DETROIT (AP) – General Motors will call in about 7 million large pickup trucks and SUVs worldwide to replace the inflators of potentially dangerous Takata airbags.
The move comes after the U.S. government told the automaker on Monday that the U.S. Had to recall 6 million vehicles
The recall will cost Detroit Auto Tomcare an estimated 2 1.2 billion, a third of its net income so far this year.
GM says it will not fight the recall, although it believes the vehicles are safe.
The automaker had applied to the agency four times since 2016 to avoid recall, with opponents arguing that the air bag inflating canister was safe on the road and in testing. But the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Monday rejected the requests, saying the inflators still run the risk of exploding.
Owners who commented with NHTSA said the company was making a profit on safety.
The explosion also caused Takata’s inflators to cause the largest series of auto tow recalls in U.S. history, with at least one million 63 million inflators returning. The U.S. government says as of September, no more than 11.1 million had been determined. About 100 million inflators have been recalled worldwide.
Takata used volatile ammonium nitrate to make small explosions to fill air bags in accidents. When exposed to chemical heat and moisture it can deteriorate and explode with great force, blowing up a metal canister and spraying shrapnel.
Explosives have killed at least 28 people worldwide, including 18 in the U.S.
The recall covers GM full-size pickup trucks and SUVs from the 2007 to 2014 model years, including the Chevrolet Silverdo 1500, 2500 and 3500 pickups. The Silverrado is GM’s top-selling vehicle and also covers the second-best-selling vehicle in the U.S., including the Chevrolet Suburban, Tahoe and Avalanche, Cadillac Escalade, GMC Sierra 1500, 2500 and 3500 and GMC Yukon.
It took the agency more than four years to reach its decision, leading to the end of President Donald Trump’s four-year term.
The NHTSA said in a statement that it has analyzed all available data on airbags, including engineering and statistical analysis, aging tests and field data.
“Based on this information provided to the public docket of the application, the NHTSA concludes that GM inflators, like other recalled Takata inflators, are at risk of similar explosions after prolonged exposure to heat and humidity,” the agency said. Said.
The company has 30 days to notify vehicle owners and give NHTSA a proposed schedule to initiate a recall, the statement said.
GMA said that although it believes that a recall is not guaranteed based on facts and scientific records, it will comply with the NHTSA’s decision.
GM spokesman Dan Flores said Monday that none of the inflators had been blown up in the field or in laboratory testing. But he said GM did not want a draw-out fight with the government.
“While we are confident that inflators in the GM0000 vehicles will not pose an unreasonable risk to safety, we will continue to operate as designed in this area and in line with the results of our aging studies, we will remain committed to NHTSA’s decision to maintain the trust and confidence of consumers and regulators.” , ”He said in an email.
The decision means that the U.S. All Takata ammonium nitrate inflators will be recalled in, NHTSA said. Earlier this year, the agency decided not to recall chemical inflators that absorb moisture called desiccants. But the NHTS said it would keep an eye on the inflators and take action if any problems arose.
In a 2019 application received by NHTSA, GMA said the inflators were designed for its specifications and are safe, with no explosions occurring despite about 67,000 airbags being arranged in the field.
But Takata declared the GM front passenger inflators defective under a 2015 agreement with the government.
GMA said in its application that Northrop Grumman has tested 4,270 fluffers by artificially exposing them to humidity and temperature cycling, and there have been no explosions or unusual deployments. He says the GMA has established that “in the worst-case-worst-case scenario, moisture exposure and temperature cycling do not cause bloated breakdowns … at any stage within the estimate of unrealistic vehicle service life.”
Shares of GM rose nearly 3% in trading on Monday morning to reach 1.44.16.
Drivers can check if their vehicles have been recalled by going to https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls and putting a key in their 17-digit vehicle identification number.
The recalls led Japan’s Takata to bankruptcy and brought criminal charges against the company. It was eventually purchased by a Chinese-owned auto toe parts supplier.
.
