GM Recalls 500,000 2021-22 SUVs for Bad Seat Belts

General Motors is recalling 2021-2022 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, Chevrolet Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Yukon, and Yukon XL vehicles equipped with third-row seats.  The safety defect covers 2021-2022 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, Chevrolet Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Yukon, and Yukon XL vehicles equipped with third-row seats. These six product lines, of course, are among the most popular and profitable SUVs sold in North America.

“The rivet that retains the buckle to the mounting bracket in the left- or right-side third-row seat belt buckle assembly may have been improperly formed,” was the defect cited in a mandatory NHTSA filing made public today. GM had reports of the problem going back to October of 2020. Workers at GM supplier ZF Occupant Safety Systems manufacturing plant in Mexico may have not properly followed processes and inadvertently missed the rivet forming operation.

ZF initiated containment efforts on May 18, 2022 and changed their manufacturing process to add optical scan confirmation of the rivet head formation on July 1, 2022. Containment efforts were initiated at GM’s assembly plant on 25 May 2022, GM said in the filing. GM said is not aware of any accidents or injuries related to this safety defect.

Chronology

• On May 14, 2022, a GM dealership received a customer report of a third-row seatbelt buckle assembly that separated in a 2021 Chevrolet Suburban.
• GM’s District Service Manager submitted the issue to GM’s Speak Up For Safety program on May 18, 2022.
• GM opened a formal investigation on May 31, 2022.
• GM’s field data analysis identified seven additional field reports potentially related to the safety defect.
• Those reports were received by GM between October 2020 and June 2022.
• GM’s investigation determined that operators at the seatbelt buckle assembly supplier’s manufacturing plant may have not properly followed manufacturing processes and inadvertently missed the rivet forming operation.
• On July 11, 2022, GM’s investigator met with ZF to determine the scope of potentially affected parts.
• On August 4, 2022, GM’s Safety Field Action Decision Authority (SFADA) decided to conduct a safety recall.

Dealers will inspect the rivet head formation on both the left and right side third-row seat belt buckle assemblies and replace them as necessary, free of charge as required by US regulations. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed September 26, 2022.

Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020; Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006; and GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM’s number for this recall is N222372380. Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.nhtsa.gov.