ARC Airbag Lawsuit

ARC airbag lawsuits are being filed by vehicle owners who allege they were harmed by a defective ARC airbag inflator. Plaintiffs sustained injuries, such as blunt force trauma, shrapnel lacerations and other upper body trauma.

Multiple airbag lawsuits have been brought against ARC Automotive, Inc. These lawsuits allege that ARC knew its airbag inflators were defective but continued to manufacture and distribute them without warning consumers.

In 2025, Motley Rice resolved through settlement just prior to trial a death case arising out of an explosion of an ARC airbag involving General Motors and ARC. The victim was the mother of 10 children in the peninsula region of Michigan and died hours after the incident. Through discovery in that case, Motley Rice uncovered significant evidence involving the defect, and knowledge by the involved defendants. There are other similar lawsuits also pending, and these incidents are certain to expand as the inflators age.

Is there an ARC airbag class action lawsuit?

In 2022, six economic harm class-action lawsuits were filed against ARC, automakers and airbag manufacturers that used ARC inflators. Later that year, these lawsuits were consolidated into multidistrict litigation (MDL) in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia in which Motley Rice is one of the court appointed co-lead counsel for the plaintiffs. Similar cases may be transferred into MDLs for increased efficiency in pretrial proceedings.

As of September 2025, there were 24 lawsuits pending in MDL 3051, In re: ARC Airbag Inflators Products Liability Litigation. Defendants named in MDL 3051 include:

• ARC Automotive, Inc.
• Audi Aktiengesellschaft
• Audi of America, LLC
• Autoliv ASP Inc.
• Autoliv Inc.
• Bayerische Motoren Werke AG
• BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC
• BMW of North America, LLC
• Dr. Ing. H.C. F. Porsche AG
• FCA U.S. LLC
• FCA US LLC/RAM
• Ford Motor Company
• General Motors
• General Motors LLC
• Hyundai Motor America
• Hyundai Motor America, Inc.
• Hyundai Motor Co., Ltd
• Hyundai Motor Company
• Hyundai-Kia America Technical Center, Inc.
• Joyson Safety Systems
• Kia America, Inc.
• Kia Corporation
• Mobis Parts America LLC
• Porsche Cars North America, Inc.
• TG Missouri Corporation
• Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft
• Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.
• ZF Active Safety and Electronics US LLC
• ZF Automotive US, Inc.
• ZF Friedrichshafen AG
• ZF Passive Safety Systems US, Inc.
• ZF TRW Automotive Holdings Corp.

A defect in the friction welding process used to assemble the ARC airbag inflators may cause asymmetrical weld “flash” to form at a specific weld location in the inflators, and can later clog the exit ports during a deployment causing a rupture and explosion.

Analysis shows that when the airbags deploy, this flash may break free from the weld and block the airbag inflator’s gas port. This could cause the airbag to rupture under the pressure, propelling inflator parts into the vehicle and potentially injuring or killing drivers and passengers.

According to a federal lawsuit, ARC’s airbags were inflated with a dangerous and unstable propellant formula involving ammonium nitrate. The propellant sits inside the mechanism in tablet form. Moisture can cause these tablets to expand and degrade. These degraded tablets can burn too fast and explode, causing separation of the metal ignitor tube which becomes a shotgun slug, as well as  shrapnel being sprayed throughout the vehicle.

How many people have been harmed by defective ARC airbags?

At least nine incidents of ruptured air bag inflators occurred from 2009 to 2023, resulting in severe injuries and two fatalities.

In December 2024, NHTSA declined to issue a recall of almost 60 million airbag inflators made by ARC Automotive, deciding that more investigation was necessary. The decision might have been in response to pushback or inaccurate information from automakers as to whether all the ARC inflators in question were defective. However, BMW, General Motors and Volkswagen have all initiated recalls for defective ARC airbag inflators.

What cars are part of the ARC airbag recalls?

The following vehicles have been affected by the ARC airbag recalls:

• 2017 BMW X5 sDrive35i, X5 xDrive35i, X5 xDrive50i, X5 xDrive35d, and X5 xDrive40e
• 2008-2017 Buick Enclave
• 2010-2011 Chevrolet Malibu
• 2013-2017 Chevrolet Traverse
• 2014-2017 GMC Acadia
• 2017 Ford Mustang and F-150 pickup
• 2016 Volkswagen Audi TT Roadster, TT Coupe, S3 Sedan, R8 Coupe, A3 Sedan, A3 Etron, A3 Cabriolet, 2016 Golf Sportwagen, Golf R, Golf GTI, Golf A7, and E Golf

People who have suffered physical injuries, property damage, economic losses and other harms caused by a defective airbag may be eligible to file an ARC airbag lawsuit or join the existing mass tort.

Previous awards are not a guarantee of a certain payout amount or outcome. Damages available in an ARC airbag lawsuit settlement might include:

• Injuries, including hearing loss, permanent eye and face damage, scarring and disfigurement
• Lost wages
• Loss of earning capacity
• Pain and suffering
• Present and future medical costs
• Psychological effects

Motley Rice has played a lead role in some of the largest and most significant litigations in recent years involving vehicle defects, including cases regarding defective airbags installed in vehicles manufactured by several automakers. Read the leadership appointment order for In re: ARC Airbag Inflators Products Liability Litigation.

Our attorneys represent dozens of clients and have settled claims made by personal injury victims alleging harm by Takata airbags in the U.S. and Malaysia. Motley Rice was the first law firm to document the rupture of a Takata inflator on high-speed video and to thoroughly investigate the airbag defect by disassembling airbag inflators found in junk yards. Our attorneys also played a key role in helping negotiate a pair of Takata bankruptcy resolutions for current and future victims in the wake of the largest automobile recall in history.

Motley Rice co-founder Joe Rice also serves as a member of the plaintiffs’ executive committee for the multidistrict litigation In re: General Motors LLC Ignition Switch Litigation, filed for victims who allege financial injury due to the unsafe condition of GM vehicles that were recalled for ignition defects.

Motley Rice is reviewing claims of harm involving airbags in recalled Kia vehicles that failed to deploy in a crash. In April 2019, NHTSA also announced that it is investigating potentially defective airbags installed in 12.3 million vehicles that may fail to deploy due to electrical overstress — the seeming cause of at least eight deaths in the U.S. Our attorneys are available to discuss these and other cases involving vehicle defects.

Read more about our experience with defective vehicle lawsuits.