Nissan Motor is to recall 989,701 vehicles in North America to fix a software problem that could inadvertently deactivate airbags.

The software may incorrectly classify the passenger seat as empty, when it is occupied by an adult, according to the automaker’s filing with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). This may lead to a failure of the airbag to deploy during a crash and could increase the risk of injury to the passenger, according to the document cited by Bloomberg News.

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NHTSA’s website said: “Nissan North America is recalling certain model year 2013-2014 Altima, Leaf, Pathfinder, and Sentra, model year 2013 NV200 (aka Taxi) and Infiniti JX35 and model year 2014 Infiniti Q50 and QX60 vehicles. In the affected vehicles, the occupant classification system (OCS) software may incorrectly classify the passenger seat as empty, when it is occupied by an adult.

“If the OCS does not detect an adult occupant in the passenger seat, the passenger airbag would be deactivated. Failure of the passenger airbag to deploy during a crash (where deployment is warranted) could increase the risk of injury to the passenger.

“Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will update the OCS software, free of charge.”

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A company spokeswoman told Bloomberg Nissan had not received any report of accidents related to the problem, adding that the recall would affect only vehicles sold in the US, Canada and Mexico.

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The Altima, also sold in some markets as the Teana, is made in Thailand, as well as North America, from where it is exported to Asia-Pacific markets.

Bloomberg noted that Nissan said last 26 September it would recall 910,000 vehicles globally, including the Serena minivan and X-Trail SUV, over an accelerator fault. That recall was part of the reason the company cut its profit forecast by 15% in the fiscal year ending 31 March, it said.