GM thinks one person died because of a flaw in the air bag software
U.S. – General Motors Co. (NASDAQ: GM) announced a massive recall of vehicles last Friday because of a faulty airbag software. In the United States, an accident left one fatal victim and three injured people, and GM thinks a problem in their car was the responsible.
The company said in rare cases the car’s computer might go into test mode, and the front airbags would not inflate in the event of a crash. What’s more, in such an incident, the software that controls the seat belts pre-tensioner may not function.
The automaker detected the problem back in May when a ’14 Chevrolet Silverado crashed, and its airbags did not deploy. GM notified Delphi, the airbag supplier for the model, and when the two companies tested the software they found out the problem was in the car’s internal computer.
GM could not provide information about the other incidents. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration doesn’t have details either. However, the regulatory agency has a list of 17 different complaints of defective air bags.
General Motors recall car list
The company is recalling 4.28 million 2014-17 model-year vehicles, including 3.6 million cars in the U.S. GM dealers will upgrade the airbag software for free and return the vehicle to the customers.
The recall includes certain cars of the following models: 2014-16 Chevrolet SS, Buick LaCrosse, and Spark EV.
The 2014-17 Chevrolet Corvette, Caprice PPV, Trax, and Silverado 1500. The 2014-17 Buick Encore, 2014-17 GMC Sierra 1500, 2015-17 Suburban, Silverado, and Chevrolet Tahoe.
The 2015-17 GMC Yukon, Yuko XL and Sierra HD; and 2015-17 Escalade ESV and Cadillac Escalade.
People who have one of these vehicles should contact a local GM dealer to update the airbag software. GM will notify customers included in the recall. The company says the dealers already have access to the upgrade and should repair the vehicles quickly.
Either way, owners can use safecar.gov or GM’s web page and write their Vehicle Identification Number to see if they need to bring in their cars.
Delphi Automotive is the company behind the faulty software
The automaker worked in July with the third-party manufacturer to investigate the incidents and face the legal claims. Delphi said it would cooperate with the recall.
“Although we can provide no assurances, we do not expect that the cost, if any, of this recall, would be material to our financial position, results of operations of cash flow,” said the company. On the other side, GM assured customer safety was their top priority.
This issue is not related to the ongoing recall of air bags by Japanese supplier Takata that now affects over 20 million vehicles and a dozen of manufacturers worldwide.
Source: USA Today
