Why It’s So Hard to Crack Down on Deadly Counterfeit Air-Bag Parts

Summary

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WSJ What’s News: Why It’s So Hard to Crack Down on Deadly Counterfeit Air-Bag Parts

Date: July 9, 2026
Host: Alex Osola (The Wall Street Journal)
Guest: Ryan Felton (Autos Reporter), Rebecca Picciotto (Residential Real Estate Reporter)

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Episode Overview

This episode spotlights the life-threatening risks posed by counterfeit airbag parts, specifically those linked to at least 10 fatalities in the U.S. since 2023. The discussion examines the challenges regulators face in tracking and removing these dangerous parts from circulation, the impact on car owners, and practical advice for consumers. In the second half, the show shifts to the recent Manhattan high-rise structural scare and how such incidents may slow the post-pandemic boom in office-to-residential building conversions.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Counterfeit Airbag Crisis

• Scope of Risk

  • Only a narrow segment of vehicles is at risk: chiefly those repaired after airbags have deployed in accidents.
    • Ryan Felton (03:26):
      "If your car has been in an accident severe enough to cause airbags to deploy, that's really the key category of vehicles that could be at risk."

• Source of Counterfeit Parts

  • Many counterfeit airbags, traced to a Chinese manufacturer called DTN Airbag, enter the U.S. market through informal online channels like eBay and Facebook Marketplace.
  • Counterfeiters often use fake branding, including U.S. carmaker logos.

• Regulatory Challenges

  • Unlike legitimate car parts, these replacements are rarely tracked or authenticated, complicating forensic investigations:
    • Felton (04:03):
      "This isn't tracked diligently like the way that new car parts are authenticated...It gets unwieldy pretty fast with every single incident."
  • DTN claims the parts are not its own but counterfeits of its products, leading regulators to ban only those parts with certain serial numbers.
  • Comparison to Takata Recall:
    • The Takata case involved easily traceable vehicle numbers and millions of affected cars. Here, the gray market makes quantifying the risk nearly impossible.

• Memorable Quote

  • Felton (04:49):
    "Here...you really can't pin it down [numbers of affected vehicles] oftentimes until an incident happens. And that's kind of the scary part."

2. What Should Concerned Car Owners Do?

• Practical Advice
  • If a car has been in a significant accident involving airbag deployment, get it inspected for counterfeit parts.
  • Technicians now have guidance on what to look for, but inspections are not free, unlike recall repairs.
    • Felton (05:44):
      "There's guidance out there now for technicians...but because we're dealing with an unknown variable and no one knows who brought them in or who assembled them, there's no free fix...people have to be able to pay for inspections."

3. Real Estate News: Office-to-Residential Conversions Stunned by Manhattan Scare

• Incident Recap

  • A Manhattan high-rise (former Pfizer HQ) faced a localized collapse due to structural stress from conversion work.
  • The project is the largest planned office-to-residential conversion in U.S. history.

• Boom and Backlash

  • Office-to-apartment conversions surged post-pandemic, with over 90,000 units in the pipeline nationwide (up 28% year-over-year per Rent Cafe).
    • Rebecca Picciotto (10:03):
      "They are addressing their dire housing shortages...with the empty office space that's plaguing their downtowns and lingering from the pandemic..."
  • The Manhattan case may chill lender and investor enthusiasm, raising insurance costs and complicating project financing:
    • Picciotto (10:35):
      "A lot of investors and lenders are now rethinking the calculus...Even if this is a freak accident, builder's insurance could become more expensive."
  • Balancing the need for new housing with construction risks is under renewed scrutiny.

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Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• Ryan Felton on the scope of the problem (03:26):
  "That's really the key category of vehicles that could be at risk, because to safely get back on the road, people want to have the airbags that are functioning."

• Felton on regulatory complexity (04:03):
  "This isn't tracked diligently like the way that new car parts are authenticated...investigators have to really do some forensic digging."

• Felton on the unpredictability (04:49):
  "You really can't pin it down oftentimes until an incident happens. And that's kind of the scary part."

• Felton on consumer burden (05:44):
  "There's guidance out there now for technicians on what to be looking for...but...there's no free fix to make. So essentially ... people have to be able to pay for inspections."

• Rebecca Picciotto on the conversion trend (10:03):
  "Public officials like it because it feels like a win win. They are addressing their dire housing shortages...with the empty office space that's plaguing their downtowns."

• Picciotto on fallout from the collapse scare (10:35):
  "Even if this is a freak accident, builder's insurance could become more expensive. You might have lenders and investors requiring developers to provide more extensive safety reviews..."

