Seat Belt Buckle Casings may Fail

On March 30, 2018, Van Hool N.V. (Van Hool) notified the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) of a safety defect that exists in certain model year (MY) 2015-2018 CX45, TD925, TDX25, TX40, TX45, and 2016-2018 CX35 motorcoaches. The passenger seat belt buckle’s outer casing may fail, leaving the seat belt buckle mechanisms exposed. The exposed seat belt buckle mechanisms may reduce the seat occupants’ likelihood of using the seat belt, increasing the risk of injury in the event of a crash. This recall of vehicles with the subject seat belt buckle casings was designated recall 18V-209. In its recall filing, Van Hool identified the component manufacturer as Fasching Salzburg. Based on Early Warning Reporting (EWR), field reports, and warranty claims aggregate data, NHTSA identified that the defective part in Van Hool’s recall was potentially used in vehicles manufactured by Volvo Bus Corporation (Volvo), Motor Coach Industries (MCI), and Prevost Car (US) Inc. (Prevost). NHTSA opened this Equipment Query (EQ) investigation, EQ19-001, to determine if the seat belt buckle casing at issue in recall 18V-209 constituted a safety defect in Volvo, MCI or Prevost vehicles, thereby requiring additional recalls. On July 23, 2019, NHTSA sent an Information Request (IR) letter to Volvo requesting that for all of the seatbelt buckles Volvo uses, or has used, as original or replacement equipment on 2016 model year Volvo 9700 buses, that it provide the Volvo part number(s), the seatbelt manufacturer’s or supplier’s part number(s), the manufacturer’s or supplier’s name and their contact information. In the IR, NHTSA further requested that Volvo state the number of each of the above seatbelts that Volvo has distributed as replacement items for the original equipment seatbelts and provide the model and model year of the vehicle in which it is used and month/year of sale (including the cut-off date for sales, if applicable). Finally, NHTSA requested that Volvo provide two samples of each seat bel