Kia recalls Sportage and Soul over belt fault

KIA Motors Australia has recalled more than 2900 Sportage SUVs and Soul compact wagons to rectify a potential fault with seatbelt pretensioners.

The safety recall – announced overnight on the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission website – applies to 2704 SL Sportages and 237 AM Souls produced between August 23 2011 and March 31 2012.

The company discovered that in some of the affected vehicles, a cable in the pretensioner assembly might not be properly crimped, meaning it might become unhooked during deployment.

This means the device will not effectively apply tension to the seatbelt to properly restrain the passenger in a crash.

One cable failure has been reported in Australia, but no occupant injury was incurred.

Kia asks owners to have their vehicle inspected by their dealer who will, if necessary, replace the item, which could take less than an hour.