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Important Segment Timestamps

• [03:26]: Start of the deep dive on deadly counterfeit airbag parts
• [04:03]: Regulatory hurdles and comparison to Takata
• [05:44]: Advice for car owners and costs
• [09:13]: Manhattan high-rise structural scare and office-to-residential conversions
• [10:03]: Rebecca Picciotto on the conversion boom and its risks

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Takeaways

• Counterfeit airbag parts are a uniquely difficult regulatory challenge because they're sold on the gray market with little to no tracking. Risk is concentrated among repaired vehicles after accidents, but detection is costly and not automatic—owners must proactively get inspections.
• Regulatory response is limited, focusing on specific part numbers but unable to cast a broader net without more traceability.
• Office-to-residential real estate conversions remain popular, but high-profile incidents like the Manhattan scare likely mean more expensive and cautious projects ahead, potentially slowing momentum.

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This episode is a must-listen for car owners concerned about repair safety, those following auto industry regulations, and anyone interested in post-pandemic urban development trends.

Transcript

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[Alex Osola]

Continued exchanges of fire with Iran could put the US Energy security at risk and why it's so difficult to crack down on airbags with counterfeit parts that have killed at least 10 people. Plus the Manhattan High rise scare is a reality check moment for developers.

[Rebecca Picciotto]

Ultimately, there's a question on Are lenders and investors going to have to reprice the risk of doing an office to residential conversion?

[Alex Osola]

It's Thursday, July 9th. Alex I'm Alex Osola for the Wall Street Journal. This is the PM edition of what's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today. We're going to be talking about the real estate industry later on today's show, but first, a bit of data on the housing market. The spring selling season has ended, and it wasn't great. The national association of Realtors said today that U.S. existing home sales fell 2.4% in June, worse than expected. Economists have dimmed their projections for the year. That's because of higher mortgage rates and record home prices. The Federal Reserve has named more than a dozen external advisors to lead five task forces that will examine the central bank's operations. The picks are mainly academics, but there's also the former CEO of Walmart, Doug McMillan, and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, who's a big supporter of the Trump administration. The task forces are part of a reform effort from Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh. The they'll look at the Fed's approach to the jobs market, inflation, economic data, the Fed's bond portfolio and how it handles communications with the public. Turning to the auto industry, a federal safety regulator is warning that robo taxis are a danger to the public because there are times when they drive into active emergency scenes and they block the way for ambulances and firefighters. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that the cars also haven't been able to recognize traffic cones, flashing lights and other safety threats like smoke and fire. The robotaxi industry is active in Texas, California, Arizona and other states. Alphabet owned Waymo has become the early leader. The traffic safety regulator says the industry has the potential to reduce traffic fatalities. But the agency also says that cars need to be held to the same standard as human drivers when they're dealing with law enforcement. The agency is setting up meetings with the companies to hear their solutions. Waymo and Tesla say their vehicles are designed to respond to emergency responders. There's no doubt that airbags in cars have saved tens of thousands of lives. But sometimes they're also dangerous. The latest problem, airbags with counterfeit parts that are marked as being made by a company from China. Federal safety officials have known about these for a while, and they've tied the dangerous part to at least 10 deaths in the US since 2023. Now they're trying to stop more drivers from being killed or injured. Journal Autos reporter Ryan Felton has been digging into this and and he says it's a pretty narrow segment of vehicles that are affected.

[Ryan Felton]

If your car has been in an accident severe enough to cause airbags to deploy, that's really the key category of vehicles that could be at risk, because to safely get back on the road, people want to have the airbags that are functioning.

[Alex Osola]

The issue comes from airbag parts that appear to originate from a Chinese manufacturer known as DTN Airbag. Often, mechanics and dealerships will buy these replacement airbags from sites like ebay and Facebook Marketplace, and sometimes they're even labeled with counterfeit logos of American carmakers. Ryan says this complicated market makes it a lot more difficult for regulators to crack down on the dangerous parts.

[Ryan Felton]

This isn't tracked diligently like the way that new car parts are authenticated parts are tracked. So regulators and investigators have to really do some forensic digging to figure out, like who brought these in, who sold them, what person bought the car, and who installed this airbag. And it gets unwieldy pretty fast with every single incident. And that's kind of just been the key challenge. DTN itself has claimed that it believes the products themselves that are being found in these airbags here aren't actually their own and were counterfeited of their own products. And so regulators took that point into consideration, and when these airbag parts were banned, they banned specifically the airbag parts with this particular part number that's been in question. About a decade ago, there was this recall involving this Japanese supplier named Takata. And Takata made airbags for new cars. They had airbags that were similarly rupturing and exploding in terrible ways in otherwise survivable crashes. What's different Here is regulators and investigators are dealing with what's essentially a gray market for secondary products. Where Takata, you can at least put a number on it. Like X million tens of millions of vehicles have these airbags that need to be fixed. Like here. They can roughly ballpark how many people might have airbags like it. But you really can't pin it down oftentimes until an incident happens. And that's kind of the scary part.

[Alex Osola]

So what can listeners do? Ryan says the good news is that a mechanic can check your car. The bad news is it might not be free.

