Kia recalls 23,000 EV9s over seat bolt defect

Kia is recalling roughly 23,000 EV9 electric SUVs in the U.S. over missing seat bolts.

Driving the news: The automaker will recall 22,883 2024 through 2025 model-year units as part of its recall efforts, though only an estimated 1% of vehicles are believed to carry the defect.

• All of the affected units were made at a South Korean facility, with the defect being caused by worker error.

• According to Kia, the error caused some vehicles to be shipped without second or third-row seat bolts.

• EV9 owners will be notified starting Jan. 24. Dealers will inspect the vehicles and, if necessary, replace missing seat bolts at no cost to drivers.

Zooming in: Kia’s three-row EV9 has been a strong seller throughout its first year, with over 20,000 units sold in the U.S. as of Nov.

• Unfortunately, this marks the second recall for the vehicle. In September, Kia recalled 12,400 EV9s due to a software issue.

Zooming out: Hyundai has seen a growing number of electric vehicle recalls. Hyundai, Kia and Genesis previously recalled 200,000 units combined in late November over power loss.

Bottom line: Per usual, Kia is fixing the problem by adding the missing bolts for free and drivers will need to reach out to their dealer to see if their EV is part of the recall.

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