. . World News – CA – U. . S.. . Orders GM to recall nearly 6 million trucks carrying Takata airbag inflators

The U. . S.. . has General Motors recall and repair nearly 6 million large pickup trucks and SUVs fitted with potentially dangerous Takata airbag inflators.

The decision, announced Monday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, is estimated to cost the automaker $ 1. 2 billion, around a third of the net income.

GM had petitioned the agency four times starting in 2016 to avoid a recall. He claimed the airbag inflator canisters were safe on the road and during tests. However, the owners responded by accusing the company of putting profits above safety.

Takata used volatile ammonium nitrate to create a small explosion that inflates airbags in a crash. However, the chemical can deteriorate if exposed to heat and moisture and explode with too much force, blowing apart a metal canister and spitting out splinters.

It took the agency more than four years to reach its decision, which comes towards the end of President Donald Trump’s four-year term.

NHTSA said in a prepared statement that it will analyze all available data on the airbags, including technical and statistical analysis, aging tests and field data.

« On the basis of this information and information made available to the public file of the petition, the NHTSA has concluded that the genetically modified inflators in question are subject to the same type of explosion as others after prolonged exposure to high heat and humidity recalled Takata inflators. Said the agency.

The company has 30 days to provide NHTSA with a proposed schedule for notifying vehicle owners and initiating the recall.

GM said that while actual and scientific records do not warrant a recall, it will abide by NHTSA’s decision.

The safety and confidence of those who drive our vehicles are paramount in everything we do at General Motors, ”the company said in a prepared statement.

A similar decision can be made in Canada. In a statement to Global News, GM Canada said it is in contact with Transport Canada and intends to take a similar approach to supporting our Canadian customers as we will be doing in the US. ”

The decision means that all Takata ammonium nitrate inflators in the U. . S.. . is being recalled, said NHTSA. Earlier this year, the agency decided not to request recalls for inflators containing a moisture-absorbing chemical called a desiccant. But NHTSA said it would monitor these inflators and take action if a problem arises.

In a 2019 petition to NHTSA, GM said the inflators were built to their specifications and were safe with no explosions, despite being nearly 67. 000 airbags were deployed in the field.

But Takata declared GM’s passenger inflators to be defective under a 2015 agreement with the government.

In its petition, GM said that Northrop Grumman 4. Tested 270 inflators by artificially exposing them to additional cycles of humidity and temperature and that there were no explosions or abnormal deployments. It is said that GM has “determined that in the worst case scenario, exposure to moisture and temperature changes will not cause the inflator to break … at no point within even unrealistically conservative estimates of vehicle life. ”

Exploding Takata inflators caused the largest series of automatic recalls in U.. . S.. . History, with at least 63 million inflators recalled. The U. S.. . Government Says More Than Sept.. 1 million hadn’t been repaired. Around 100 million inflators have been recalled worldwide.

Most of the deaths occurred in the U. . S.. . , but they have also performed in Australia and Malaysia.

Driver in the U. . S.. . You can check if their vehicles have been recalled by going to this website and entering their 17-digit vehicle identification number. Drivers in Canada can also do this on the Transport Canada website.

The recalls have bankrupted Japan’s Takata and brought criminal charges against the company. Eventually it was bought from a Chinese auto parts supplier.

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General Motors, Takata Corporation, Airbag, Product Recall, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration