ARC maintains that no safety defect exists, that NHTSA’s demand is based on a hypothesis rather than technical conclusions and that the agency has no authority to order a parts manufacturer to carry out recalls.
In the order, NHTSA asks ARC to explain if it expects inflators to rupture due to something more than “random ‘one-off”’ manufacturing problems. More than 1 million ARC inflators have been recalled already due to what the company describes as isolated trouble with manufacturing.Article content 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.