Hyundai and Genesis Recall Nearly 300,000 Cars with a Dangerous Seat Belt Fault

Last year, there were almost countless recalls for failing rearview cameras, and while that issue is still causing problems in 2026, another problem is becoming increasingly common: detaching seatbelt anchors. That’s the fault with nearly 300,000 Hyundai and Genesis vehicles, according to a new recall published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The recall hits 13 products in total, affecting multiple powertrain types and body styles, and because it’s a hardware problem, owners with vehicles named in the recall documents will have to visit a dealership to have it resolved. Let’s take a closer look.

Hyundai and Genesis Named, But Not Kia

The recall potentially affects 294,128 vehicles, including the all-electric Hyundai Ioniq 6 sedan, the Santa Fe SUV (hybrid included), and the Genesis G90 luxury sedan. No Kia vehicles have yet been found to have the fault, but that may change with a future recall. For now, these are the model years in question:

• 2023-2026 Genesis G90
• 2023-2025 Hyundai Ioniq 6
• 2024-2026 Hyundai Santa Fe
• 2024-2026 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid

The NHTSA recall report indicates that vehicles produced both in South Korea and at Hyundai’s plant in Alabama have been affected, describing the issue as front seatbelts (driver and passenger) that may not be sufficiently attached to the seat frame “due to a damaged snap-on anchor.” Hyundai’s North American Safety Office (NASO) first received word of a possible problem in September 2025, and its investigation determined that damage due to “external occupant interaction” was unlikely. In other words, this issue isn’t caused by the user. It also apparently was not caused by bad assembly or in-plant repair processes, prompting Hyudai to initiate crash testing to replicate the issue.

Related: Hyundai Rethinks Santa Fe Design for 2027 Refresh

By March of this year, a new snap-on anchor design was introduced in production, and Hyundai, in collaboration with the NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation, determined that only in some rear-end crashes did the problem appear, and some field claims were associated with prior seat repair and improper removal in service. Ultimately, Hyundai decided that it’s better to be safe than sorry, however limited the appearance of the problem, hence this recall.

What Hyundai and Genesis Owners Need to Know About the New Recall

As of now, Hyundai knows of six reports related to these insufficiently attached seabelt anchors in the U.S., but in no instance have the bad anchros caused crashes, injuries, or fatalities in America. Unfortunately, while the redesigned snap-on ancho has already been implemented in vehicle production for the affected models, Hyundai’s solution of installing a reinforcement insert to the anchor clip will only reach affected owners a couple of months from now, with dealers and owners only expected to be notified on June 5. VINs are already searchable on nhtsa.gov, however, and since no injuries have been reported in relation to this recall issue, there’s no cause for alarm just yet.