FILE -The ARC Automotive manufacturing plant is seen, July 14, 2015 in Knoxville, Tenn. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Friday, May 12, 2023 that ARC Automotive Inc. of Knoxville should recall 67 million inflators in the U.S. because they could explode and hurl shrapnel.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is demanding that ARC Automotive Inc. of Knoxville recall 67 million inflators in the U.S. because they could explode and hurl shrapnel. At least two people have been killed in the U.S. and Canada, and seven others have been hurt as a result of defective ARC inflators, the agency said.
“We disagree with NHTSA’s new sweeping request when extensive field testing has found no inherent defect,” ARC said in a statement Friday night. Owners will be notified by letter starting June 25, but no fix is available yet. They’ll get another letter when one is ready. One of the two deaths was a mother of 10 who was killed in what appeared to be an otherwise minor crash in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in the summer of 2021. Police reports show that a metal inflator fragment hit her neckAt least a dozen automakers have the allegedly faulty inflators in use, including Volkswagen, Ford, BMW and GM, NHTSA said.