General Motors has announced the recall of its 2013 Cadillac XTS sedan today. Nearly 13,000 of the new luxury cars have rear head rests that fail to meet federal safety standards and could increase the risk of neck injuries if rear passengers are involved in a collision.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the rear head rests in the Cadillac XTS may not lock in the upright position after being folded forward. If the head restraint of the luxury sedan is already in the lowest vertical position and falls forward, "it will not meet the height required by the [federal safety] standard" says NHTSA.

Consumer Reports engineerscar experts are just finishing up their testing of the new 2013 Cadillac XTS luxury car. And while our testers loved the cross-traffic feature, they also found other hits and misses that left a less-than-stellar impression during its time at the Consumer Reports test track. (See our First Drive: Cadillac XTS video below.)

General Motors has reportedly begun to notify owners of the recalled Cadillac XTS issue and will replace the faulty read head restraints free of charge.

For more information, consumers can call the Cadillac customer support line (800-458-8006) toll-free and reference the General Motor's internal recall number, 12258.

Source:
RECALL: 2013 Cadillac XTS - Rear head restraints    Campaign #:12V525000 [NHTSA]