NHTSA officials argued that the inflators, manufactured by ARC Automotive and Delphi Automotive, should be recalled because they could rupture and send metal fragments flying, according to Reuters.
After an eight-year investigation, the NHTSA says the defect has been linked to one death and seven injuries in the U.S. If this recall goes through, it will end up being the second largest in U.S. history. Automakers and airbag manufacturers maintain that the risk from the problem is "extremely low," and they questioned the agency's analysis and rationale for requiring a recall. BMW, Ford, Hyundai/Kia, Mercedes-Benz, and Porsche have all submitted statements of opposition through NHTSA's formal comment process.
ARC said NHTSA's estimated failure rate came out to less than one new rupture over the next 33 years. The inflators were used in vehicles produced from 2000 through early 2018 by 12 different automakers.
General Motors has already been hit by an ARC inflator recall. In May this year, it recalled 1 million ARC inflators after one ruptured in March and injured a driver's face. However, GM - which could have more than 20 million affected vehicles - said NHTSA didn't demonstrate a need for "a massive, unprecedented expansion of the existing ARC Inflators recalls." The automaker added that the large recall could affect as much as 15 percent of the more than 300 million registered motor vehicles in the United States.
Stellantis - which could have nearly 5 million affected vehicles - also called the agency's decision "arbitrary, capricious and contrary to law.
Delphi manufactured about 11 million of these potentially defective inflators through 2004 under a licensing agreement with ARC. The remaining 41 million were built by ARC.
Source: Reuters