Kia says owners need to bring in their vehicles for inspection and possibly repairs due to potential wiring damage.
We’re already cruising through 2025, and there’s a new recall to add to the list: this time from Kia. The Korean automaker waved the white flag with its Niro hybrid SUV, recently telling the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that there’s a problem with certain vehicles’ vehicle restraint systems. Specifically, an issue could cause the front passenger side airbag or seatbelt pretensioner to fail in an accident — not deploying at all when they’re most needed to prevent serious injury, particularly for children or smaller adult occupants.
This problem affects 80,225 Niro SUVs in total, including the standard HEV model as well as the plug-in hybrid and the Niro EV. Kia says impacted vehicles have manual front passenger seats, so this does not currently impact any cars with power-adjustable passenger seats. The configuration of the floor wiring assembly beneath the front passenger seat in these cars could become damaged from repeated sliding adjustment.
If one or more of the wires become frayed, then the passenger side airbags and/or seat belt pretensioners to hold the front seat passenger in place may not deploy at all. Or, in cases where the airbag would normally be disabled due to a small occupant in the seat, the control module under the seat may fail to suppress the deployment, and restraints could inadvertently going off when they aren’t supposed to. Either way, the car no longer does what it should to best protect the passenger, naturally increasing the risk of injury or worse in a crash.
What’s the fix?
If you own a second-generation Kia Niro between model years 2023 and 2025, then you’ll want to pay attention to this recall. According to the NHTSA report, this recall affects each version in the following proportions:
- Hybrid models built between June 21, 2022 and December 17, 2024 (49,535 units)
- PHEV models built between July 11, 2022 and December 16, 2024 (8,811 units)
- Electric models built between August 10, 2022 and December 13, 2024 (21,909 units)
Kia says it will notify affected owners on March 14, 2025, and has already informed dealers about the problem as of January 17. Dealer technicians will inspect the passenger-side floor wiring assembly, and replace it where necessary. If the wiring isn’t damaged and in need of repair, the dealer will reroute the wiring away from conflict points with the seat rails and install protective coverings to prevent damage, just in case. The repairs are all free of charge, and the automaker will reimburse owners who already paid out of pocket to have remedial work done (though most of these cars should still be under their original limited warranty).
Niros built after the December 2024 cut-off dates mentioned above already have a “properly routed floor wiring harness assembly” as well as the protective coverings.
