Porsche Taycan, 911 models recalled due to missing seatbelt warning sound

Luxury sports carmaker Porsche is recalling a total of 6,531 Taycan and 911 models in Canada and the US due to incorrect programming of seatbelt safety warnings. The issue majorly impacts Canada, where 6,401 vehicles have been affected including 2020 Taycan Turbo as well as the 2020-2021 Taycan, and the 2020-2021 911 Carrera. A total of 130 2020 Porsche Taycans have been affected in Puerto Rico in the US.

In documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Porsche has mentioned that these vehicles are not defective as such, but simply have been given coding for the wrong market. This means that when an occupant enters an affected Porsche model and does not buckle up, the car's seatbelt warning system makes no sound at all. However, the car's dashboard displays a warning sign that stays on until the occupant fastens the seatbelt.

The affected vehicles do not comply with the safety regulations in the US and Canada. In the latter market, seatbelt warnings must include both a visual and an auditory sign that a passenger has not fastened the seatbelt. This is important because when passengers do not wear seatbelts, they are much likelier to be injured in the event of an accident.

To fix this issue, Porsche will ask owners in both the markets to take their vehicle to a dealership and get their instrument cluster software updated, tus bringing it back into compliance with safety regulations in the mentioned countries. Owners in Puerto Rico will start getting notification starting May 16 while Canadian owners will also be informed soon.

Porsche has not yet informed about any crash or injury related to this issue in either of the markets. The company will be fixing the software issue on the affected vehicles free of cost.