Nissan recalling more than 1M vehicles for airbags that may fail to deploy

Wed, 26 Mar 2014

Nissan and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have issued a recall for 989,701 vehicles in the US due to an issue with their passenger-side airbag systems. Affected Nissan models include the Altima, Leaf, Pathfinder and Sentra from the 2013 and 2014 model years, and 2013 NV200 taxis. Affected Infiniti models include the 2013 JX35 and 2014 Q50 and QX60 utility vehicles.

Reuters is reporting that a total of 1,053,479 vehicles are included in the recall globally, with about 60,000 of the affected vehicles having been sold in Canada.

The fault apparently lies in something called the occupant classification system, which may, in the recalled vehicles, incorrectly classify the passenger seat as empty when it is in fact occupied by an adult. When the system fails to recognize the passenger, the passenger-side airbag may deactivate, and could therefore fail to deploy in the event of a crash.

Nissan is expected to notify owners sometime in the middle part of next month, instructing its dealers to update the vehicles' software, free of charge. Scroll down to read the official NHTSA press release.

Report Receipt Date: MAR 25, 2014
NHTSA Campaign Number: 14V138000
Component(s): AIR BAGS , ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Potential Number of Units Affected: 989,701
All Products Associated with this Recall close
Vehicle MakeModelModel Year(s)

INFINITIJX352013INFINITIQ502014INFINITIQX602014NISSANALTIMA2013-2014NISSANLEAF2013-2014NISSANNV2002013NISSANPATHFINDER2013-2014NISSANSENTRA2013-2014

2 Associated Documents expand
Manufacturer: Nissan North America, Inc.

SUMMARY:
Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain model year 2013-2014 Altima, LEAF, Pathfinder, and Sentra, model year 2013 NV200 (aka Taxi) and Infiniti JX35 and model year 2014 Infiniti Q50 and QX60 vehicles. In the affected vehicles, the occupant classification system (OCS) software may incorrectly classify the passenger seat as empty, when it is occupied by an adult.

CONSEQUENCE:
If the OCS does not detect an adult occupant in the passenger seat, the passenger airbag would be deactivated. Failure of the passenger airbag to deploy during a crash (where deployment is warranted) could increase the risk of injury to the passenger.

REMEDY:
Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will update the OCS software, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin in mid-April 2014. Owners may contact Nissan at 1-800-647-7261.

NOTES:
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.safercar.gov.

By Seyth Miersma