General Motors recalls over 600,000 vehicles due to defect in front seat belts

General Motors has issued a recall for 624,216 of its pickups and SUVs with defect in front center seatbelt bracket that might cause injury to the occupant sitting in the center of the front row, in case of hard braking.

The vehicles involved in the recall in the US include 2019-2021 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500, 2020-2021 Chevrolet Silverado 2500/3500 and GMC Sierra 2500/3500, and certain 2021 Chevrolet Suburban, Tahoe, and GMC Yukon XL. In these vehicles, the seat supplier may have failed to secure the seat-belt brackets to the seat frame in the front-row center seating position, as per a filing by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

The only vehicles being recalled are the ones with the 40/20/40 split-folding front bench seats. General Motors says that the issue does not affect 2019 Silverado and Sierra Limited models built on the previous-generation platform.

Occupants of the vehicles with the seat belt defect could hear a rattling noise from the center seat or console area, or they could notice that the center seatbelt in front has become loose or even detached.

The defect was identified during the vehicle assembly process and upon investigation, the company found that the same issue could impact a host of different models.

Owners of the defected vehicles will begin receiving notifications about the same by February 1, 2021 while dealers have already been notified on December 17, 2020. Dealers will inspect the left-side, right-side and front-row center seat-belt bracket attachments and reassemble the ones that are improperly installed.

General Motors says that the company will provide reimbursement to owners for all the repair costs involved in the procedure.