Hyundai Halts Sales of 2026 Palisade Limited and Calligraphy, Recall Issued Over Potential Rear Seat Danger

Hyundai stops sales of its three-row 2026 Palisade Limited and Calligraphy SUVs following a fatality.

Hyundai has halted sales of its 2026 Palisade Limited and Calligraphy trims, and a recall is planned for the SUVs as their powered second- and third-row seating has been involved with a child fatality that occurred as the seat was in operation.

The incident is still under investigation, according to Hyundai, but the company has taken immediate action to start a recall plan and engineer a fix. The issue involves the vehicles’ second- and third-row power seating and how the seats don’t fully detect an occupant or an object in the seat being operated via the one-touch buttons.

When Will I See a Recall Notice?

Final details are being worked out between Hyundai and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on a recall notice that will go out to owners soon. Hyundai is also developing a repair for this issue and, just as with other recalls, it will be performed at no cost to those owners. Many Palisade owners have reported that they have seen a pop-up notification on their vehicles’ infotainment screens, but we haven’t been able to verify this ourselves.

For the U.S., this issue potentially affects around 60,515 Palisades, with another 7,967 in Canada. Hyundai has also stated it will offer owners rental vehicles “until a full remedy is available.” We’re unsure of the exact timeframe for this offer (if it’s available now or only after a recall notice has been sent); we will update this information when Hyundai provides more details.

What Should You Do if You Own One?

If you own a 2026 Hyundai Palisade Limited or Calligraphy, take care to ensure no occupants are seated in the third row before someone pushes the power-folding button, and that none are seated in the second row before using the one-touch tilt-and-slide buttons.

There will be a temporary software update done over-the-air (OTA) to help mitigate the issue with occupant and object detection. It’s scheduled to begin going out by the end of March and is only intended to be a temporary fix. The permanent fix will come later; no timeframe has been set. Owners will need to have this recall work performed once it is ready.

What About the 2027 Kia Telluride?

At this moment, there is no recall for the 2027 Kia Telluride , and it doesn’t offer a powered third-row seat. But it does offer a powered second-row seat that might be functionally similar to the Palisade. We reached out to Kia, and it said, “Kia is aware of Hyundai’s recent decision to recall certain 2026 model year Hyundai Palisade vehicles due to an occupant-detection issue involving the second- and third-row power seat assemblies. Although there are no Kia vehicles equipped with third-row power seats, Kia is currently reviewing whether any of its vehicles equipped with second-row power seats are functionally similar to the recall condition.”

There aren’t yet many 2027 Tellurides on dealer lots as the model just launched this month. If you do have one in your driveway and it has powered second-row seating, we advise you to be as mindful as Hyundai recommends to Palisade Limited and Calligraphy owners, until further information is made available.