US regulators are aiming to force a recall of 51 million car airbags

US regulators have moved to force the recall of up to 51 million airbag inflators they said could explode in a crash, an escalation of a safety problem plaguing the industry car for years.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued a “supplemental initial determination” on Wednesday, saying it deemed the parts defective after a lengthy comment period and industry pushback. The agency named ARC Automotive Inc., based in Knoxville, Tenn., and the former Delphi Automotive Systems LLC as the manufacturers of the defective airbags.

Related: Stellantis recalls 1.46 million vehicles worldwide

ARC representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The beleaguered company has refused to issue a large-scale recall even after regulators recommended it do so in May 2023.

NHTSA said it is giving interested parties another 30 days to comment on the latest actions. The airbags involved were used by at least a dozen automakers, including General Motors Co., Stellantis NV, Volkswagen AG and Hyundai Motor Co. GM has recalled nearly 1 million vehicles from 2014 to 2017 that are equipped with ARC inflators.

Related: NTSB probe into Jeep engine fire reports could affect 781K vehicles

NHTSA said it had identified at least nine cases of airbag inflator ruptures that resulted in injuries, including two deaths, dating from 2009 to last March.

Delphi Automotive, which no longer exists as an independent company, has sold its airbag business to a unit of Swedish company Autoliv Inc. in 2009. NHTSA said it “did not verify the entity that has legal responsibility” for the Delphi inflators.

Related: US agency reports 28th Takata airbag inflator death since 2009

The situation reflects the widespread recall of more than 100 million defective airbag inflators made by the now-defunct Takata Corp., which was the largest auto recall in U.S. history. While the ARC issue seems unrelated, the prospect of recalling tens of millions of vehicles for repairs would be a significant burden on the industry and car owners.

Top photo: A deployed airbag is seen in a Chrysler vehicle at a salvage yard on May 22, 2015 in Medley, Florida.

Copyright 2024 Bloomberg.