Honda recalls five lakh vehicles over front seat belt issue

Honda Motor is recalling five lakh vehicles in the US and Canada due to front seat belt issue as they may not latch properly. The recall involves 2017 through 2020 CR-V, 2018 and 2019 Accord, 2018 through 2020 Odyssey and 2019 Insight. Also included is the Acura RDX from the 2019 and 2020 model years.

As per documents posted by US safety regulators, the surface coating on the channel for the buckle can deteriorate over time. In fact, the release button can shrink against the channel at lower temperatures, increasing friction and stopping the buckle from latching.

This can lead to increase in risk of injury during any unavoidable incident, and may even be fatal for passenger and driver. However, Honda says that there is no report of any injury due to this issue.

The company will start notifying the owners of affected vehicles starting April 17. Dealers will replace the front seat belt buckle release buttons or the buckle assemblies free of cost, if needed.

In a separate development, Ford has issued a recall for its much-hyped F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck owing to a battery issue, which forced the US auto manufacturer to halt the production of the EV. The automaker has said that a total of 18 units of the electric pickup truck from the 2023 model year have been recalled. These affected Ford F-150 Lightning EVs come with potentially defective battery cell, which has been possibly delivered to the customers, the automaker found after a quality inspection detected the battery issue.

Ford claims it is unaware of any injuries or accidents involving the F-150 Lightning connected to the issue. The automaker said that the affected electric pickup trucks' battery packs would be replaced at no cost to the customers. It also stated that owners affected by the recall would be notified soon. Also, it claims that in the meantime, the affected trucks can be driven and charged without any worry.