Hyundai Australia recalls over 36,000 Tucson SUVs over unexpected braking risk

Hyundai Australia has issued a nationwide recall for 36,496 Hyundai Tucson sport utility vehicles due to a software issue that could cause the vehicles' automatic emergency braking system to activate unnecessarily.

The recall affects 2025 and 2026 model-year Hyundai Tucson vehicles. 

According to the recall notice lodged with Australia's Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts, a fault in the vehicle's Forward Collision Avoidance (FCA) system may cause the brakes to remain engaged even when there is no longer a need to avoid a collision or reduce its impact.

Hyundai said the issue stems from a software malfunction that could result in sudden or unexpected braking while the vehicle is being driven.

"Due to a software issue, the Forward Collision Avoidance (FCA) system may continue to apply sudden/unexpected braking even though it is no longer necessary to avoid a collision or reduce impact," the company said in its recall notice.

The automaker warned that unexpected braking could increase the risk of a crash and may result in injury or death to vehicle occupants or other road users.

The affected vehicles belong to the current-generation Tucson (NX4 series), which was launched in Australia in April 2021 and later received a facelift for the 2025 model year.

The latest action is separate from a recall announced in April 2026 involving 3,445 Hyundai vehicles, including the Kona, Tucson, Santa Fe, Palisade, Ioniq 9 and Sonata. That recall was linked to a digital instrument cluster fault that could be resolved through an over-the-air software update.

Hyundai Australia has advised owners of affected Tucson vehicles to contact authorised dealerships to arrange the necessary corrective action.