A month hasn’t passed since the day when Hyundai Nishat summoned their Tucson buyers to the showroom to check for a manufacturing fault they thought could lead to the car catching fire, and according to the recent news KIA has followed suit in recalling all the vehicles in Pakistan.
Nationally, there have been a few incidents of vehicles catching fire in Pakistan, and videos of vehicles engulfed in flames have gone viral on social media a few times. One of those vehicles is by the Korean auto manufacturer KIA.
Kia has officially requested its customers to take their vehicles to the nearest company-sponsored dealerships to be inspected.
If needed, the company will replace the faulty HECU fuse kits that are potential fire hazards. Both the inspection and the component replacement will be done free of cost.
The notification said, “as part of KIA’s global campaign, Lucky Motors Corporation Limited is carrying out a Special Safety Service Campaign related to the inspection, and if required, replacement of HECU fuse kit in KIA Sportage vehicles. A potential electrical issue of this component may result in safety hazards, referring to the fire. Accordingly, in pursuance of our promise of ensuring policy, we request our eligible customers to get their KIA Sportage inspected by visiting any of our 33 Kia authorized dealerships spread across 19 cities nationwide, to avail this free service.”
Read More: Corolla and Civic are possibly getting a new competitor in Pakistan!
Source: ProPakistani
The words, “eligible customers” probably mean that the people who have made modifications to the engine might be excluded from the service.
Global Recall
The article says that engine failure and fire problems at Hyundai and affiliated Korean automaker Kia have plagued the companies for more than five years, affecting the owners of more than 8 million vehicles.
In September 2020, according to the article, the South Korean automaker recalled about 180,000 Tucson SUVs in the U.S. from 2019 through 2021 to fix the same problem.
The company says corrosion can cause a short circuit in defective antilock brake circuit boards that can cause a fire even if engines are off.
Similarly, Hyundai’s sister company Kia also recalled 57,000 units of two different models, the Kia QL Sportage MY2016-2021 and the CK Stinger MY2017-2019.
According to 7news, Product Safety Australia is claiming that defective cars can burst into flames even if the vehicle is switched off.
A defect means that the system controlling the Anti-lock Braking System, Electronic Stability Control System, and Traction Control System can experience an electrical short-circuit if water enters it, causing the car to catch fire even if parked.