NHTSA probe of rupturing ARC airbag inflators echoes Takata

WASHINGTON — The latest escalation of a nearly eight-year investigation of rupturing airbag inflators manufactured by ARC Automotive has reminded some safety advocates of a dark time in automotive history: the Takata recall.

In a letter made public this month, the nation's top auto safety regulator demanded that ARC, a Knoxville, Tenn., Tier 2 supplier, to recall 67 million airbag inflators produced through January 2018 that the agency "tentatively concluded" are defective.

"Airbag inflators that project metal fragments into vehicle occupants, rather than properly inflating the attached airbag, create an unreasonable risk of death and injury," wrote Stephen Ridella, director of NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation.

ARC rejected NHTSA's demand. The company stated that it "strongly disagrees with the agency's 'tentative conclusion' that a safety defect exists" in the subject driver and passenger inflators — 11 million of which were manufactured by Autoliv-acquired Delphi under a licensing agreement with ARC, which made the remainder.

"Concerns regarding potential inflator rupture incidents prompted a years-long investigation, which was conducted jointly among NHTSA, vehicle manufacturers, Tier 1 airbag module suppliers and ARC," the company wrote in a May 11 response to NHTSA. "After nearly eight years of intensive scrutiny, none of these manufacturers has identified a systemic or prevalent defect across this inflator population."

ARC also argued in its letter that while original equipment manufacturers might be required to notify NHTSA of a defect in their equipment, "they cannot be compelled to conduct a safety recall."

The company did not respond to requests for comment.

Chris Grigorian, who chairs Foley & Lardner law firm's NHTSA and motor vehicle safety practice and is working with ARC on the agency's investigation, said in an emailed statement that "ARC has cooperated with NHTSA through this investigation and will continue to do so."

Meanwhile, the parts supplier's response to the agency is "a bit of deja vu" for David Friedman, who was interim administrator of NHTSA during the Takata airbag callbacks, the largest automotive recall in U.S. history and a situation that ultimately led to the supplier's demise via bankruptcy.

"Companies push back," Friedman, who is a former vice president of policy at Consumer Reports, told Automotive News. "The bigger the recall and the more potential money involved, the more likely they are to push back."

Takata had initially refused a NHTSA request in 2014 to expand the recall beyond high-humidity areas, arguing that a recall determination was up to the automakers and that the agency didn't have the data to support that request.

"I remember doing some calls with reporters to call out the leadership of Takata for failing to step up to the plate," Friedman said. "Ultimately, I believe we began the recalls — which seems like what's happening right now — with the automakers because Takata was refusing."

Still, he said it can take more effort and time to reach out to individual automakers that might also resist a recall. However, if the original equipment manufacturer acknowledges a defect, "then every car company has to act."

"The most efficient and smartest route to most quickly get the issue dealt with is to go with the OEM," Friedman said.

At least nine incidents globally — seven in the U.S. — of ruptured airbag inflators have been identified in NHTSA's still-open investigation of ARC. Of these, dating from 2009 to as recently as March, seven injuries and two deaths have been reported.

In comparison, Takata's exploding airbag inflators — triggered by long-term exposure to high heat and humidity — have resulted in at least 25 deaths and 400 injuries in the U.S.

"In Takata, every one of those airbags not only had the condition, but they were getting worse over time," said Michael Brooks, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety. "I don't think that is what is occurring in the ARC airbag situation. It seems like there's not this environmental component that's going to make these airbags more dangerous over time, so NHTSA is going to have a tougher argument to make for a recall."

Since the launch of the ARC investigation in 2015, automakers — including BMW, Ford and Volkswagen — have initiated eight recalls to address potential safety defects with ARC airbag inflators.

Most recently, General Motors called back nearly 1 million 2014-17 Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse and GMC Acadia vehicles equipped with the airbag inflators.

GM, which has been working with a third-party engineering firm to assist with its own investigation, told NHTSA that "the reason for these inflator ruptures remains unknown."

Several automakers — including Ford, Hyundai, Kia, Stellantis and VW — told Automotive News they are continuing to monitor or investigate the situation and are cooperating with NHTSA.

To be sure, NHTSA is not required to discover a root cause or have an engineering explanation for a defect in order to seek a recall, according to Friedman. "NHTSA simply needs to determine that there is an unreasonable risk to safety."

In the agency's letter to ARC, Ridella pointed to a welding process used by the company that could produce a byproduct known as "weld slag."

"Should any debris of sufficient size be in the inflator center support, the exit orifice could become blocked," Ridella said. "Blockage of the exit orifice could cause over pressurization of the airbag inflator" and consequently result in rupture.

ARC, which in January 2018 installed instruments to detect excessive weld slag and other debris, said it believes the ruptures resulted from "one-off manufacturing anomalies" that were addressed by automakers in subsequent recalls.

"Moreover, while weld slag has not been confirmed as the root cause in any of the seven incidents [in the U.S.], weld slag was found not to be the root cause in two of these seven ruptures," the company told NHTSA.

The inflators have been used in vehicles made by at least 12 automakers. NHTSA has not yet released a complete list of all makes and models that might have the inflators, nor has it provided a figure for how many vehicles might be affected.

The likely next step, according to Brooks, is NHTSA will file its initial defect determination and then hold a public hearing.

"That said," noted Friedman, "if the supplier continues to fight, it's still the car company's responsibility to take care of their customers — period. They don't get to point fingers."