Safety Recall Campaign SC-81 – Front Passenger Seat Occupant Classification System – 2010-2013 Suzuki Kizashi

May 2, 2019 NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 19V343000

Occupant Detection System may Misclassify

The deactivated front air bag will not deploy in the event of a crash, increasing the risk of injury.

 

NHTSA Campaign Number: 19V343

Manufacturer Suzuki Motor of America, Inc.

Components AIR BAGS

Potential Number of Units Affected 21,052

 

Summary

Suzuki Motor of America, Inc. (Suzuki) is recalling 2010-2013 Kizashi vehicles. The front passenger seat Occupant Classification System (OCS) may misclassify an adult occupant as child and deactivate the front air bag.

 

Remedy

The remedy for this recall is still under development. The manufacturer has not yet provided a notification schedule. Interim notices informing owners of the safety risk were mailed June 28, 2019. Owners will receive a second notice when the remedy becomes available. Owners may contact Suzuki customer service at 1-800-934-0934. Suzuki’s number for this recall is C5.

 

Notes

Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.

 

Check if your Suzuki has a Recall

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Safety Recall Campaign

2010 – 2013 Kizashi Front Passenger Seat Occupant Classification System

Affected Models: Certain 2010 – 2013 Suzuki Kizashi vehicles (A6B424)

Affected Departments: Management, Service, Warranty, Parts

This notice is sent to you in accordance with the requirements of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act.

Suzuki Motor Corporation has decided that a defect which relates to motor vehicle safety exists in certain 2010 – 2013 Suzuki Kizashi vehicles.

 

What is the problem?

The front passenger seat occupant classification system (OCS) may misclassify adult occupants as child occupants and suppress the front air bag due to the seating posture and/or position of the adult occupant. In a crash necessitating air bag deployment, the front air bag may not deploy with an adult occupant in the front passenger seat, increasing the risk of injury to the adult occupant.

 

Affected Models:

Certain 2010 – 2013 Kizashi vehicles (A6B424)

 

What is Suzuki doing to solve the problem?

Suzuki is analyzing this issue and is working to develop a repair procedure and the necessary repair parts. As soon as the procedure for inspection, repair and filing a warranty claim becomes available, we will post this information on Suzuki Connect.

Suzuki will notify Suzuki Service Providers when parts are available for shipment.

In the meantime, if a customer brings an affected 2010 – 2013 Kizashi to your shop with a concern that the OCS may not be correctly classifying occupants, please contact Tech-Line at (800) 934-1616 for further instructions.

NOTE:

Owners will be notified of this pending safety recall on June 28, 2019. A copy of the owner notification is attached for your reference.

 

IMPORTANT SAFETY RECALL

This Notice Applies to Your Suzuki Vehicle Identification Number (VIN)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

June 28, 2019

Dear Suzuki Owner:

This notice is sent to you in accordance with the requirements of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act.

Suzuki Motor Corporation has decided that a defect which relates to motor vehicle safety exists in certain 2010 – 2013 Suzuki Kizashi vehicles. According to our records, you own one of the vehicles affected by this recall.

 

What is the problem?

The front passenger seat occupant classification system (OCS) may misclassify adult occupants as child occupants and suppress the front air bag due to the seating posture and/or position of the adult occupant. In a crash necessitating air bag deployment, the front air bag may not deploy with an adult occupant in the front passenger seat, increasing the risk of injury to the adult occupant.

 

What is Suzuki Motor of America, Inc. (Suzuki) doing to solve the problem?

Suzuki is analyzing this issue and is working to develop a repair procedure and the necessary repair parts. Suzuki will mail you a second notification letter in the near future when repair procedures and repair parts are available.

Repairs will be performed by Suzuki Service Providers at no cost to you for parts and labor.

 

What you should do:

As described in the Front Passenger Sensing System section of the Owner’s Manual, if an adult-sized individual is sitting in the front passenger seat and the PASS AIR BAG OFF (Passenger Airbag Off) indicator turns on, it could be because the individual is not sitting properly in the seat. If this happens, have the passenger unfasten the seat belt, sit upright in the center of the seat with the seat back nearly vertical and his or her legs outstretched. Then refasten the seat belt.

This notice was mailed to you according to the latest information that is available to us. If you no longer own the vehicle described in this notice, please complete and return the attached Change of Address/Ownership card to Suzuki, and forward this recall information to the current owner (if known).

Federal regulations require that any vehicle lessor receiving this campaign notice must forward a copy of this notice to the lessee within ten days.

3251 E. Imperial Highway, P.O. Box 1100, Brea, CA 92822-1100 • Phone (714) 996-7040

 

Customer reimbursement for repairs prior to this Safety Recall Notification:

If your vehicle is included in this recall and you have paid for repairs to address the defect that led to this recall, you may be eligible for full or partial reimbursement. Please note the following conditions for reimbursement:

• Only repairs made to address the defect that led to this recall are reimbursable. Additional expenses such as towing, car rental, accommodations, damage repairs, etc., will not be reimbursed. Reimbursement will not be provided for routine scheduled maintenance.
• Reimbursement may be limited to the suggested list price for parts, the Suzuki published flat-rate time allowance for the repair, and the labor rate that an authorized Suzuki Service Provider in the same area would charge for the same repair.
• Reimbursement claims may also be excluded when adequate documentation is not submitted by the claimant. This includes a proof of ownership, a repair order, and proof of payment for the repair.

