Kia's Stinger[Photo by Park Sae-jin]
South Korea's largest carmaker Hyundai Motor and its brother company Kia Motors were ordered by transport authorities to recall 238,000 cars as consumers blamed them for delaying the recall.
The vehicles to be recalled include 12 models released by Hyundai and Kia such as Avante, Santa Fe and Genesis. The transport ministry said Friday that some vehicles included on the recall list could get caught up in safety accidents due to faulty parts. This is the first time the ministry has ordered forced recalls to uncomplying carmakers.
Hyundai and Kia said in a joint statement that they would "humbly" accepted the ministry's final decision, promising to recover consumers' trust and satisfaction.
The ministry had ordered the recall in March and April but Hyundai and Kia refused to follow insisting faulty parts in question did not affect safe driving. Consumers have accused the carmakers of making excuses to delay the recall.
"What a load of bulls***! If they thought about their consumers' safety, they probably did not have to be forced to make recalls at the first place!" said THURSDAY, a user from an online community Clien. AUTHORIZEDMEMBER, another user, pointed out, "There are other models which should be recalled. I wish Hyundai and Kia to make recalls on other models as well."
Park Sae-jin = swatchsjp@ajunews.com
Park Sae-jin = swatchsjp@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
