General Motors Co. has recently announced its intention to carry out a safety recall encompassing approximately 1 million sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) across the United States. The recall stems from a defect that poses a potential risk of the front driver’s side air-bag inflator bursting upon activation.
Anticipated to be initiated on June 26, the automaker plans to dispatch notification letters to affected vehicle owners. Under the recall program, General Motors dealers will undertake the replacement of the driver’s air bag module, with no cost imposed on the vehicle owners.
The scope of this recall pertains to a total of 994,763 vehicles, specifically encompassing select Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse, and GMC Acadia automobiles manufactured between the years 2014 and 2017. This information has been sourced from a report issued by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
The NHTSA, in its official acknowledgment letter concerning the recall, has raised concerns about the potential consequences of an inflator explosion, highlighting the risk of sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants, thereby leading to severe injury or even fatality.
The events leading up to this recall were set in motion when General Motors received an allegation on March 24, 2023, involving a 2017 model year Chevrolet Traverse that was involved in a crash. Following a thorough examination conducted by both General Motors and the NHTSA on April 25, it was confirmed that the air bag inflator ruptured during its deployment. Furthermore, the recall acknowledgment reveals that GM was already aware of two prior instances, one on September 2, 2021, and another on February 18, 2022, where ARC-manufactured air bag inflators in 2015 model year Chevrolet Traverse vehicles had ruptured. In response, GM had conducted recalls (21V782 and 22V246) addressing the inflator production lots implicated in these incidents.
Despite these developments, ARC Automotive Inc., the manufacturer responsible for the air bag inflators, has yet to provide a response to the request for comment.
Notably, all three occurrences involved the same inflator variant, known as the “MC” variant. Consequently, on May 7, General Motors decided to exercise an abundance of caution by expanding the scope of recalls 21V782 and 22V246 to include all front-driver air bag modules containing ARC “MC” variant inflators.
