Volkswagen and Seat issue warning over seatbelt fault

The Volkswagen Group has warned its customers that some of its bestselling models may have a “potentially lethal” seatbelt fault.

Cars affected by the seatbelt issue, which was discovered by the Finnish magazine Tekniikan Maailma, include the Volkswagen Polo hatchback and two models from Seat, The Guardian reports.

Tests conducted by the magazine, and later confirmed by the German carmaker, found that the rear-left seatbelt in all three cars can become unbuckled at higher speeds, the newspaper says.

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According to Auto Express, the fault is caused by the socket of the rear-middle seatbelt pushing down on the release button for the rear-left seatbelt during high-speed lane changes.

The issue was first noticed by the Finnish motoring magazine on the Seat Arona, Auto Express reports. It was later replicated on the SEAT Ibiza and Volkswagen Polo.

All three of these cars use the same underpinnings provided by the Volkswagen Group. They also use seatbelts supplied by the Japanese automotive parts firm Takata.

Volkswagen has confirmed its awareness of the issue. The firm has advised drivers of the cars affected by the fault to avoid sitting in the middle seat.

A spokesperson for the company told Autocar that Volkswagen planned to provide a technical solution shortly and “recall the vehicles concerned.”

The representative said the recalls would be carried out “in co-operation with the national vehicle registration authorities, who also approve the safety recall measures.”

Meanwhile, Seat’s communications chief, Christian Stein, told CarBuyer that the Volkswagen-owned company is “working on possible solutions” and would inform customers about how it planned to rectify the issue “as soon as possible.”