Photo: Hyundai
Hyundai and Kia will have to recall 240,000 vehicles sold in their homeland after a whistleblower revealed potential safety defects to authorities.
The country’s Ministry of Transport has imposed a compulsory vehicle recall after verifying the information that it received from a 55-year-old employee of Hyundai.
The mentioned recall was the country’s first mandatory action of this type, as Hyundai and Kia reportedly refused to perform a voluntary service campaign, Euro News remarks.
Apparently, Mr. Kim Gwang-ho had been with the automaker for 25 years, and he raised his concerns with defects that affect a dozen models offered by the two brands.
He informed the authorities about 32 faults last year, but the company had filed a lawsuit against the man once the word of the situation had reached the press. The autoamaker wil have to recall some of its cars for eight of those defects, while nine others will be fixed on demand, without any additional charge.
The legal action was dropped at a later date, and Hyundai then hired Mr. Gwang-ho to his former job, along with paying him the compensation for the time during which he was suspended from the firm. He told the media that his conscience would not allow him to let people drive in vehicles that he knew were faulty or potentially defective.
While all 12 models were not named, the Hyundai i30 was among the cars with potential problems. The representatives of Kia and Hyundai have confirmed that they will conduct a recall in South Korea, and underlined their commitment to the safety of their consumers.
We must note that Hyundai and Kia have told the media that no injuries or accidents have been reported as being linked to the possible defects of some of its vehicles. Several items and parts had faults, which leads us to believe that an honest mistake happened at one point in several departments, for various parts.
Unlike Volkswagen’s Dieselgate, nobody at Hyundai or Kia deliberately affected the cars they sold to cut back on costs. If they did, the situation could prove to become a scandal that may have ramifications in other countries.
The mentioned recall was the country’s first mandatory action of this type, as Hyundai and Kia reportedly refused to perform a voluntary service campaign, Euro News remarks.
Apparently, Mr. Kim Gwang-ho had been with the automaker for 25 years, and he raised his concerns with defects that affect a dozen models offered by the two brands.
He informed the authorities about 32 faults last year, but the company had filed a lawsuit against the man once the word of the situation had reached the press. The autoamaker wil have to recall some of its cars for eight of those defects, while nine others will be fixed on demand, without any additional charge.
The legal action was dropped at a later date, and Hyundai then hired Mr. Gwang-ho to his former job, along with paying him the compensation for the time during which he was suspended from the firm. He told the media that his conscience would not allow him to let people drive in vehicles that he knew were faulty or potentially defective.
While all 12 models were not named, the Hyundai i30 was among the cars with potential problems. The representatives of Kia and Hyundai have confirmed that they will conduct a recall in South Korea, and underlined their commitment to the safety of their consumers.
We must note that Hyundai and Kia have told the media that no injuries or accidents have been reported as being linked to the possible defects of some of its vehicles. Several items and parts had faults, which leads us to believe that an honest mistake happened at one point in several departments, for various parts.
Unlike Volkswagen’s Dieselgate, nobody at Hyundai or Kia deliberately affected the cars they sold to cut back on costs. If they did, the situation could prove to become a scandal that may have ramifications in other countries.
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