Kia America, Inc. recall 25V874

Affected vehicles (2)

Component / system

Defect

Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2023-2025 Sportage Plug-In Hybrid Electric (PHEV) and 2024-2025 Sportage vehicles equipped with a 4.2" screen and a Genuine Kia tow hitch harness accessory. Due to a software error, the instrument panel screen may fail. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 101, "Controls and Displays."

Risk / consequence

An instrument panel screen that fails to display critical safety information, such as the speedometer or warning lights, can increase the risk of a crash.

Remedy

Dealers will replace the tow hitch harness control module, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed February 13, 2026. Owners may contact Kia Customer Service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC359. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall will be searchable on NHTSA.gov beginning December 31, 2025.

Chronology of events

1. Apr 14, 2025

   April 14, 2025—April Kia North America (Kia NA) identifies an instrument cluster 21, 2025 rebooting issue in 2024-2025MY Sportage vehicles. Kia NA begins to repurchase vehicles for further evaluation.

2. Jul 7, 2025

   July 7, 2025—July 11, Kia NA, Kia HQ, and instrument cluster supplier conduct joint 2025 investigation of a repurchased 2025MY Sportage X-line vehicle. Cluster reboot observed after a CAN message with abnormal data length was sent from the tow hitch harness. Kia HQ begins further analysis of vehicle data collected during the investigation.

3. Jul 28, 2025

   July 28, 2025 Kia HQ informs Kia NA Safety Office that due to a CPU clock speed synchronization error, the tow hitch harness may intermittently send an abnormal CAN message. Kia NA Safety Office reviews field data and identifies 46 complaints of instrument cluster rebooting.

4. Jul 29, 2025

   July 29, 2025— Kia HQ continues to work with supplier to conduct duplication

5. Sep 22, 2025

   September 22, 2025 bench testing on vehicles and cluster configurations to assess effect of the abnormal CAN message. Kia HQ informs Kia NA Safety Office of preliminary duplication testing, which identifies that certain instrument clusters with 4.2" display contain software that detects abnormal CAN messages. These instrument clusters were found to reboot when abnormal messages were artificially introduced into the CAN system. Cluster reboot occurred at an average interval of 54 hours of simulated vehicle-on time.

6. Sep 23, 2025

   September 23, 2025— Kia HQ continues to evaluate impact of abnormal CAN message

7. Dec 9, 2025

   December 9, 2025 on additional vehicle and cluster configurations. Kia HQ confirms loss of cluster information for approximately 5 seconds if rebooting occurs. Issue only affects certain 2024-2025MY Sportage X-line and certain 2023-2025MY Sportage Plug-in Hybrid X-line vehicles equipped with certain 4.2” instrument clusters and with a Genuine Kia tow hitch harness accessory.

8. Dec 10, 2025

   December 10, 2025 Kia NA completes regulatory review and identifies that the loss of information such as speedometer or telltales for approximately 5 seconds does not comply with the visibility and illumination requirements of FMVSS 101, sections S5.1.2 and S5.3.1(b). Kia NA Safety Office decides to conduct a noncompliance recall of certain 2024-2025MY Sportage X-line and certain 2023- 2025MY Sportage Plug-in Hybrid X-line vehicles equipped with 1 certain 4.2” instrument cluster screens and a Genuine Kia tow hitch harness accessory. No accidents or injuries. 2

Notification schedule

Dealer notification

Dec 18, 2025 - Dec 18, 2025 No Dealers

Owner notification

Feb 13, 2026 - Feb 13, 2026 Phased Recall