Hyundai Elantra, Accent sedans recalled in US due to exploding seat belt parts

Hyundai Motor Company is recalling 239,000 units of vehicles in the US due to the potential of seat belt pretensioners to explode and injure occupants. The issues has already lead to three people being injured, two in the US and one in Singapore. The recall expands and replaces three previous recalls, and includes 2019-2022 Accents, 2021-2023 Elantras and 2021-2022 Elantra HEVs or hybrid electric vehicles. Vehicles repaired under the previous recalls will need to be brought to dealerships again for a fix.

The move from the automaker comes after government regulators wrote a letter to the Korean carmaker noting that the driver's and front passenger's seat belt pretensioners can explode upon deployment and send shrapnel throughout the vehicle. Pretensioners tighten the belts in preparation for a crash.

Owners of the affected vehicles will be able to take their cars to autthorised dealerships where the seat belt pretensioners will be fit with a cap at no additional cost. Hyundai is expected to notify owners by July 15, as per US safety regulator - the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA).

For more information, owners of affected vehicles may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460 and reference recall number 229. They can also call the NHTSA vehicle safety hotline at 1-888-327-4236 or go to www.nhtsa.gov to gather more information about the recall.

In a separate development, Hyundai has confirmed that it will build a factory worth $5.5 billion for manufacturing electric vehicles in Georgia. The automaker will employ at least 8,100 workers at the EV factory near the unincorporated town of Ellabell, where it will assemble electric vehicles as well as vehicle batteries. According to a report by PTI, the company and state officials said they expect suppliers to invest an additional $1 billion.