General Motors (GM) has announced a recall of nearly 1 million sport utility vehicles (SUVs) in the United States due to a potential airbag defect. The recall comes after concerns that the driver’s airbag inflator may explode during deployment, posing a significant safety risk.
The affected vehicles include the Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse, and GMC Acadia models from the 2014 through 2017 model years. The airbag modules in these vehicles were produced by ARC Automotive Inc. As part of the recall, GM dealers will replace the driver’s airbag module in the affected vehicles.
The decision to issue the recall was prompted by a recent incident in Michigan, where a driver of a 2017 Chevrolet Traverse was involved in a crash, resulting in facial injuries caused by the front-driver airbag inflator rupturing during deployment. An inspection conducted on April 25 confirmed the rupture of the front driver airbag inflator in that particular vehicle.
This is not the first time GM has encountered issues with ARC-manufactured airbag inflators. In 2015, two ruptures occurred in Chevrolet Traverse vehicles, leading GM to conduct two smaller recalls, affecting around 3,000 ARC inflators. Notably, all three rupture events in Chevrolet Traverse vehicles involved the same inflator variant.
GM is currently investigating the root cause of the airbag defect, and they have enlisted the help of a third-party engineering firm in their efforts. The Detroit automaker emphasized that the expanded field action is being taken as a precautionary measure, with the safety of their customers being of the utmost importance.
ARC Automotive Inc., the company responsible for manufacturing the faulty airbag inflators, released a statement acknowledging the recall. They stated that neither ARC nor GM has identified the root cause of the previous ruptures and that they are assessing the scope of GM’s recall.
The recall highlights GM’s commitment to prioritizing customer safety and investigating the issue to ensure the root cause is identified and resolved. Additionally, GM’s recall is a prompt response to the NHTSA demanding 67 million vehicles be recalled, which are other vehicles in the U.S. that have the ARC air bag inflator.
Source: Reuters
