General Motors is recalling more than 42,000 vehicles in Canada over concerns that their airbag inflators could explode, bringing the total number of affected vehicles in North America to more than one million.
The driver’s front airbag inflator could rupture in a crash, potentially preventing the safety device from properly deploying and propelling fragments that could injure or kill, the Canadian government said on Monday.
As many as 67 million airbags with potentially defective parts should be immediately recalled, according to the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. NHTSA has identified at least nine cases of ruptured airbag inflators that led to injuries, including two deaths, dating from 2009 to as recently as this past March.
The recalls affect vehicles manufactured from 2014 to 2017 and equipped with inflators made by Knoxville, Tennessee-based ARC Automotive Inc. ARC has pushed back against that recommendation, but has said it will continue to cooperate with the agency’s investigation.
