General Motors Co. said Monday that it would conduct a safety recall of nearly 1 million sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) in the U.S. due to a defect that risked causing the front driver’s side air-bag inflator to burst when activated.
GM
GM,
expects to mail notification letters to owners on June 26. GM dealers will replace the driver’s air bag module free of charge.
The automaker’s recall affects 994,763 vehicles, including certain 2014 to 2017 model year Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse and GMC Acadia automobiles, according to a report from the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
“An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants, resulting in serious injury or death,” the NHTSA recall acknowledgment letter said.
GM’s stock slipped 0.6% in morning trading Monday.
On March 24, 2023, GM received an allegation that a 2017 model year Chevrolet Traverse was in a crash. After GM and NHTSA inspected the vehicle on April 25, it was confirmed that the air bag inflator ruptured during deployment.
“GM is aware of two prior ruptures (allegations received: September 2, 2021 and February 18, 2022) of ARC-manufactured air bag inflators in 2015 model year Chevrolet Traverse vehicles, and GM conducted NHTSA Recalls 21V782 and 22V246 on the inflator production lots involved in these incidents,” the recall acknowledgment said.
ARC Automotive Inc. has not responded to a request for comment.
All three events involved the same inflator variant (MC). On May 7, “out of an abundance of caution,” GM decided to expand the 21V782 and 22V246 recalls to all front-driver air bag modules containing an ARC “MC” variant inflators.
GM’s stock has lost 4.3% year to date, while the S&P 500 index
SPX,
has gained 7.1%.
