2024-03-02 13:23:03
Text: Darcy Borrero
If you own a 2007 to 2014 Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Suburban, Chevrolet Tahoe or GMC Yukon, don’t be alarmed, but do your research. Same if you have Chevrolet Silverado or GMC Sierra pickup trucks. And, if you don’t even have a car, you might want to find out because someone close to you probably does and will be affected or saved by the massive recall that General Motors will make of models with defective details.
Between six and seven million cars, particularly pickup trucks and large SUVs, will be recalled worldwide in order to replace potentially dangerous Takata airbag inflators.
General Motors will do so, according to a company statement issued on Monday, after the US government gave the order to withdraw 6 million vehicles in the national territory.
The automaker with a defect that has killed at least 27 people worldwide, including 18 in the U.S., says it will not fight the decision, although it maintains the stance that the vehicles are safe.
The deaths and hundreds of injuries caused by Takata airbag inflators, however, are proven right after four years of refusal by GM. Owners complained to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that the company was putting profits before safety.
However, the loss for the company is estimated at $1.2 billion, approximately a third of its net income so far in 2020.
NHTSA concluded that GM inflators, like other previously recalled Takata inflators, are at risk of suffering the same type of explosion after prolonged exposure to high temperatures and humidity.
Defective airbags produced by supplier Takata could dry out and deploy in a crash, sending metal fragments such as shrapnel directly into victims’ faces and chests.
The alarms had been ringing for some years for the industry, with the largest automobile recall in history: Nissan, Toyota and Honda were almost emptied, while Takata went bankrupt. Billions were allocated for repairs.
“Tens of millions of vehicles with Takata airbags are being recalled. Prolonged exposure to high temperatures and humidity can cause these airbags to burst when deployed. Such explosions have caused injuries and deaths,” reads the NHTSA website, which also urges vehicle owners to take some simple measures to protect themselves and others from this serious safety threat.
“A separate group of defective Takata airbags was recalled in late 2019. Unlike the airbag inflators in the larger Takata recalls, this recall involves non-azide driver inflators. The defect in NADI inflators may cause the airbag to explode or underinflate during deployment,” the government agency concludes while giving background evidence.