Hyundai, Kia Toughen Quality Control

Although no one really believes American supplier CTS Corp is to be held responsible for the huge recall Japanese manufacturer Toyota is currently engulfed in, some automakers have already began reviewing their quality control procedures, especially when it comes to outsourced parts.

Among the first to do so are the Koreans from Hyundai-Kia, who, according to the Korea Herald, will conduct a huge quality control operation for components supplied by part makers. But the group's efforts don't stop here.

Hyundai Kia Automotive Group chairman Chung Mongkoo has also send directives for its engineers to look into the possible causes of Toyota's problems, so that a similar situation will not happen with the Korean vehicles.

Back to the quality control, the review will begin with parts makers producing safety related components and then move on to other components. The task is gargantuan, as Hyundai Kia have no less than 500 suppliers, all of which must be reviewed within a year.

The procedure set in place by the Korean group calls for the first check to be conducted by the suppliers, with the second one by the carmakers and their R&D and purchasing departments. A third, more serious check will be conducted by Hyundai Mobis, the division that assembles modules used in Hyundai and Kia vehicles.

So far, Hyundai Kia are the only ones to Korea, if not the world, to react to Toyota's problems at this level. The other carmakers, especially the American ones, momentarily feel the need to overtake Toyota, rather than see if what happened to the Japanese can happen to them as well.