Hyundai to recall over 94,600 US vehicles over seat motor fire risk, NHTSA says (updated)

HYUNDAI MOTOR

16/10/2026 03:45

Updates October 15 story to add that Nidec did not respond to a request for comment, analyst comment in 5th & 6th bullet points
Oct 16 (Reuters) - Hyundai Motor 005380.KS America is recalling 94,622 vehicles in the US over a fire risk while parked or driving due to the possibility that some front power seat motors could overheat, the US auto safety regulator said on Thursday.
Front power seat motors may overheat due to a stuck power seat control switch, potentially causing a fire while the vehicle is parked or being driven, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 
The affected vehicles include certain 2015-2016 Hyundai Genesis and 2017-2020 Genesis G80 models 
NHTSA said Hyundai has advised owners to park their vehicles outdoors and away from other vehicles or structures until repairs are completed
The auto safety regulator said the recall remedy is currently being developed
The recalled vehicles use front power-seat control switches supplied by Nidec Mobility Korea Corporation. Nidec did not respond to a request for comment
Kazuyoshi Saito, an analyst at Iwai Cosmo Securities, said the recall posed an extra risk for Nidec, which has been rocked by an accounting scandal, at a time when remaining listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange had already become very difficult, and raised the possibility of litigation
Hyundai estimates that about 1% of the 94,622 affected vehicles may have the defect. The company is aware of two alleged US fire incidents associated with the defect, but reported no related crashes or injuries as of October 1, 2026

 (Reporting by Sumedha Mukherjee in Bengaluru, Hyunjoo Jin in Seoul and Daniel Leussink in Tokyo. Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala, Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Mark Potter)
 ((Sumedha.Mukherjee2@thomsonreuters.com))