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 announcement was made by the US government to the automaker on Monday after it was relocated to the U.S. It was revealed that millions of vehicles had to be recalled
GM says it will not fight the decision, although it believes the vehicles are safe. The company will spend an estimated 1.8 billion, a third of its total revenue so far this year.
Alls Tomcare has applied to the agency four times since 2016 to avoid Rick Ls, inflatable canisters in air bags were found to be 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.
The owners complained to NHTSA that the company was making a profit on security.
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. But when there is a possibility of heat and moisture it can chemically deteriorate, and the metal can explode by stripping and spraying the shrapnel with more pressure.
Twenty people have been killed worldwide by explosive ordnance, including 18 in the U.S.
Monday’s decision by the NHTSA is a big step towards bringing the Takata saga closer. That means the U.S. All Takata ammonium nitrate inflators will be recalled in, NHTSA said. Earlier this year, the agency decided to recall chemical inflators that absorb moisture called desiccants. The NHTS said it would monitor those inflators and take action if problems arose.
GM will recall full-size pickup trucks and SUVs, including the Chevrolet Silverdo 1500, 2500 and 3500 pickups during the 2007 to 2014 model years. 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.
Spokesman Dan Flores said Monday that none of the inflators were blown up in the field or in laboratory testing. But he said the GM wanted to avoid a tug-of-war 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.
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. It states that the burners have vents and steel end caps to make them stronger.
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.
However, the NHTSA hired Harold Blom McQuest, an airbag chemist who has a patent for 25 airbags, to review the data, and concluded that the GM airbags were similar to other Takata inflators when they exploded.
The results for GM inflators include unusual-low-pressure events, NMTSA said in the documents. “These findings suggest that GM’s inflation is similar to that of other taka inflators when it explodes, if not similarly, the decline is continuous,” 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 Auto Toe Safety for Not Auto Profit Center for Auto Toe Safety, said it was a good day for millions of GM owners who were wondering “Are they driving with an unfamiliar hand?” Had to wait four years for a decision of no. Grenade in their steering wheel. ”
Shares of GM rose nearly 3% in trading on Monday morning to reach .2 44.21. The company said the reclamation will be phased out based on inflator availability, and will cost 400 400 million this year.
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 previous Takata had pushed the Japanese company into bankruptcy and brought criminal charges against the company. It was eventually purchased by a Chinese-owned auto toe parts supplier.
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