The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) confirmed it is investigating seven crashes, including five deaths, tied to aftermarket airbags that violently ruptured during deployment—the Wall Street Journal reports. The culprit is Jilin Province Detiannuo Safety Technology, also known as DTN Airbag, a Chinese manufacturer being accused of producing inflators that contain volatile chemicals.
Remember the Takata saga—the faulty inflaters caused the largest automotive recall in history, and accounted for 28 U.S. deaths.
Like Takata’s defective inflators, DTN’s counterfeits are alleged to explode with grenade-like force, spraying shrapnel into vehicle cabins during otherwise survivable crashes.[…]
It’s impossible to know how many cars are fitted with counterfeit DTN inflators—the fake airbags are often sold online, sometimes for as little as $100, a fraction of the price compared to $1,000 or more for genuine, manufacturer-certified parts. The construction and packaging mimic genuine OEM components closely enough that even repair shops can be fooled. Although you would think that a degree of scepticism would creep in when you’re literally paying a mere fraction of the price.
“you would think that a degree of scepticism would creep in when you’re literally paying a mere fraction of the price.”
Nah, it’s because the manufacturers and stealerships are out to rip everyone off. Certainly not because the stuff they’re hawking has to be certified by multiple agencies to be safe and up to the task at hand, made to a standard that will last the expected life of the vehicle, and probably not light on fire or explode during the normal course of its life, no.
Okay, OEM stuff is expensive. But yeah, that all had to be certified to work in whatever market it was sold in. And they definitely spread the cost of development and warranties around, vs stealing a design, manufacturing it to no standard whatsoever, and blowing it out the door.
Oh,and further to this- Body shops buy a lot of parts from OEM dealerships. But they don’t buy airbags. Insurance co’s obviously aren’t authorizing them. So either the airbags are not getting replaced at all (maybe they didn’t blow), or they are getting replaced but with knockoffs or used parts. So if a large dollar collision shows up on the Carfax- run like hell. Chances are it might be fine, but do you really KNOW it is?
Life in China isn’t worth much.
They think barbarians are beneath them so selling them face bombs gives nothing but a shrug.
If you hang the importers, who probably value their lives, you’ll stop the flow.
Same as drug importers.
Hanging works.
Put it on a T shirt.
Just the tip of the iceberg.
I’ve mentioned previously that I changed the leaky valve cover on my BMW (N55 engine). Why? Because I’m a glutton for punishment … as you have to take apart an incredible amount of crap just to get at the project.
I replaced the actual valve cover along with the gasket … because why spend all that time just to put back a cracked vc (that you couldn’t see). The OEM German-made vc is about $550. … but Amazon is chock full of ChiCom knock-offs for $79. Yes … $79. Which includes all the studs and gaskets necessary for the project. Uh … NO THANK YOU. I’m not gonna invest all this time in a sketchy product.
Seriously … The vc itself is a complicated part with lots of valves, inserts and whatnots. I cannot even imagine how they can fabricate all these parts then ship them across the ocean and sell them for $79. I can’t imagine how that pencils out.
The ChiComs build ghost cities and fleets of ghost EV’s … so I guess they also build warehouses full of ghost Autopen parts.
And no … it’s not hard to “tell” that you are installing ChiCom crap … that’s nothing more than a legal talking point by defense attorneys trying not to pay $$$ to the victims.
“..The ChiComs build ghost cities and fleets of ghost EV’s …..”
Hey, they have to do something to maintain the illusion that money is moving around, people are working to the benefit of their nation, and there is no ‘excess production’. Western investors, (IMF/CoC /ImEx banks/WEF/etc), and Chinese ‘client nations’ would collectively shit themselves then curl into the fetal position for another decade if China actually opened up their books, so their true growth projections as well as their ‘debt to GDP’ was truthfully revealed.. Everything about their nation is a lie, why would their export products be any different..
REAL capitalism is hard … at least for those who oppose it but have no choice but to obey it. Economics is reality. Economics doesn’t lie.
“In China, you can buy a heavily discounted “used” electric car that has never, in fact, been used. Chinese automakers, desperate to meet their sales targets in a bitterly competitive market, sell cars to dealerships, which register them as “sold,” even though no actual customer has bought them. Dealers, stuck with officially sold cars, then offload them as “used,” often at low prices. The practice has become so prevalent that the Chinese Communist Party is trying to stop it. Its main newspaper, The People’s Daily, complained earlier this year that this sales-inflating tactic “disrupts normal market order,” and criticized companies for their “data worship.”
