Land Rover recalls nearly 5000 SUVs owing to faulty seatbelt pre-tensioner issue

Tata Group's Land Rover has issued a recall impacting a total of 4,927 vehicles, comprising Land Rover Defender, Land Rover Discovery, Land Rover Discovery Sport, Range Rover Sport, and Range Rover Velar owing to a faulty seatbelt pre-tensioner issue. The affected Land Rover luxury SUVs were built between 22nd December 2021 and 29th March 2022. Also, the impacted vehicles were built at the car manufacturer’s Halewood, Nitra and Solihull assembly plants.

The British car manufacturer commenced an investigation into a potential issue on 25th May 25, 2022. The investigation started after the company was informed by its supplier Aptiv about a defect in the front seat-belt pre-tensioners. The investigation revealed that the damage happened to the front seat pre-tensioner tubes because defective manufacturing process.

A damaged front seat belt pre-tensioner tube could prevent the pre- tensioners from correctly operating by not pre-tensioning the seat belt in an accident. This could result in a reduced level or complete loss of pre-tensioning in the event of a crash and increases the risk of occupant injury, which could be fatal in cases.

Jaguar Land Rover will inform its dealerships about the recall on August 4, 2022, while owners of impacted vehicles will be alerted on or before September 16. Owners will be instructed to take their vehicle to an authorized Jaguar Land Rover dealership where a technician will inspect the seat belt pre-tensioner tubes and will replace them in case of requirement.