Volvo: 24,977 Australian cars in global seatbelt recall

Volvo has issued its largest recall yet and it affects one of the safety items it pioneered – its three-point seatbelts.

The company is recalling 2.18 million vehicles globally, produced between 2006 and 2019. A total of 24,977 of those vehicles are in Australia.

A steel cable used in the front seatbelt assembly can weaken over time, making the seatbelts less effective. No accidents or injuries have been reported as a result of this defect.

No current models are affected by the recall, and repairs will be carried out free of charge. Volvo Australia is contacting owners of affected cars to inspect and repair the seatbelts.

The breakdown of affected vehicles in Australia is as follows:

• S60: 4232
• V60: 1576
• V60 Cross Country: 218
• XC60: 15,231
• XC70: 2688
• S80: 643

Other models affected overseas include the Chinese-market S60L and S80L, and the high-riding S60 Cross Country sedan.

Though Volvo has a rich history of innovation in safety, it didn’t invent seatbelts and it wasn’t the first company to make them standard equipment – that was fellow Swedish automaker Saab, in 1958.

The following year, however, Volvo fitted as standard to its vehicles the three-point seatbelt design still used today. The design was patented by Volvo engineer Nils Bohlin.