To apply for reimbursement, contact Suzuki’s Customer Service Department at (714) 572-1490.

 

Who to contact if you experience problems:

Your Suzuki Service Provider can provide you the fastest response to your questions or concerns about this safety recall campaign. If you have any difficulty with this recall campaign, you may contact Suzuki’s Customer Service Department for assistance at (714) 572-1490 during the hours of 7:00 AM to 4:30 PM Pacific Time. Please have your vehicle identification number (VIN) ready when calling. The VIN for your vehicle is listed at the top of this notice.

If you need to locate your nearest Suzuki Service Provider, please visit www.suzuki.com, click on Automotive, followed by the Service Provider tab at the top of the web page.

We sincerely regret any inconvenience this Important Safety Recall may cause, but we are certain you understand our interest in your safety and your continued satisfaction with your Suzuki vehicle.

Sincerely,

Suzuki Motor of America, Inc.

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CHRONOLOGY OF PRINCIPAL EVENTS

The production of the Kizashi for the U.S. market began on October 13, 2009 and ended on October 31, 2012.

In April 2011, SMC received the first Field Technical Information Report (FTIR) from ASMC related to the issue of the front passenger seat Occupant Classification System misclassifying a small adult as a child occupant.  Suzuki was unable to retrieve the affected seat cushion from the field, so it could not examine it.

In early 2012, SMC received three additional FTIRs reflecting this issue.  SMC contacted the OCS mat supplier, Continental, who met with ASMC and investigated the issue.  Continental was able to replicate the issue; however, it was also confirmed that the issue was transient and self-correcting when the adult shifted position.

Between August and December 2012, SMC received three additional FTIRs, reporting the same transient issue.

In 2013, Continental again looked at the issue and presumed that there is a condition that the Occupant Classification System may classify a small adult as a child occupant, but also confirmed that the issue was transient.

Between July 2014 and late 2015, SMC received two additional FTIRs, reporting the same transient issue.

After Dec. 2015, SMC received no further reports of the issue until late 2018.

In Dec. 2018, SMC received an FTIR on this issue.  At that time, SMC was also evaluating the leather shrinkage issue (which led to Suzuki’s Part 573 report filed on March 7, 2019 leading to recently announced recall 19V187).  As a result, SMC decided to renew its evaluation of the OCS misclassification issue.

In March 2019, SMC retrieved the passenger seat cushion from the vehicle associated with the 10^th FTIR, received in Dec. 2018.  SMC studied the component trouble history and detection function of the OCS sensor mat, and did not find any trouble history or abnormality.  SMC then attempted to reproduce the issue using a new passenger seat, and confirmed that the OCS mat would, at times, misclassify a small adult as a child.  Although the frequency is very rare, and the condition is transient, SMC decided to make a defect determination on April 25, 2019 and file this Part 573 report.

On September 18, 2019, Suzuki Motor of America, Inc. (SMAI) submitted a status report concerning SMC’s discussions with the OCS supplier about developing a recall remedy.  Given the substantial lead time estimated by the supplier to be necessary to develop such a remedy, SMAI also reported that SMC began its own independent study to evaluate the feasibility of adapting the OCS mat from another Suzuki model for use in the Kizashi.

From September 2019 to December 2019, SMC fabricated a prototype seat cushion that incorporates the OCS sensor mat to be evaluated and conducted testing using a 5^th percentile female dummy.  The testing showed improved performance of the prototype seat cushion compared to a seat cushion that uses the original OCS sensor mat.  Based on these results, Suzuki will expand its testing to include different-size front passenger seat occupants.  Suzuki expects to complete this testing by the end of January 2020.  If the results of this testing are favorable, Suzuki will proceed with conducting reliability testing of the revised front passenger seat cushion.

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Status Report – Recall 19V-343

September 18, 2019

 

On May 2, 2019, Suzuki Motor of America, Inc. (SMAI) submitted a Part 573 report concerning the potential for the Occupant Classification System (OCS) in 2010-2013 Suzuki Kizashi vehicles to misclassify adult occupants in the front passenger seat as child occupants, due to the seating posture/position of the adult occupants, resulting in suppression of the front passenger air bag.

As of this date, SMAI is still unable to amend its Part 573 report to provide certain required information: a description of a recall remedy and a schedule for notification of Service Providers and vehicle owners.

Since submission of the original Part 573 report, Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC) has had discussions with the supplier of the Kizashi OCS, Continental Automotive, about developing a recall remedy.  Continental informed Suzuki that their business operations have changed such that development and production of a countermeasure would require a very long lead time.

SMC found Continental’s estimated schedule unacceptable, and began an independent study to evaluate whether an OCS from another Suzuki model can be adapted for use in the Kizashi.  SMC currently estimates that the evaluation of the ability of this possible countermeasure to improve the robustness of occupant classification for the Kizashi can be completed by the end of November 2019.  If improved robustness is confirmed, SMC will conduct reliability testing, which it currently expects can be completed by the end of April 2020.

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4 Affected Products

Vehicle

 

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9 Associated Documents

ISSUED Interim Owner Notification Letter(Part 577)

RIONL-19V343-8155.pdf 462.747KB