- NHTSA is investigating counterfeit Chinese airbags tied to six driver deaths.
- Officials say the fake DTN airbag inflators may have entered the US illegally.
- DTN denies selling in the US, claiming its products are banned from import.
Just weeks after alarming reports revealed that counterfeit airbags from China had found their way into vehicles across the United States, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Office of Defects Investigation has now launched a formal probe
The move follows a series of troubling incidents. The government agency says it has documented eight cases in which a driver’s airbag deployed with catastrophic results, either killing or severely injuring the person behind the wheel.
What the Investigation Found
According to the official engineering analysis, six of the drivers lost their lives and two suffered serious injuries. All eight airbags had been installed as replacements following previous crashes, and each came from the same Chinese manufacturer, Jilin Province Detiannuo Automobile Safety System Co., also known as DTN.
Read: Fake Airbags From China Are Exploding In US Cars Killing People
The NHTSA says its initial analysis suggests these inflators may have been imported illegally into the country. As we reported last month, it’s believed that many repair shops and assemblers have been importing these airbag inflators from overseas, often without knowing that DTN products are counterfeits and look like the genuine item. They can cost as little as one-tenth of a normal inflator.
Tracing the Fatalities
In June 2023, the NHTSA received a Vehicle Owner Questionnaire concerning the death of a driver in a 2020 Chevrolet Malibu. Investigators later determined that a counterfeit DTN airbag inflator had been fitted during an earlier repair and exploded during deployment, killing the driver.
Over the next year, four additional ruptures involving Chevrolet Malibus came to light, though investigators initially struggled to confirm who made the defective components.
The situation escalated this March when the driver of a 2017 Hyundai Sonata died after an airbag rupture. Another fatal incident occurred in August with a 2019 Sonata, and earlier this month, a 2020 Chevrolet Malibu driver was killed under the same circumstances.
Photographs of the recovered parts confirmed that all three recent cases involved DTN inflators. Images from the earlier, unidentified incidents have since shown the same origin.
Last month, DTN issued a statement claiming it does not conduct business in the United States and that its products are prohibited from sale there.
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