South Korean automaker, Kia Motors, has officially recalled 410,000 vehicles in the U.S due to malfunctioning airbags which may endanger the lives of drivers during accidents.
Kia has recalled some of its small cars, small SUVs and minivan as a part of this checkup. The checkup includes Forte small cars between 2017 and 2018 model cars. On the other hand the checkup will also include Sedona minivans and Soul small SUVs that were manufactured between 2017 and 2019. The electric version of the Kia Soul is also included in the recall list.
Kia Motors explained that the airbag control computer cover comes in contact with a memory chip and damages the electrical circuit which can stop the airbags present in the vehicle from inflating during a crash. Consequently, Once the vehicles that are recalled reach the dealership, they will be inspected and the problem will be fixed. Similarly, The company said that the owners will be notified through email from March 21.
Kia stated in the documents that it posted to the US safety regulators that the problem first surfaced in South Korea in July 2021. The company informed that there were as many as 13 customer complaints as well as 947 warranty claims for the particular malfunctioning. However, there were no reports of any accident or any injury due to the airbag issue. It could be noted that, an earlier report stated that Kia is under scrutiny in the US due to incidents of engine failures and fires.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) had reported incidents of fires and engine failures of Kia vehicles that were produced between 2011 and 2016. The South Korean company was ordered to pay $27 million in fines and was also directed to improve safety measures.
However, while it denied the charges made against it, the automaker opted to avoid a protracted legal fight. The NHTSA also opened an engineering analysis for the company to keep a tab on the recalls that it made related to the engine fire issue. The body said it will check the efficacy of the recall that Kia carried out for the defective models.
