An investigation into counterfeit airbags is underway after they were linked to five deaths in the US, where authorities have warned they are a “direct threat to public safety” and their fitment is a federal crime.
According to Carscoops, troublesome airbag inflator systems are being imported from China, and panel beaters and repair centres are often unaware they are being supplied with a counterfeit product.
These ‘fake’ components appear similar to genuine versions but are as much as 10 times cheaper, according to a US report.
“These fakes are often constructed with poor-quality materials and are more likely to fail because they’re only imitations of the engineering that goes into the real product,” Automotive Anti-Counterfeiting Council president Bob Stewart told The Wall Street Journal.
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The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has launched a probe into the counterfeit airbags after they were linked to seven incidents and five fatalities.
There are no reports of any such occurrences so far in Australia, where the last significant airbag controversy was the worldwide recall of more than 100 million vehicles fitted with defective airbags supplied by Japanese firm Takata.
The Takata tragedy has been linked with at least 40 deaths globally, including at least one in Australia where three million cars were affected, and the problem is still claiming lives since the first reported death in 2009.
The latest counterfeit airbag inflators are linked to Chinese company Jilin Province Detiannuo Safety Technology, known as DTN Airbag, whose products are banned from sale in the US.
A statement on the DTN Airbag website reads: “We do not do business with the United States, and any of our products are prohibited from being sold to the United States.
“Gas generators are dangerous. You must undergo rigorous experiments and tests before use and installation.”
The first incident occurred in 2022, when 22-year-old Florida woman Destiny Byassee was killed after metal and plastic fragments, allegedly from a counterfeit airbag, lodged in her neck after the airbag exploded.
“My message to the auto repair industry is clear: whoever is bringing this faulty Chinese equipment into the country and installing them is putting American families in danger and committing a serious crime,” said US transportation secretary Sean Duffy, as cited by Carscoops.
Australia’s Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) funded a ‘Genuine is Best’ campaign over 2015-2022, and has worked with Australian Border Force to prevent the distribution of counterfeit auto parts here. The FCAI has also urged consumers to push repairers to ensure original equipment manufacturer (OEM) supplied replacement parts are fitted to their vehicles – or at least be given the choice of where the components are sourced from.
“The message to insurers and repairers is crystal clear. If you’re planning to fit anything other than the tested and proven genuine part, Aussies demand the right to be notified,” said FCAI chief executive Tony Weber in a statement in 2022.
“Putting the safety and quality concerns aside, we know vehicles repaired and maintained with genuine parts, accessories and dealer servicing are valued more highly.
“If a non-genuine part will potentially lower the resale value of my car, I want to be notified before a part that is not approved by the manufacturer is fitted.” MORE: FCAI warns of surge in counterfeit car parts MORE: BMW 3 Series recalled for defective Takata airbags