In at least nine cases, ruptured airbag inflators from the company’s airbags between 2009 and last March resulted in injuries and two deaths, the NHTSA writes.
The parts are used by several car manufacturers, including General Motors, Volkswagen and Hyundai. General Motors is already recalling 1 million vehicles manufactured between 2014 and 2017 that are equipped with it.
The air bag inflation systems are made by ARC Automotive, Inc., a company in Knoxville, Tennessee. In a response to NHTSA, ARC said it will continue to cooperate with the investigation, but rejects the agency’s preliminary conclusion. If the parties cannot agree, the case could end in court, Bloomberg writes.
The NHTSA has been investigating ruptured air bags for more than 15 years.