Kia issues recall for over 410,000 vehicles citing airbag defects

Kia announces a recall for more than 410,000 vehicles, including an electric vehicle model, due to defective airbags. The South Korean automaker needs to fix the airbags as they may fail to work in the event of a crash.

According to USA Today, the latest recall from Kia Corporation affects Kia Soul EVs with model dates of 2017 to 2019, 2017 Kia Forte Koup, Kia Sedonas, and Kia Souls from 2017 to 2019, and Kia Fortes with model years 2017 to 2018.

It was reported that the defect might have been caused by the airbag control unit covers inside the vehicles. It may contact a memory chip on the printed circuit board, and this could lead to damage to the electrical circuit. As a result, the airbags will not be activated in a crash, so the risk of injury is heightened.

"The Air Bag Control Unit (ACU) cover may contact a memory chip on the printed circuit board and damage the electrical circuit," part of the notice posted by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reads. "Circuit damage may result in deactivated airbags that will not deploy in a crash."

So far, Kia has received 13 complaints from customers and 947 warrant claims in connection with the flaw in airbags. Owners of the affected vehicle model units must bring their cars to Kia dealers or other authorized centers to fix the problem. The company will also send a notification for the recall via mail starting March 21.

Local dealers will be checking the vehicles and updating the software to solve the issue. They can also simply replace the software if that is the better option. Owners can also directly contact the company's customer service at 1-800-333-4542, and all the fixes will be free of charge, as per the Consumer Reports.

Finally, the campaign number for this Kia recall under the NHTSA is 22V031, and Kia's own number code is SC226. Kia owners can use these numbers to see if their vehicles are affected, and they may also need to provide the 17-digit vehicle identification number (VIN) when checking at the NHTSA website.