NHTSA pauses air bag recall after comments raise technical, engineering differences

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has temporarily suspended its decision to recall approximately 50 million air bag inflators, following comments suggesting that not all units are defective. The agency’s initial 2023 recall decision targeted ARC Automotive and Delphi Automotive Systems inflators manufactured since January 2018, citing concerns about ruptures and metal debris ejection during deployment that could endanger vehicle occupants.

NHTSA plans to conduct additional investigations and gather more information from ARC, manufacturers, and Tier 1 suppliers regarding production processes, technical specifications, and design differences between driver and passenger inflators. The investigation, which began in 2015 after reports of ruptured inflators in specific vehicle models, focuses particularly on friction welding issues, though multiple automakers have disputed this as the cause of the defect.

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