Cadillac Australia Recalls 406 Lyriq and Vistiq EVs Over Brake Fault

• General Motors Australia and New Zealand is recalling 321 Cadillac Lyriq and 85 Vistiq electric SUVs, 406 cars in all, for a brake software fault.
• Braking can drop out for a moment at low speed, and pressing the pedal again brings it back.
• The software update is free at Cadillac service centres, and owners book it on 1800 223 455 or at [email protected].

The Driveway Bump That Can Cut Your Brakes for a Moment

If you own a Cadillac Lyriq or Vistiq, or you are waiting on delivery of one, the recall notice is about you. GM ANZ, the local arm of General Motors, has called back 321 Lyriq and 85 Vistiq SUVs built between 2024 and 2026, a total of 406 vehicles, over a software fault in the Brake System Control Module. The fix is a software update at a Cadillac service centre, and it costs nothing.

No Australian owner has reported the fault to GM ANZ, the company says. A US recall in October came first, and in that country GM’s own filing lists complaints of minor crashes that could be related to the fault.

“Due to a software issue in the Brake System Control Module (BSCM), a temporary loss of braking may occur at low speeds,” the company says in its recall notice.

The next line of the notice is the one to remember if the pedal ever goes light under your foot.

“Normal braking function is restored when the brake pedal is pressed again.”

Which Cars Are Covered

The tally of 406 spans Lyriq and Vistiq SUVs produced between 2024 and 2026, and it includes vehicles still in transit to Australia. Lyriq deliveries to customers began in 2025. Cadillac Australia has not yet started customer deliveries of the Vistiq, and expects handovers to begin before 2026 ends or at the start of 2027’s first quarter.

The recall notice comes with a Vehicle Identification Number list, and that list decides whether your car is in or out. Do not rely on the model name alone. The US recall of the same fault is limited, for the Lyriq, to cars with the performance all-wheel drive option (code X0E in GM’s paperwork), and GM ANZ has not said whether the Australian recall draws the same line. Australia’s national recall register, run by the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts, publishes VIN lists with its Cadillac notices, and that check settles the question.

What the Fault Does

The trigger is narrow. The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) holds GM’s safety recall report, and a passage from it describes the sequence.

“When the brakes are lightly applied at low speeds during a sharp turn and the vehicle encounters a bump or depression – such as at the end of a driveway – a momentary release and reapplication of the brakes may cause the software’s slip calculation to misinterpret wheel movement,”

The next sentence of the report adds the result: “In some instances, this may result in a temporary loss of braking.”

The everyday version is a gentle foot on the brake, the steering wheel turned hard into a driveway, and a lip in the concrete. The report names the cause as a software slip calculation that can misread wheel movement under that sequence of events, and it says the brakes work normally again once the pedal is pressed a second time.

GM ANZ states the risk plainly in its notice: “A temporary loss of braking performance could increase the risk of an accident causing injury or death to vehicle occupants and/or other road users.”

The case that started GM’s US investigation involved a 2024 Lyriq that ran into a garage while moving slowly.

What the US Record Shows

The US recall is far larger than the Australian one. GM filed NHTSA recall 26V717 on 29 October 2026 and covers 67,380 vehicles across the Cadillac Lyriq, Vistiq and Celestiq and the Chevrolet Blazer EV, with GM estimating that 100 percent of them carry the defect. Of those, 44,585 are Lyriq and 18,802 are Vistiq, a total of 63,387 for the two models. The 406 Australian cars are about 0.64 percent of that figure. Our earlier report on the US recall covering 67,380 EVs has the American owner steps.

The chronology in the filing explains how the fault surfaced. On 10 April 2026 a GM technical expert sent a report to the company’s Speak Up for Safety program after reviewing the garage crash. That car already carried the software fix from an earlier US recall, 24V589, which dealt with an anti-lock braking fault in 2023 and 2024 all-wheel drive Lyriq. GM’s preliminary testing reproduced the condition. The company found it involved a specific set of conditions in certain performance all-wheel drive cars that the earlier fix had not addressed, and it opened a new product investigation on 18 August 2026.

GM then searched its legal files, TREAD data and NHTSA owner questionnaires and found 24 field complaints tied to the fault. They included 20 minor accidents, and two of those carried allegations of minor injuries. The complaints were received between 28 February 2024 and 11 June 2026. On 22 October 2026 GM’s Safety Field Action Decision Authority decided to recall.

The factory fixed the software in new cars in stages. The Lyriq got the new software from 7 September 2026 for 2026 model year cars, and the Vistiq from 21 October 2026 for 2027 model year cars. In the US, dealers were told on 29 October 2026, and owner letters are estimated to start on 14 December 2026. Owners of cars that can take wireless updates and have accepted the terms can receive the fix over the air, and everyone else goes to a dealer. The US report puts the remedy in one line: the updated software corrects the slip calculation.

No Australian owner letter date appears in the local reporting, so use the booking number as your starting point.

Cadillac’s Other Australian Recalls

This is not the first Lyriq or Vistiq notice on the national register. In September 2025 GM ANZ recalled 289 Lyriq built in 2024 and 2025, registered as REC-006420, over headlamp software that could fail to switch from high beam to low beam for oncoming bicycle and motorcycle riders. The fix was a free software update. In July 2026 the register published REC-006650, covering two 2025 and 2026 Vistiq whose third-row seat-folding mechanism did not reverse when it met an obstruction, which could trap a smaller occupant under the seatback.

Both notices list the same contact, the Cadillac Customer Communications Centre on 1800 223 455 and [email protected], and both fixes are free. Braking faults are driving other Australian electric car recalls too. Hyundai’s Elexio sudden braking recall covers 1,619 cars, with its fix expected in February.

What to Do

Start with your VIN. Check it against the list attached to the recall notice, search the national register at vehiclerecalls.gov.au for Cadillac, or ask Cadillac Australia to confirm your car.

If the car is on the list, ring Cadillac Australia on 1800 223 455 or email [email protected] and book an appointment at a Cadillac service centre. GM ANZ says the software update is free of charge.

Until the update is done, take extra care when you brake lightly through a sharp turn over a bump or dip, the exact sequence in the US report. If the pedal goes light, press it again. GM ANZ says normal braking is restored when you do.

If you have ordered a Vistiq, ask the dealer whether your car has had the update before handover, as the tally includes vehicles still in transit.

If you have already had a brake problem in your Lyriq or Vistiq, tell Cadillac Australia when you book. GM ANZ says it has no local reports of this issue.

In the US, owner letters are scheduled to start on 14 December 2026. No local date has been reported, so do not wait for a letter.

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Reviewed by Preetam Gadekar