Ridgeville, SC – October 2, 2021 – Volvo (OTCMKTS: VLVLY) has issued a recall for 19,149 vehicles with a faulty passenger seat belt retractor that may not secure a child car seat correctly. This raises the risk of an injury to the child in an accident.

The recall includes:

• 2021 Volvo V60CC
• 2021 Volvo V90
• 2021 Volvo V90CC
• 2021 Volvo XC40
• 2021 Volvo XC40 pure electric
• 2021 Volvo XC90
• 2021 – 2022 Volvo XC60
• 2021 – 2022 Volvo S60
• 2021 – 2022 Volvo V60

This is part of an ongoing recall with multiple manufacturers affected due to faulty parts supplied by Swedish-American manufacturer Autoliv.

Recall summary

Mechanisms called retractors hold seat belts in place. There are two kinds of retractors: Emergency Locking Retractors (ELR) that will allow for the seatbelt to extend with movement freely, but lock in place in the event of sudden deceleration, like if there is a crash; and Automatic Locking Retractors (ALR), which lock in place once it is withdrawn – it only gets tighter and does not extend further – making them a good fit for securing a child seat.

Due to faulty parts provided by Autoliv, the ALR function may deactivate and cause the child seat to come loose and move around.

Recall risks

As reported, child seats reduce deaths by 71% for infants under 1 year old and 54% for kids between 1 and 4 years. If a child seat is not secured correctly, it can seriously increase the risk of injury. 

Safety tips

To reduce the risk, parents should use the lower anchors and tethers for children system (LATCH) instead of seat belts while the issue is being fixed, as reported.

Warning signs 

Owners may realize that the ALR is not working if the clicking noise made when it is activated stops before the seat belt is fully retracted. 

Background of the recall

As mentioned, this is part of an ongoing series of recalls brought upon by faulty seat belts supplied by Swedish-American supplier Autoliv. Other manufacturers that have been affected include Volkswagen, Jaguar, Land Rover and Stellantis, among others.

Other Volvo recalls

A Volvo recall from earlier this year for defective airbags also included some models part of this recall, like the Volvo V60, V90, XC60, and XC90.

The repair

Dealers will change the affected seat belt assembly and the seat belt, free of charge, if required.

Owners will be notified on October 31, 2021.

Is your vehicle part of the recall?

To find out if your vehicle is affected by this Volvo seat belt recall, check MotorSafety’s free vehicle lookup tool.