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Honda $HMC -0.97% is recalling 98,892 vehicles in the United States after a defect in the front passenger seat weight sensor was found to cause airbags to deploy on occupants for whom deployment should be suppressed, according to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
When the sensor fails in this way, it can cause the vehicle to read the front passenger seat as occupied by an adult, resulting in deployment of the frontal and knee airbags during a crash even for occupants — including children, infants in child seats, or particularly small adults — who are supposed to be protected from that deployment. Mailed notices will go out to affected owners no later than July 6, 2026, directing them to bring their vehicles in so that dealers can swap out the faulty sensor free of charge, the NHTSA said.
The defect traces to a supply chain disruption. The root cause traces to a materials substitution made after a natural disaster disrupted production at a tier-2 supplier's facility, prompting a tier-1 supplier to switch to a different base material for the sensor's circuit board. The substituted material is less resilient under stress, and over time, a capacitor on the board can fracture, producing an internal short circuit, according to Autoblog. Honda said more than 200 warranty claims related to the issue have already been filed.
