Vietnamese electric vehicle manufacturer VinFast has announced a recall of certain VF 8 electric vehicles in the United States due to a defect in their airbags, which could potentially cause harm to the driver. The recall involves 4,888 vehicles from the 2023 to 2025 model years. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in the event of a side-impact collision, the central airbag on the driver's seat may "deploy improperly," potentially striking the driver's arm and causing injury.
VinFast anticipates that 100% of the affected vehicles have this defect. The company explained that NHTSA conducted a test on its vehicles in June, which led to a safety investigation, after which the company became aware of the issue.
NHTSA further stated that the defect is caused by the shape and inflation angle of the original airbag's buffer, which may cause the airbag to deploy between the driver's arm and torso in certain cases. In response, VinFast collaborated with NHTSA to redesign the central airbag with a new shape and deployment angle to prevent this from happening.
VinFast will offer free replacements of the newly designed central airbags through its dealers and service centers for affected vehicle owners. Initially, VinFast, like Tesla, adopted a direct sales model, owning showrooms and service centers. However, starting from the end of 2023, the company began shifting to a franchised dealer model.
VinFast expects to send recall notification letters to vehicle owners by January 20, 2025. In the meantime, owners can also contact the company's customer service department for more information.
