(This March 22 story has been refiled to change SABIC to side air bag inflatable curtain in paragraph 4)
(Reuters) – Chrysler is recalling nearly 286,000 vehicles in the United States over a manufacturing defect that might cause the side curtain airbag inflators to rupture, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said on Friday.
The right and left side curtain airbag inflators may rupture and cause sharp metal fragments to strike occupants, resulting in injury or death, the US regulator said.
The recall would affect certain 2018-2021 Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300 models.
Stellantis-owned Chrysler said certain vehicles may have been equipped with side air bag inflatable curtain inflators that had moisture introduced during supplier manufacturing. This may lead to stress corrosion and potential rupture.
These inflators do not use the same propellant or inflator design as previously recalled Takata airbags, the automaker said.
Stellantis last year had warned 29,000 owners of 2003 Dodge Ram pickups to immediately stop driving pending repairs after one person was killed when a Takata airbag inflator exploded.
(Reporting by Disha Mishra and Kannaki Deka in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
