GM recalls more than 494,000 SUVs for seatbelt issues

Aug. 16 (UPI) -- General Motors has recalled more than 494,000 full-size SUVs because of possible faulty seatbelt buckle assembles.

From October 2020 through June 2022, GM received eight field reports involving the third-row seatbelt buckle assembly that separated. The automaker said it narrowed the issue down to an assembly plant in Gomez Palacio, Mexico.

"Operators at the seatbelt buckle assembly supplier's manufacturing plant may have not properly followed manufacturing processes and inadvertently missed the rivet forming operation," GM said, according to Auto Evolution.com.

GM met with the ZF Occupant Safety Systems from the plant in July that decided the best course of action was the mass recall to correct the potential problem.

GM said vehicles identified for the recall include certain 2021-2022 Cadillac Escalade and Escalade ESV vehicles, 2021-2022 Chevrolet Suburban and Tahoe vehicles, and 2021-2022 GMC Yukon and Yukon XL vehicles.

"In certain of these vehicles, the rivet that retains the buckle to the mounting bracket in the left or right side third-row seatbelt buckle assembly may not have been properly formed during the manufacturing process," said the Safety Recall Report.