US: Carmaker recalls 54,000 vehicles for airbag defect linked to one death

WASHINGTON: Volvo Cars is recalling 54,000 U.S. vehicles for an airbag defect after a report of one crash death, according to a filing with U.S. regulators.

The unit of Geely Automotive is recalling 2001-2003 model S80 and S60 vehicles sold or registered in high humidity U.S. states because the driver side frontal air bag inflator may rupture, sending metal fragments flying, when the airbag is deployed.

Volvo did not immediately comment on Saturday.

Earlier on November 4, the company said its US sales in October continued to grow year-on-year during the month and reached 10,691 cars, up 21.4 per cent compared with the same month last year. In the first ten months, US sales declined by 2.3 per cent to 84,295 cars, compared with the same period last year.

Volvo Cars’ sales in Europe reached 28,154 cars in October, down 4.6 per cent versus the same month last year. In the the first ten months of the year, sales declined by 17.6 per cent year-on-year.

About Volvo Car Group

Volvo Cars was founded in 1927. Today, it is one of the most well-known and respected car brands in the world with sales of 705,452 cars in 2019 in about 100 countries. Volvo Cars has been under the ownership of the Zhejiang Geely Holding since 2010.

In 2019, Volvo Cars employed on average approximately 41,500 (41,500) full-time employees. Volvo Cars head office, product development, marketing and administration functions are mainly located in Gothenburg, Sweden. Volvo Cars head office for APAC is located in Shanghai.

The company’s main car production plants are located in Gothenburg (Sweden), Ghent (Belgium), South Carolina (US), Chengdu and Daqing (China), while engines are manufactured in Skövde (Sweden) and Zhangjiakou (China) and body components in Olofström (Sweden).