Photo: Mitsubishi
The all-new Outlander isn’t doing too well in the United States. Recalled over a seatbelt locking retractor malfunction in August 2021, the SUV has been called back once again over the very same problem.
Last year, Mitsubishi told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that the front- and second-row passenger seatbelt automatic locking retractors may deactivate early. This condition prevents the child restraint system from securing properly, thus failing to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 208. On this occasion, the issue concerns the right front, second-row right, and second-row left assemblies. Care to guess who supplied these assemblies?
Autoliv Japan Ltd. is the company in question, headquartered in Yokohama. The peeps at Mitsubishi allegedly discovered the functionality performance issue in February 2022, which is rather worrying if you remember that Mitsubishi had previously recalled the all-new Outlander to remedy a similar issue. The report for the previous recall highlights June 9th, 2021, as the day Autoliv sent an explanation for the previously mentioned problem.
After identifying two vehicles with non-compliant seatbelts at the Okazaki plant in February 2022, the automaker identified two more vehicles at the factory in March 2022. After contacting Autoliv for more details, the supplier promptly told them the bearing plate was manufactured out of specification. How could this happen? Autoliv clarified that the out-of-specification bearing plate was caused by “inappropriate maintenance of an injection mold die.” Not exactly shocking, considering that the Swedish-American supplier is notorious for bungling up components. Previous recalls caused by Autoliv's slip-ups come from Land Rover, Mercedes-AMG, Toyota, and Lamborghini.
A grand total of 2,865 vehicles are called back on this occasion, Outlanders produced between February 2nd and March 2nd for the U.S. market. Owners of the suspect vehicles will be notified by first-class mail on June 23rd with instructions to bring their Outlanders in for a remedy. If the dealership technician identifies bearing plates from the suspect lot, Mitsubishi will gladly replace the seatbelt assembly at no cost whatsoever to the customer.
On that note, Mitsubishi started using seatbelt assemblies with properly manufactured bearing plates in March 2022 following the introduction of “a modified injection mold die” as per the document attached below.
Autoliv Japan Ltd. is the company in question, headquartered in Yokohama. The peeps at Mitsubishi allegedly discovered the functionality performance issue in February 2022, which is rather worrying if you remember that Mitsubishi had previously recalled the all-new Outlander to remedy a similar issue. The report for the previous recall highlights June 9th, 2021, as the day Autoliv sent an explanation for the previously mentioned problem.
After identifying two vehicles with non-compliant seatbelts at the Okazaki plant in February 2022, the automaker identified two more vehicles at the factory in March 2022. After contacting Autoliv for more details, the supplier promptly told them the bearing plate was manufactured out of specification. How could this happen? Autoliv clarified that the out-of-specification bearing plate was caused by “inappropriate maintenance of an injection mold die.” Not exactly shocking, considering that the Swedish-American supplier is notorious for bungling up components. Previous recalls caused by Autoliv's slip-ups come from Land Rover, Mercedes-AMG, Toyota, and Lamborghini.
A grand total of 2,865 vehicles are called back on this occasion, Outlanders produced between February 2nd and March 2nd for the U.S. market. Owners of the suspect vehicles will be notified by first-class mail on June 23rd with instructions to bring their Outlanders in for a remedy. If the dealership technician identifies bearing plates from the suspect lot, Mitsubishi will gladly replace the seatbelt assembly at no cost whatsoever to the customer.
On that note, Mitsubishi started using seatbelt assemblies with properly manufactured bearing plates in March 2022 following the introduction of “a modified injection mold die” as per the document attached below.
Google News