20:00 02-01-2026

Audi recall of 27,768 MY2025 cars over rear seatbelt issue affecting child seats

NHTSA reports an Audi recall of 27,768 2025 models due to a rear seatbelt defect that may hinder child-seat locking. See affected models and the fix timeline.

Audi has announced a recall of 27,768 vehicles from the 2025 model year over a rear seatbelt defect that could reduce protection when securing a child seat, according to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The action covers the A5, S5, A6, A6 Sportback e-tron, S6 Sportback e-tron, Q6 e-tron, Q6 Sportback e-tron, SQ6 e-tron, and SQ6 Sportback e-tron. Regulators said the automatic locking function of the rear belt may not engage during child seat installation, allowing the belt to extend beyond acceptable limits.

Audi identified the issue in September during an internal audit. The investigation traced the cause to damage to spring cassettes in the belt tensioner mechanism during production. In certain cases, the housing can deform and the locking element may fail to engage. The company estimates roughly 3% of the recalled vehicles are affected. The percentage is small, yet anything involving child-seat retention raises the stakes, and the broad spread across several e-tron variants suggests a shared component at play.

Owner notifications are scheduled for mid-February. Dealers will inspect the rear belts and replace faulty parts free of charge where needed. Until replacement parts are available, vehicles identified with the defect are under a stop-sale, a prudent step aimed at limiting risk until the fix is in place.