Nissan has announced a large-scale recall of its mid-size X-Trail SUV due to a headlight control system defect that may pose a road safety risk.
Recall Details
The recall affects 3,277 vehicles produced between May and September 2024. According to Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the defect concerns the adaptive LED headlight control module, which automatically adjusts high and low beams based on surrounding vehicles.
Safety Concerns with Headlight System
The biggest reason Nissan recalled the vehicle was a defect in the adaptive LED headlight control module.
The system detects surrounding vehicles and automatically adjusts the high and low beams.
However, the vehicle’s control program is improperly designed, so it fails to properly recognize vehicles ahead or oncoming.
As a result, it has been reported that the high beams turn on even when they should have been adjusted to low beams.
This could obstruct the vision of other drivers at night, leading to accidents.
This problem can be even more serious on national roads or highways with fewer streetlights than in urban areas.
Six complaints have been filed regarding the defect so far, but no accidents have been officially reported yet.
Nissan stated that they immediately took action upon recognizing the problem and decided to recall the vehicle to resolve it as soon as possible.
Software Update to Resolve the Issue
The improvement measures for this recall will be implemented as a software update, not a vehicle hardware replacement.
Nissan plans to update the headlight control module program of the affected vehicles to the latest version through official service centers.
The software update will adjust the headlights to operate properly and help the driver recognize surrounding vehicles more accurately.
This update will be provided free of charge, and owners of the affected vehicles can have them inspected and repaired at a nearby Nissan service center.
In light of this incident,
Nissan announced that it would strengthen its quality management system further.
The manufacturer emphasized that it prioritizes customer safety and will continue to work to prevent similar problems from recurring by thoroughly verifying vehicle software and hardware.