[Ryan Felton]

Understanding your vehicle's history and if it's been in an accident where airbags have deployed, that's kind of one big tell to go get it checked. There's guidance out there now for technicians on what to be looking for. And unfortunately that is something that costs money. In a traditional recall, the fix is done for free. By law, you bring it in and the automakers cover the cost. But because we're dealing with an unknown variable and no one knows who brought them in or who assembled them, there's no free fix to make. So essentially it's people have to be able to pay for inspections to get the car looked at to see if these airbag parts are inside.

[Alex Osola]

Coming up in court today, evidence in the Charlie Kirk case shows the accused killer appearing to take responsibility for Kirk's death. More after the break.

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[Alex Osola]

With the US And Iran trading fire in the largest escalation since last month's peace deal, the ceasefire framework is in limbo. It's not clear if the latest strikes signal a return to all out war or if they're a violent detour back to negotiations. Though global oil prices started the day near their highest point since late June, they fell throughout the day with Brent crude hovering this afternoon around $76 a barrel. But some energy executives and analysts are wary. US Oil stockpiles are low and they will take a while to replenish if there's another disruption like another closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the US has to draw down its stockpiles again. That would potentially limit the country's ability to respond to things like natural disasters. And it could also push fuel prices up again. Meanwhile, worries about war subsided for stock investors today. All three indexes were up, led by the NASDAQ, which rose 1.3%. The 10 year treasury broke a seven day streak of rising yields. In Utah, the man charged in the killing of Charlie Kirk is in court this week for hearings where prosecutors must demonstrate that they have enough evidence for a trial. Prosecutors today played tape testimony from Lance Twigs. That's the former roommate and romantic partner of the suspect, Tyler Robinson. Twigs said Robinson had sent messages taking responsibility for Kirk's death. Twigs told prosecutors that he spoke with Robinson in person the day after. I just asked him in person if what he said was true the night before and he said it was.

[Ryan Felton]

I started crying a little bit and

[Alex Osola]

said he wishes he hadn't done it. Robinson has been in custody since his arrest, days after the shooting in September. He faces a charge of aggravated murder that could carry a death penalty sentence. Earlier this week we told you about a Manhattan high rise that was at risk of a partial collapse. City officials say this building could face what they're calling a localized collapse. You can see here these are columns on the 21st floor that have started to buckle tonight.

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Construction teams working around the clock to

[Ryan Felton]

stabilize that high rise.

[Alex Osola]

City officials said yesterday that the building is now stable and hasn't shown any new movement and the contractor and the city are discussing long term solutions for the building. That building is the site of the largest ever planned office to residential conversion in the US Developers were working on turning the former Pfizer headquarters into 1600 new residences along with a rooftop pool, fitness center and ground floor shops. In fact, the past five years have been a boom time for office to residential conversions. Now though, some fear the Manhattan incident could be a reality check. WSJ residential real estate reporter Rebecca Pichoto is here to discuss. Rebecca the apartment search website Rent Cafe says more than 90,000 units from office to apartment conversions were in the pipeline across the US at the start of this year. That's up 28% from a year earlier. Why have office to apartment conversions become so popular?

[Rebecca Picciotto]

Private developers, they see it as a cost saving, time saving construction technique compared to building from scratch. And public officials like it because it feels like a win win. They are addressing their dire housing shortages in their cities with the empty office space that's plaguing their downtowns and lingering from the pandemic shift to remote work.

[Alex Osola]

Some developers you spoke with are concerned that the incident with the Manhattan building might have a chilling effect on other office to apartment conversion projects. Where might that new reluctance come from?

[Rebecca Picciotto]

Metroloft, the developer on the old Pfizer headquarters, is one of the most prolific office to residential conversion developers in New York City. So for this to happen to their project raises a real question. Like they were widening 15 of the top floors and adding a ton of extra weight to the building and that's ultimately what the developer says caused the structural damage. A lot of investors and lenders are now rethinking the calculus on how complicated do we want to make this already complex real estate transformation. Even if this is a freak accident, builder's insurance could become more expensive. You might have lenders and investors requiring developers to provide more extensive safety reviews and safety assurances. That could take extra time. Debt might become less available. So all of the momentum that was driving this office to apartment conversion boom could start to slow down.

[Alex Osola]

That was the Journal's Rebecca Picciotto. Thanks, Rebecca.

[Rebecca Picciotto]

Thanks for having me.

[Alex Osola]

And that's what's news for this Thursday afternoon. Today's show is produced by Anthony Banci and Danny Lewis with supervising producer Tali Arbel. I'm Alex Osoleff for the Wall Street Journal. We'll be back with a new show tomorrow morning. Thanks for listening. Have no fear. Chosen Foods is here to defend your favorite foods from the forces of seedy oils and sketchy ingredients. With cooking oils, salad dressings and mayo, all powered by the good fats from 100% pure avocado oil and simple, delicious ingredients. Chosen Foods.