GM Recalls 42,000 SUVs With Potentially Deadly Airbags in Canada

General Motors is recalling more than one million vehicles in North America, including just over 42,000 in Canada, due to defective driver-front airbag inflators that could rupture when the airbag deploys in a crash and injure occupants.

Sounds familiar? Of course it does. In late 2020, GM announced a similar recall affecting 5.9 million vehicles across the continent, about 544,000 of which were in Canada. The airbag inflators in that particular recall came from the now-bankrupt Japanese supplier Takata.

• Also: Airbag Failures Lead to Class Action Lawsuit Against GM Canada
• Also: Airbag Problems : Multiple GM Vehicles Under Investigation

This time, Tennessee-based ARC Automotive is to blame. Affected models include a trio of midsize SUVs covering the 2014-2017 model years—the Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse and GMC Acadia.

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) conducted an investigation in the past few months and even demanded the recall of 67 million airbag inflators given the “unreasonable risk of death or injury.”

In a letter made public last Friday, ARC Automotive opposed the NHTSA request, which could lead to a long legal battle.

GM, meanwhile, is also investigating with the help of an independent engineering firm. The automaker is aware of three separate cases of a ruptured inflator in a 2015 Chevrolet Traverse. A small number of units have already been recalled.

The root cause of the defect has not been identified yet by ARC Automotive, but it’s most likely the same problem that was found in Takata inflators. Long-term exposure to high humidity and temperature, combined with high temperature cycling, may eventually degrade the propellant contained in the inflator, causing a rupture when the airbag deploys and sending metal fragments at vehicle occupants.