General Motors world headquarters in Detroit, Mich. Photo: Bill Pugliano/Getty Images
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced Monday that General Motors must recall and repair any vehicle equipped with Takata air bag inflators, per AP.
Why it matters: The government agency said GM must recall nearly 6 million pickup trucks and SUVs from the 2007–2014 model years. Despite the automaker's multiple appeals to the NHTSA, this new regulation will cost the company around $1.2 billion.
- Over 63 million Takata inflators have been recalled in the U.S., and over 100 million have been recalled worldwide.
- GM will be especially affected by the recall of the Chevy Silverado, which is GM’s top-selling vehicle and one of the best-selling vehicles in the U.S.
- GM had petitioned the NHTSA four times starting in 2016 to avoid a recall, as the airbag inflators had been safe on the road and in testing.
The big picture: 27 people have been killed worldwide by the exploding inflators including 18 in the U.S, yet it took the agency more than four years to arrive at the decision to recall the vehicles.
- “Based on this information and information provided to the petition’s public docket, NHTSA concluded that the GM inflators in question are at risk of the same type of explosion after long-term exposure to high heat and humidity as other recalled Takata inflators,” the NHTSA said in a prepared statement.
What's next: The company has 30 days to give NHTSA a proposed schedule for notifying vehicle owners and starting the recall, the statement said.
- The safety and trust of those who drive our vehicles is at the forefront of everything we do at General Motors,” the company said in a prepared statement.