The complaint alleges that national used car dealership AutoSavvy had the teen’s 2019 Hyundai Sonata repaired prior to selling it to her family
Salt Lake City, Utah—A lawsuit has been filed on behalf of the family of a minor who was killed by an airbag that detonated in a collision on July 30, 2025. According to the lawsuit, the teen’s driver-side airbag contained counterfeit and non-compliant components that exploded when the car was involved in a minor crash, causing a large, jagged chunk of metal shrapnel from the blast to strike her chest, killing her in minutes.
The complaint alleges that the defendant, national used car dealership AutoSavvy, had the teen’s 2019 Hyundai Sonata repaired prior to selling it to her family. In doing so, AutoSavvy allegedly installed cheaper, counterfeit airbag components into a vehicle.
This is the third wrongful death lawsuit filed by Morgan & Morgan relating to counterfeit airbag parts that are allegedly manufactured in China and find their way into cars in the U.S. In all three cases, the plaintiffs were involved in survivable collisions, but were killed when the counterfeit airbag detonated and exploded shrapnel into their bodies.
Since Morgan & Morgan’s initial filings in 2024, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued consumer safety advisories to alert used vehicle owners and repair professionals to the dangers of counterfeit air bags.
“In each case we’ve reviewed, we believe the collision should have been survivable. Instead, the airbag allegedly acted like a grenade, turning what is supposed to be a safety feature into a death sentence,” said Morgan & Morgan attorney Andrew Parker Felix. “Morgan & Morgan is committed to uncovering how these illegal airbag inflators are entering the stream of commerce and being installed in vehicles across the country.”
The firm is investigating at least three other death cases against other defendants related to counterfeit Chinese airbags.
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