DETROIT — The U.S. government is turning up the pressure on ARC Automotive to recall 67 million potentially dangerous air bag inflators by ordering the company to answer questions under oath and threatening fines if it doesn’t respond.
NHTSA has tentatively concluded that the inflators are defective. The next steps are a final conclusion, public hearing and potential lawsuit asking a judge to order a recall.people who travel in at least 33 million U.S. vehiclesIn the order, NHTSA asks ARC to explain if it expects inflators to rupture due to something more than “random ‘one-off’” manufacturing problems.
Messages were left Thursday seeking comment from ARC. The company has to respond by June 14 or face a maximum fine of $131.6 million and potential criminal penalties. The company, he said, would have a hard time arguing that no more problems will occur. “I don’t know that this is something that they can legitimately assert, that there’s never going to be another inflator rupture,” Brooks said. “There’s a high likelihood of another rupture of this type. There may not be a lot of them.”
Owners of vehicles made by at least a dozen automakers — Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Ford, Toyota, Stellantis, Volkswagen, Audi, BMW, Porsche, Hyundai and Kia — are left to wonder anxiously whether their vehicles contain driver or front passenger inflators made by ARC.