The roomiest Defender currently in production has been called back to the tune of 812 examples produced to U.S. specifications. According to documents filed with the federal watchdog, a supplier produced third-row seats that don’t latch properly due to a manufacturing issue.
Jaguar Land Rover became aware of this problem in October 2022. The supplier in question, a Hungary-based company dubbed TS Tech KFT, contacted the British automaker to address their concern with the aforementioned condition. The Product Safety and Compliance Committee within Jaguar Land Rover started investigating a month later, with the PSCC also requesting containment of newly produced Defenders.
Vehicles in which the latch operation was found to be outside of specification would be held by JLR and retailers, pending further instruction. The Product Safety and Compliance Committee further tasked the Supplier Technical Assistance organization to define the scope of this problem, after which the concern was progressed to the Recall Determination Committee for the final call.
In late February 2022, the safety boffins at Jaguar Land Rover concluded that it’s a safety risk that needs to be remedied before delivering the subject vehicles to customers. No accidents or injuries have been reported thus far, and JLR isn’t aware of warranty claims either.
The third-row seat base, identified under part number N8B2-613A10-AF, may have been manufactured with a suspect component that makes the seat back not latch properly. Due to the latch not operating as intended, the seat back strength is compromised. In the event of a frontal crash, a child seat occupant is exposed to an increased risk of injury as per the attached recall report.
As highlighted earlier, 812 vehicles produced for the U.S. and its federalized territories are called back. The report for campaign 23V-137 lists build dates ranging between July 11th, 2022 and October 6th, 2022 for the affected 2023 model year Defender 130 luxury SUVs.
Owners can expect Land Rover-branded envelopes from Jaguar Land Rover North America to arrive by first-class mail no later than April 28th. Dealers will be informed on March 16th to inspect affected vehicles and check the third-row seat back latch. No further action is required if the latch works as intended, but otherwise, the seat frame and other components will be replaced by the retailer.
Slightly longer than the Defender 110 despite featuring similar wheelbases, the Defender 130 is rocking a 2+3+3 seating layout. Designed primarily for the U.S. market where large SUVs are in high demand, the family-oriented variant starts at $68,000 sans freight charge.
The Defender S entry-level specification comes with a 3.0L P300 inline-six turbo engine that cranks out 296 horsepower and enough torque for the Defender 130 to reach 60 miles per hour (97 kilometers per hour) in 7.5 seconds. At the other end of the spectrum, the Defender X belts out 395 horsepower from a mild-hybrid sixer.
[ngg src=”galleries” ids=”90″ display=”basic_thumbnail” thumbnail_crop=”0″]Article Credits: Mircea Panait
Full Articles: https://www.autoevolution.com/news/2023-land-rover-defender-130-recalled-over-safety-risk-caused-by-a-manufacturing-issue-211530.html
