Hyundai Halts 2026 Palisade Sales, Plans Recall After Child’s Death

Hyundai Motor North America is stopping U.S. sales of certain 2026 Hyundai Palisade Limited and Calligraphy SUVs and preparing a recall of more than 68,000 vehicles after a fatal incident involving a child exposed a defect in their second‑ and third‑row power seats. The company says the power seat controls may fail to detect contact with a person or object while folding or sliding, creating a crush or entrapment hazard, and the recall will cover 60,515 vehicles produced in the U.S. and 7,967 in Canada. Hyundai acknowledges a child was killed in an incident involving a Palisade — Reuters reports the victim was a 2‑year‑old Ohio girl who died March 7 — but says the case remains under investigation and it does not yet have full details. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration told CBS it is aware of the death and is in communication with Hyundai to gather more information, a standard precursor to formal defect and recall oversight. Hyundai says a repair is under development, an over‑the‑air software update is expected by the end of March, and in the meantime it is urging owners to use caution and ensure no people or objects, especially children, are in the seat or folding area before operating the power seat controls. The move highlights ongoing concerns over power‑operated seat and window designs that lack adequate obstruction detection, an issue that has repeatedly surfaced in U.S. auto‑safety debates and online owner forums when children are involved.