Kia Recalls Over 30,000 Tellurides For Faulty Seat Belt Assemblies

Kia has issued a recall for a touch over 30,000 2020 Telluride vehicles in the United States.

A notice from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reveals that 2020 Kia Telluride models built by Kia Motor Manufacturing Georgia from January 9, 2019 through August 5, 2019 may have been inadvertently installed with seat belt assemblies designed for the Middle East market in the driver, front passenger, and second and/or third-row seats of models sold in the U.S.

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This embarrassing blunder means the seat belt assemblies are not equipped with an automatic locking retractor feature and, therefore, do not comply with U.S. regulations requiring seat belt assemblies to have a lap belt portion that’s lockable so the assembly can be used to tightly secure a child restraint system. It is estimated that about 1 per cent of the 30,168 Telluride models recalled have the incorrect seat belt assemblies.

In the event of a crash this means that if a child were to be restrained in the front passenger, second or third-row seats, the assembly may not tightly secure a child restraint system and increase the risk of injury in the event of a crash.

The South Korean car manufacturer says it will notify all affected owners by first class mail with instructions to bring their vehicles to an authorized Kia dealers. If dealers identify incorrect seat belt assembles, they will be replaced. Kia will reimburse owners for all repair expenses.

Kia says it started to inspect all seat belt assemblies in vehicles produced at its Georgia plant after August 5, 2019 to ensure all future U.S. models are compliant with local regulations.