General Motors reported a rearview camera defect to NHTSA on August 20, 2026, covering 306,511 small SUVs built between April and December 2024: the Chevrolet Trax and Trailblazer and the Buick Encore GX and Envista. The cameras can show a distorted or blank image when the driver shifts into reverse. Dealers are to inspect each vehicle and replace the camera where needed, at no charge to the owner.
The recall, number 26V539, is now six weeks old, and its paper trail is among the more detailed in the September cluster.
An investigation closed in 2025 and reopened in 2026
The Part 573 safety recall report shows GM reached this decision twice. The company opened an investigation into inoperative rearview cameras on May 20, 2025, and closed it on September 4, 2025 after finding no defect trend, while continuing to monitor. On March 25, 2026, elevated claim rates prompted a new investigation that identified a root cause. GM’s Safety Field Action Decision Authority approved the recall on August 13, 2026.
Between July 3, 2024 and May 30, 2026 the report counts 33,365 field complaints, equal to about 11 percent of the recall population and a number that gives the March 2026 investigation far more to work with than the 2025 review had when it found no trend. The pattern in the dates is the useful part of the explainer. A first look found nothing, claims kept arriving, and a second look found the cause. Between the August 13 decision and the August 20 notice to dealers, GM took seven days to move from approval to the record that NHTSA published.
Plasma cleaning, a weak adhesive bond and the Wuxi supplier
The root cause lies in how the camera housing is put together. The 573 attributes the failures to the bonding process: a plasma-cleaning treatment used to prepare the housing assembly compromised adhesion in some units, weakening the adhesive bond. Kelley Blue Book’s account of the recall repeats the same explanation and notes that GM said it was unaware of any accidents or injuries related to the problem.
The report names the supplier as Wuxi Sharp Optoelectronic Technology Co., of Xinwu District, Wuxi, China, and lists two part numbers for the camera, 86554978 and 86554977. Replacement cameras, the filing says, were produced outside the suspect manufacturing window, so a replacement camera is expected to carry the bond that the original housings may lack. GM estimates that 10 percent of the recalled vehicles actually have the defect, about 30,000 vehicles. The remaining vehicles are in the recall because the filing covers every vehicle built in the suspect windows, whether or not its camera has yet shown the fault.
Four models, nine production lines
A recall of this size is rarely a single, uniform population. GM’s report divides the 306,511 vehicles into nine lines by model, model year and build window, and nearly all of them were built within a single calendar year. The population table runs by model year and build window. The Chevrolet Trax, a 2025 model only, is the largest line at 159,821 vehicles. The Chevrolet Trailblazer follows at 74,515 across the 2024, 2025 and 2026 model years. The Buick Envista adds 41,323 across 2024 and 2025, and the Buick Encore GX adds 30,852 across 2024 to 2026. Those four totals add to 306,511. The production windows are tight. Almost all of the recalled vehicles were built between April 1 and December 31, 2024, which is why only a single 2026 Encore GX and seven 2026 Trailblazers appear in the table, each built in late 2024.
The dealer remedy and the notification dates
NHTSA’s campaign record gives the remedy in a single sentence: dealers will inspect and replace the rearview camera, if necessary, free of charge. The 573 sets the notification sequence. Dealers were notified August 20, with VINs searchable the same day. An initial owner notification was set for September 16, followed by an interim notification on September 17, and the record says additional letters will follow once parts become available.
A blank camera becomes a federal matter through Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 111. Since May 1, 2018, passenger cars of 4,536 kilograms gross weight or less have had to put a rearview image on screen no later than 2.0 seconds after backing begins. NHTSA’s record lists the consequence of a distorted or blank picture as poorer rear visibility for the driver, and in this campaign the dated chronology above reflects what 49 CFR Part 573 obliges a manufacturer to disclose about when it knew and what it did. Vehicle owners can confirm coverage with a VIN search at NHTSA’s recall site. GM’s customer lines are 1-800-222-1020 for Chevrolet and 1-800-521-7300 for Buick.
GM’s Part 573 report sets 33,365 field complaints beside a 10 percent defect estimate. One is a count of reported failures and the other a projection, and the two do not obviously agree. Completion and warranty data that NHTSA posts for 26V539 after replacement cameras go in will show how far apart they really were, and GM has not yet said when that data will be filed.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
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