Hyundai Issues Massive Recall for Palisade SUVs Over Deadly Seat Defect

Hyundai has recalled 58,000 Palisade SUVs in South Korea following a fatal accident in Ohio where a 2-year-old girl died when an automatic seat collapsed. The automaker is also addressing injuries linked to faulty power seats that fail to detect passengers or objects.

South Korean officials ordered the recall of 58,000 Hyundai Palisade hybrid SUVs on Tuesday after safety issues with automatic seats led to a tragic death in the United States this month.

The recall follows Hyundai’s decision to halt sales of premium Palisade models and recall 68,500 vehicles across the U.S. and Canada after a toddler in Ohio was killed on March 7. According to media accounts, the 2-year-old girl was fatally injured when an automatic seat in the third row suddenly collapsed. Hyundai officials say they are still examining the circumstances of the incident.

The automaker disclosed Monday that two South Korean passengers suffered injuries in October and December of last year, potentially caused by malfunctioning automatic seats. This revelation came after Hyundai informed U.S. safety officials last week about four additional injuries in America connected to the power seat malfunction.

Transportation officials in South Korea determined that the Palisade’s second and third-row seats cannot properly sense contact with people or objects because of flawed software programming in the seat control systems, creating dangerous conditions for passengers.

Beginning Friday, Hyundai began distributing software fixes as a temporary solution to address the safety issues, according to the transport ministry, which noted the company is exploring further safety improvements.

The Palisade ranked as Hyundai’s best-selling SUV model in South Korea during the previous year. Financial analysts at Meritz Securities estimated that if the recall requires replacing physical components, Hyundai could face costs reaching 100 billion won (approximately $66.08 million), while also confronting possible group lawsuits and penalty payments.

The software modification will simplify the process for drivers to disable the automatic-folding seat feature using just one switch. The previous system required drivers to shut off the vehicle and restart it before they could turn off the power seat function.

The updated software will also limit when the power seat system can operate, restricting its use to times when the rear tailgate is opened.