The defect
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Audi) is recalling certain 2025 SQ6 E-Tron, SQ6 Sportback E-Tron, Q6 Sportback E-Tron, A6, A5, A6 Sportback E-Tron, Q6 E-Tron, S5, and S6 Sportback E-Tron vehicles. The automatic locking retractor may fail to engage when a child seat is installed using the seat belt. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) numbers 208, "Occupant Crash Protection" and 209, "Seat Belt Assemblies."
The risk
An improperly secured child seat can increase risk of injury during a crash.
The remedy
Dealers will inspect and replace the right and left rear seat belt assembly as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed February 16, 2026. Owners may contact Audi customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Audi's number for this recall is 69D8. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on December 23, 2025.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Audi A5 | 2025 |
| Audi A6 | 2025 |
| Audi A6 Sportback E-Tron | 2025 |
| Audi Q6 e-tron | 2025 |
| Audi Q6 Sportback E-Tron | 2025 |
| Audi S5 | 2025 |
| Audi S6 Sportback E-Tron | 2025 |
| Audi SQ6 E-Tron | 2025 |
| Audi SQ6 Sportback E-Tron | 2025 |
Components: SEAT BELTS:REAR/OTHER:RETRACTOR
Model years in this recall
NHTSA complaints and the number of recall campaigns for each model year this recall covers.
| Model | Year | Complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audi A5 | 2025 | 8 | 2 |
| Audi A6 | 2025 | 6 | 2 |
| Audi A6 Sportback E-Tron | 2025 | 2 | 2 |
| Audi Q6 Sportback E-Tron | 2025 | 6 | 1 |
| Audi Q6 e-tron | 2025 | 35 | 3 |
| Audi S5 | 2025 | 11 | 2 |
| Audi S6 Sportback E-Tron | 2025 | 1 | 2 |
| Audi SQ6 E-Tron | 2025 | 6 | 1 |
| Audi SQ6 Sportback E-Tron | 2025 | 0 | 3 |
Other seat belts recalls in 2025
33 of the 891 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2025 concerned the seat belts; Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. filed 321 campaigns in all.
| 25V872000 17 Dec 2025 | Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing |
| 25V862000 12 Dec 2025 | Ford Motor Company |
| 25V864000 12 Dec 2025 | Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC |
| 25V816000 25 Nov 2025 | Rivian Automotive, LLC |
| 25V797000 17 Nov 2025 | Hyundai Motor America |
| 25V777000 12 Nov 2025 | Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. |
| 25V773000 10 Nov 2025 | Nova Bus (US) Inc. |
| 25V753000 3 Nov 2025 | Volvo Trucks North America |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2025