Northrop Grumman tested 4,270 inflators by artificially exposing them to additional moisture and temperature cycling, and that there were no explosions or abnormal deployments. He says GM has “determined that exposure to moisture and worse-than-worst-case temperature cycling will not cause inflator ruptures … at any point in vehicle life estimates, even unrealistic. “
GM shares rose nearly 3% Monday morning to $ 44.23.
Drivers can check if their vehicle has been recalled by visiting https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls and entering their vehicle identification number to 17 digits.
The recalls drove the Japanese Takata into bankruptcy and initiated criminal proceedings against the company. Eventually, it was bought by a Chinese auto parts supplier.
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