U.S. demands recall of 67 million air bag inflators

WASHINGTON, May 12 (Reuters) -The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration demanded the recall of 67 million air bag inflators because it believes there is a safety defect, but auto supplier ARC Automotive Inc. rejected the U.S. regulator’s request, documents released on Friday show.

ARC air bag inflators are in General Motors, Stellantis, BMW, Hyundai Motor, and Kia Motors vehicles.

GM on Friday agreed to recall nearly 1 million vehicles with the ARC air bag inflators after a rupture in March resulted in facial injuries to a driver.

The GM recall covers 994,763 Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse, and GMC Acadia vehicles from the 2014 through 2017 model years with modules produced by ARC Automotive Inc. Dealers will replace the driver’s air-bag module.

GM said in its filing Friday in March it learned of a report that a 2017 Chevrolet Traverse was in a crash and that the front-driver airbag inflator ruptured during deployment. An April 25 inspection confirmed that the front driver airbag inflator ruptured in the vehicle.