Safety Agency Could Expand Hyundai Air Bag Recall

U.S. safety regulators are looking into whether a Hyundai Elantra recall should be expanded.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a recall query to determine if 52,000 Elantra Touring cars from the 2009 through 2012 model years should be recalled.

In March, Hyundai recalled more than 186,000 Elantra compacts from the 2011 to 2013 model years because a ceiling support bracket can come loose when side air bags inflate. In one case a bracket cut a driver’s ear.

The safety agency says that the 2009-2012 Elantra Touring models have a bracket design that’s similar to the recalled cars.

In the recall, dealers were to install industrial adhesive strips to keep the brackets in place. The bracket design was changed in cars built after March 5, 2013.

Hyundai says it will cooperate with the investigation.