More than 660,000 SUVs recalled over child seat safety concerns

More than 668,000 small SUVs are being recalled by General Motors because of concerns that owners may not be able to hook child seats to the anchors.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says in documents posted on its website that the recall covers certain 2020 to 2023 Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain SUVs. It says the rear-seat lower anchor bars may have had too much powder coating, which could make them too thick for a child seat to be properly installed.

GM says no crashes or injuries have been reported but has asked owners to install child seats using seat belts until the latches are repaired. It said that owners will be notified by letter from next month, with a request to book their vehicle in with dealers for inspection. If found faulty, the finish will be removed and replaced.

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Under National Highway Traffic Safety Administration guidelines, all new passenger vehicles must have child restraint anchorage systems that meet specified standards over strength, configuration and markings.

Reports say that the current incident resulted in bars being 6.34mm and 6.41mm when the standard calls for no more than 6mm. The recall affects 454,722 Chevrolet Equinox models and 213,465 GMC Terrain models all within the 2020-2023 model years.

GM is said to have issued the warning to dealers on May 11 and will notify affected owners on June 26 if they have not turned in their vehicles. This recall comes days after news that a manufacturer of airbag components in Tennessee has refused to recall 67 million devices that could be defective.

The defective airbags are reported to have inflators that may explode. They are fitted in a number of GM cars, which have caused two deaths and injured seven in the US and Canada, according to NHTSA.

Documents released by NHTSA show that ARC Automotive in Knoxville refused the request.