Tesla Motors issued a voluntary safety recall on Monday for its Model X SUVs over third-row back seats that could unexpectedly fold forward in a crash or sudden stop. The company said that those seats in the seven-seat car were built with latches that happened to fail under safety testing, according to a report by Los Angeles Times. The issue will be reported to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.
The company warns owners of the affected cars not to allow passengers to sit in the third-row seat until it has been repaired.
About 2,700 “falcon wing” vehicles built before March 26 are being recalled. Tesla said that tests in Europe exposed the seat latch failure before the SUV’s delivery there. According to Tesla’s president of sales and service John McNeil, the European Union tests are more “stringent”.
The company emphasized on Monday that owners of Model X SUV’s haven’t reported injuries, nor any other issues with any vehicle sold.
“But consistent with Tesla’s approach we are erring on the side of putting our customers’ safety first”, McNeil said.
The California-based firm sent emails informing owners of the affected vehicles about the safety issue. Most customers paid above the Model X $80,000 base price for their cars.
“Tesla’s internally conducted crash testing demonstrates that Model X will be the first SUV to receive the highest safety rating in every category, and we are committed to ensuring that it remains the safest SUV in the world”, the email reads in part, as reported by Los Angeles Times.
Customers will not have to pay for the two-hour procedure to replace the third-row back seats, neither will Tesla. The company determined that the failure was a manufacturing flaw on the part of Futuris, an outside supplier based in Long Beach.
Executives said the problem won’t affect production schedules for the Model X.
Source: Los Angeles Times