This sign of serious problems in China’s electric-vehicle industry may come as a surprise to many Americans. The Chinese electric car has become a symbol of the country’s seemingly unstoppable rise on the world stage. Many observers point to their growing popularity as evidence that China is winning the race to dominate new technologies. But in China, these electric cars represent something entirely different: the profound threats that Beijing’s meddling in markets poses to both China and the world.”
The Atlantic, Nov 11, 2025
” Many observers point to their growing popularity as evidence that China is winning the race to dominate new technologies.”
Not surprised that The Atlantic would print such drivel.
China ‘dominates’ no technology at all. Communism is the antithesis of innovation.
They thrive upon what they can steal.. not unlike rodents and vermin..
A nation that demonstrates that it doesn’t give a crap about its own citizens really doesn’t care about folks in other countries.
Won’t be long before Canada joins the chicomms in that club.
Canada has been in that club for a long time…..going back to the Maoist Pierre Trudeau.
The Chinese – either at your feet, or at your throat.
Nothing but the best for Canadians from Carney’s preferred supplier. It’s not just the Chinese who don’t give a damn if you live or die.
One still, bitterly cold February 1951 night on a hill in Korea, my father said you could smell the breath of the Chinese advancing on his position they were so close. While not specifically having to do with these cheap ass faulty airbags, but I do continually wonder why the hell any greedy western importers would do any business at all with a mass murdering commie puke regime. Traitors all.
Thank you.
the further in the past things are, the fewer remember them. and easier to ignore when brought up.
and money talks; the ones ‘running things’ now werent there on the korean hill in ’51.
ah. yes. ‘china evs canada’ that was the google search
https://www.autonews.com/geely/an-geely-exports-lotus-eletre-ev-electric-vehicle-canada-china-0508/
https://www.autonews.com/ev/anc-byd-interest-canada-sales-autotrader-0414/
the stories are paywalled but no matter, point made.
and
https://www.blacklocks.ca/call-china-evs-very-popular/
aka the fix is in?
it all started with our communist liberal pierre turdeau.
l detested him right from the very beginning. the ARROGANCE that man *exuded*
and dont forget the chirese are perfectly fine killing their own kids with toxic substances left over in the manufacturing equipment AND put there on purpose
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Chinese_milk_scandal
note, *adulterated* ie DELIBERATE.
but money talks eh? and they are our new ‘best trading partners’.
The anthill is gonna ant.
RNrn
China is in trouble. It’s starting in the rural provinces. Last year (2025), there were well over 600 documented protests. That’s about a 70% increase from the previous year. And, keep in mind that not all protests can be documented or reported to those outside the Mainland borders. The fact that over 600 were is remarkable, and not business as usual.
The other thing popping up is that the protesters are all carrying buckets of rice and throwing it at the armed riot police. It’s symbolic. When you throw rice at someone in China it reflects an attempt to repel evil. That’s a pretty bold statement. In China, right now, consumer spending internally is very low. Local debt is very high. The governemnt takes 45% of all revenue while only returning 15% back in infrastructure. And, keep in mind that the larger Chinese corporations fall within the definition of infrastructure. This includes the ones that make airbags. China’s economy right now is very reflective of Japan. A slow torturous decline.
Beyond me why North America would allow imported Chirese airbags when there is already such a surplus here in the Democrat/Liberal political parties as well as the bloated Media/Institutional Orgs. Stop it!
It’s because the 3rd degree burns from the hot air is worse than the shrapnel.
Gosh darn, this is terrible news. I sure hope nobody rushes out and snaps up a few of these ‘paper tiger’ airbags and installs them in their cheating spouse’s car. Think of the guilt feelings! This is why you need an un-documented insurance professional. You can thank me later.
I think it’s time to get rid of the old bag. I mean the air bag, of course.
And yet, the left’s braintrust remains baffled and indignant over America’s refusal to allow China to flood U.S. streets with their shitty spontaneously self-combusting
golf cartsEVs. Almost everything the Chinese produce for the west is lethal to one extent or another. Baby food, pet food, fish products, children’s toys, you name it.. it kills.. and never ever forget their lethal drywall. In the U.S, oddly enough, after the useful phosphate products are extracted from phosphate rock, the radioactive phosphogypsum (loaded with radium in FL) must be stacked and covered. In China, it is just pressed into drywall, and sold back to the U.S. and probably Canada as well..