The defect
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."
The risk
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.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Kia EV9 | 2025, 2026 |
Components: AIR BAGS:SENSOR:OCCUPANT CLASSIFICATION:FRONT PASSENGER
Model years in this recall
NHTSA complaints and the number of recall campaigns for each model year this recall covers.
| Model | Year | Complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kia EV9 | 2025 | 21 | 4 |
| Kia EV9 | 2026 | 27 | 2 |
Other air bags recalls in 2026
23 of the 666 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2026 concerned the air bags; Kia America, Inc. filed 73 campaigns in all.
| 26V622000 29 Sept 2026 | Chrysler (FCA US, LLC) |
| 26V611000 24 Sept 2026 | General Motors, LLC |
| 26V581000 9 Sept 2026 | Ford Motor Company |
| 26V580000 9 Sept 2026 | Ford Motor Company |
| 26V526000 12 Aug 2026 | Nissan North America, Inc. |
| 26V445000 7 Jul 2026 | Tesla, Inc. |
| 26V389000 12 Jun 2026 | Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC |
| 26V358000 2 Jun 2026 | Braun Corporation |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2026