The 2023 Kia Sportage is now the subject of a recall in the United States involving no less than 76,918 examples.
It has been revealed that the side curtain airbags may have been assembled with a twist in them during vehicle assembly at the Kia Georgia plant. Kia says this was due to a worker error and that as a result, the side curtain airbags may not deploy properly in a crash, increasing the risk of injury.
A recall notice revealed that engineers from Kia’s R&D Center attended compliance testing conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance of a 2023 Sportage on November 17. During the test, the driver’s side curtain airbag dud not properly deploy.
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Impacted Kia Sportage models were produced between January 12, 2022 and November 17, 2022.
Customers of impacted vehicles will be notified by first class mail with instructions to bring their vehicles to a Kia dealer where the side curtain airbags will be inspected and if necessary, reinstalled. The fix will be performed free of charge and any owners that have previously paid to have the issue fixed will be reimbursed.
This is not the first recall issued for the 2023 Kia Sportage. In August, the Korean car manufacturer recalled 19,701 examples produced between January 12, 2022 and August 8, 2022 because the B+ terminal nut on the battery may not have been properly torqued by the supplier during assembly. This could lead the not to loosen over time and could cause the engine to stall while driving. It could also trigger a fire due to electrical arcing at the B+ terminal.
