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NHTSA campaign number

26V545000

Airbag system issue — affecting 1 model year across Kia.

Issued
Manufacturer
Kia America, Inc.
Model years
2025
System
Airbags

Elevated severity

This campaign addresses a defect NHTSA classifies as carrying elevated crash or injury risk.

What the defect is

Kia America, Inc (Kia) is recalling certain 2025-2026 EV9 vehicles. Due to improper routing, the Occupant Detection System (ODS) may not deactivate the air bag when a child or child seat is in the front passenger seat. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 208, "Occupant Crash Protection."

Why it matters

A child in the front seat may be at a greater risk of injury if the air bag deploys during a crash.

The remedy

Dealers will inspect and replace the ODS mat and bladder tube with a new one and ensure proper routing as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters will be mailed beginning October 20, 2026. Owners may contact Kia Customer Service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC379. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall will become searchable on NHTSA.gov on September 4, 2026.

What this page does not include

NHTSA's public recall feed does not supply an affected-population count, the manufacturer's own campaign number, owner-notification dates or a defect chronology for this campaign. Rather than estimate them, we omit them. Confirm whether a specific vehicle is affected — and whether the repair has already been done — using its VIN.

Check a VIN

Vehicles affected by this campaign

1 model year in our index. Coverage reflects the vehicles VerifyTheVehicle tracks, which may be narrower than the full campaign population.