Laguna Hills, CA – Nov. 25, 2019 – Hyundai Motor America plans to issue a voluntary safety recall next year for over 11,000 2020 Palisade model vehicles because the mounting bolts used to secure their side curtain air bags could damage the latter upon deployment. Air bags that are damaged as a result of the defect may not properly inflate, thereby increasing the risk of injury to occupants, according to official company filings with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Specifically, 11,217 vehicles are estimated to be affected by the defect and Hyundai has announced that owners can have a protective cover installed over the mounting bolts free of charge when the recall officially begins at the beginning of 2020. Hyundai has not reported any customer crashes, injuries or other related incidents as a result of the defect.
The Defect
According to the official HMA recall report, the Palisade vehicles with defects were produced by Hyundai Motor Company in the Republic of Korea between the dates of November 21, 2018 and August 12, 2019. The Side Curtain Airbags fitted in these vehicles were done so using bolts that were “produced with sharp corners” on their hexagonal heads, which could perforate or otherwise damage the SCAPs.
Timeline of Events
The 2020 Palisade recall came about after HMC discovered a torn SCAP while a New Car Assessment Program crash test was conducted in Korea on July 15, 2019, which prompted the company to reach out to the supplier and conduct a joint investigation into the potential cause of the damage. Internal crash testing was unsuccessful in replicating the tear, although the two organizations concluded based on further review of test results that the SCAB could become damaged “due to interference with the mounting bolts.”
After the testing, HMC then notified all regional distributors of Palisades equipped with the bolts and conducted its own search of related field information. HMA’s Technical Committee convened November 1, 2019, where it made the decision to conduct a voluntary recall as a means of addressing the situation. The recall report was submitted to the NHTSA November 7, 2019.
The Solution
While bolts produced with rounded (rather than hexagonal) corners were first used in vehicle production on July 2, 2019, HMA intends to begin a recall for the affected vehicles on January 3, 2020 and will notify dealers and owners and ask them to bring their vehicles to a nearby dealer to each have protective covers installed onto the SCAP bolts. The official Hyundai recall number for this incident is 186, while it is filed at the NHTSA under the recall number 19V-802.
To find out more about product recalls, visit motorsafety.org.
