June 25 - Jaguar Land Rover, which is owned by Tata Motors, has initiated a recall of 250,857 SUVs in the United States following findings by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that a component of the driver air bag system may be vulnerable to corrosion.
The recall encompasses certain examples of three Land Rover nameplates: Defender, Discovery, and Range Rover. According to the safety regulator, corrosion can develop at the clockspring connector for the driver's air bag. If that connector corrodes, it may interrupt the electrical connection required for the air bag to deploy as intended in a crash, increasing the risk of injury.
To remedy the issue, Jaguar Land Rover will instruct dealers to apply a protective lubricant gel to the terminals of the clockspring connector. The regulator said this repair will be performed free of charge to owners.
The notification from the auto safety authority characterizes the condition as a defect that could impair air bag function. The company and dealers will implement the prescribed preventive treatment on affected vehicles rather than replacing the connector as part of the announced remedy.
Owners of the affected vehicles will be notified and directed to authorized dealers for the service, where technicians will apply the lubricant gel to the relevant connector terminals. The recall action and the associated fix are intended to restore the integrity of the connection and reduce the chance that a driver air bag would fail to deploy in an impact.
The announcement identifies the potential safety consequence and the models involved but does not specify model years or production ranges in the information provided here. The regulator's statement emphasizes the safety risk linked to the possible corrosion and the dealer remedy to address it.
What this means
- More than a quarter-million Land Rover SUVs in the U.S. are subject to a safety recall related to a driver air bag clockspring connector.
- The defect cited is corrosion that may prevent the air bag from deploying during a crash.
- Dealers will apply a protective lubricant gel to connector terminals at no cost to owners as the prescribed remedy.