GM to begin recall process
Associated Press
DETROIT
General Motors announced its largest recall of Takata air-bag inflators yet, but the nation’s biggest automaker says the parts are unique to its trucks and SUVs and don’t pose a safety risk.
The government’s highway safety agency disagrees.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says GM must proceed with two recalls adding up to 1.9 million trucks from the 2007 through 2011 model years.
The recalls were unveiled Thursday along with those from six other automakers totaling 4.4 million vehicles. They are part of the first round of a massive Takata recall expansion announced in May. A total of 17 automakers are adding 35 million to 40 million inflators to what already was the largest auto recall in U.S. history.
Takata inflators can malfunction and spew shrapnel into drivers and passengers when exposed to humidity and repeated hot-and-cold cycles.
GM said that it would begin the recall process in cooperation with the NHTSA even though it doesn’t believe inflators in its trucks are unsafe.
The company said that no inflators in its trucks have ruptured during an estimated 44,000 crashes, or in testing of returned inflators. It also says the inflators were uniquely made for GM trucks and SUVs with greater venting and machined steel end caps.
“We don’t have any evidence at this point that these inflators aren’t working as designed,” spokesman Tom Wilkinson said. He wouldn’t say if GM is trying to avoid recalls, which could be expensive for the company.
But NHTSA spokesman Bryan Thomas said GM has filed paperwork declaring the inflators defective, and they will be recalled. “The science clearly shows that these inflators become unsafe over time,” he said.
The GM resistance, although good-mannered, is surprising given the fact that the company was fined and is still being monitored by NHTSA for covering up faulty small-car ignition switches two years ago.