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General Motors will recall approximately 6 million large pickup trucks and SUVs in the United States to replace potentially dangerous Takata airbag inflators. Around 7 million vehicles are being recalled around the world.
The announcement came on Monday after the U.S. government told the automaker it had to recall the vehicles. GM says he won’t fight the decision, even though he thinks the vehicles are safe. It will cost the company around $ 1.2 billion, or about a third of its bottom line so far this year.
The subject airbag inflators are non-dry Takata PSAN passenger side airbag inflators installed in the following 2007-2014 model year vehicles, according to the National Highway Transportation System Administration.
- Cadillac Escalade
- Cadillac Escalade ESV
- Cadillac Escalade EXT
- Chevrolet Avalanche
- Chevrolet silverado 1500
- Chevrolet Silverado 2500/3500
- Chevrolet Suburban
- Chevrolet Tahoe
- GMC Sierra 1500
- GMC Sierra 2500/3500
- GMC Yukon
- GMC Yukon XL
The automaker had petitioned NHTSA four times since 2016 to avoid recalls, saying the airbag inflator cartridges were safe on the road and during testing. But the agency rejected the petitions on Monday, saying the inflators were still at risk of exploding.
Owners have complained to NHTSA that the company is putting profits before safety.
“GM’s recall is a huge step in the right direction,” Grace Brombach of the US PIRG Education Fund, a consumer advocacy group, said in a statement. “Airbags are there to protect drivers, not to hurt more. Vehicle owners shouldn’t have to worry that their car’s airbag is the thing that kills them during a slight fender bend or a more serious collision.
The largest series of recalls in U.S. history
The explosion of Takata inflators caused the largest series of car recalls in U.S. 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.
Japanese automaker Honda agreed in August to pay $ 96.5 million to settle an investigation focused on faulty airbags in some of its vehicles. The lawsuits were brought by attorneys general from 46 states, three US territories and Washington, DC. Honda recalled about 12.9 million Honda and Acura vehicles fitted with defective inflators.
Takata used volatile ammonium nitrate to create a small explosion to fill air bags in an accident. But the chemical can deteriorate when exposed to heat and humidity, and airbags can explode with too much pressure, popping a metal canister and spitting out shrapnel.
Twenty-seven people have been killed worldwide by exploding inflators, including 18 in the United States
The Takata saga
Monday’s NHTSA decision is a major milestone in the conclusion of the Takata saga. This means all Takata ammonium nitrate inflators in the United States will be recalled, the NHTSA said. Earlier this year, the agency decided not to recall inflators containing a moisture-absorbing chemical called a desiccant. NHTSA said it will monitor these inflators and take action if there is a problem.
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 to the public petition registry, NHTSA concluded that the GM inflators in question risk the same type of explosion after long-term exposure to high heat and humidity as they do. ‘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 will recall full-size pickup trucks and SUVs from model years 2007 through 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.
Avoid further dramas
GM said that while it believes a recall is not warranted based on the factual and scientific records, it will comply with the NHTSA ruling.
Spokesman Dan Flores said Monday that none of the inflators had exploded in the field or during laboratory tests. But he said GM wanted to avoid 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.
In a petition to NHTSA in 2019, GM said the inflators were designed to its specifications and were safe, explosion-free, even though nearly 67,000 air bags were deployed in the field. The inflators, he says, have larger vents and steel end caps to make them stronger.
But Takata has declared GM’s front passenger inflators to be faulty under a 2015 agreement with the government.
4270 inflators tested
In its petition, GM said Northrop Grumman tested 4,270 inflators by artificially exposing them to additional moisture and temperature cycling, and that there was no explosion or abnormal deployment.
However, NHTSA hired airbag chemistry expert Harold Blomquist, who holds 25 airbag patents, to review the data, and he concluded that GM airbags were similar to other Takata inflators that had blown up.
Test results for GM inflators included abnormally high pressure events “indicative of a potential risk of future rupture,” NHTSA said in documents. “These results show that GM’s inflators have a similar, if not identical, degradation continuum” to other Takata inflators that have exploded, the agency wrote.
Flores said GM has already purchased 1.6 million replacement inflators made by ZF-TRW that do not use ammonium nitrate.
Jason Levine, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety, which opposed GM petitions to avoid recalls, said it was a good day for millions of GM owners who had to wait four years for a decision on “if they drive with an unexploded hand grenade in their steering wheel.”
GM shares rose 4.5% Monday afternoon to $ 44.96, its highest level in over a year. The shares closed at $ 44.77.
The reminders will be introduced gradually
The company said the recalls will be phased in based on the availability of replacement inflators and will cost $ 400 million this year.
Drivers can check if their vehicles have been recalled by going to https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls and entering their 17-digit vehicle identification number.
Takata’s previous recalls have driven the Japanese company into bankruptcy and brought criminal proceedings against the company. Eventually, it was bought by a Chinese auto parts supplier.
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