What is wrong with Kia Motors?

By Kim Da-ye

Kia Motors recalled more than 18,000 vehicles in Korea this week, about 35,000 in the U.S. and 1,800 in Brazil and reported the defects to other importers including China and European countries. Thanks to the recall in the U.S., we now know more about this global action stemming from faulty wiring harnesses.

The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs (MLTM) announced Wednesday that Kia Motors, a sister company of Hyundai Motor, will voluntarily recall in Korea 18,272 cars including 5,920 Souls, 4,305 Sorentos, 6,744 K7s and 1,303 Mohaves. Except for the K7s, the rest were manufactured between September 2009 and July 2010.

The government said in a statement that the wiring harnesses for the interior lighting which were installed on car doors have been badly soldered, resulting in the malfunctioning of interior lights or burning out.

For the same reason, the U.S. Department of Transportation National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced a recall of 23,972 Souls and 11,213 Sorentos. Brazil is the latest country where the automaker will recall 1,440 Sorentos and 367 Mohaves.

A Kia official told The Korea Times that the automaker has already reported the defects to the authorities in China and some European countries, which might announce recalls as well.

Compared to a simple description of the problem by MLTM, however, the documents made available by the U.S. counterpart give a better picture of why Kia is recalling the vehicles worldwide.

The report filed for NHTSA by Robert Babcock, a regulation and certification manager at Hyundai-Kia America Technical Center, shows that a number of wiring harnesses _ a string of cables that transmit signals or power _ are used for the lighting of Kia Soul vehicles’ Advanced Lighting Speakers on the front door trim panels and the Interior Accent Illuminated of the Sorento models located in the front and rear door trim panels. The wiring harnesses were supplied by Johnson Controls, an American auto part supplier.

It turned out that some were “improperly soldered.” The report dated on Aug. 30 says that, “As a result, when the lights are illuminated under certain conditions, an electrical short may ensue and can result in a fire.”

The Advanced Lighting Speakers are standard features of the 2010 models of Soul and Soul Sport and an option on Soul+. The Interior Accent Illumination is an option in the 2011 models of Sorento EX and EX V-6.

Interestingly, the problem was first reported by Kia Motors America in June 2010 when the American arm identified the issue during its review of field information. Kia Motors in Korea then commenced an evaluation and analysis of the information.

On August 23, 2010, the corporation concluded that the described conditions existed and warranted a safety recall. There has been no report of any accidents or injuries as a result of the problem, according to Babcock’s report.

Soul vehicles are produced in Korea and exported abroad while Sorentos sold in America are assembled in the Kia plant in Georgia, the U.S.

Kia has been growing fast with the introduction of the K5 and K7, even threatening the sales of its elder brother branch Hyundai Motor. Sales for August 2010 _ both domestic and international _ increased 55.1 percent from a year ago to 150,541 cars.

기아차에 무슨 문제 있나?

기아자동차가 국내 18,000대에 이어 미국에서 약 3만5천대, 브라질에서 1,800대에 대해 리콜을 시행한다.

이들 차량에서는 배선 용접 불량으로 차 문에 설치된 실내등이 켜지지 않고, 화재가 발생할 수 있는 문제가 있다고 한다. 그러나 이 결함으로 인한 사고나 인명피해는 아직 보고되지 않았다.

미국에서의 리콜 대상은 지난해 9월7일부터 올해 7월 30일 사이 제작된 2010년형 쏘올 2만4천여대와 2011년형 쏘렌토 1만1천대다.

기아는 브라질에서 판매된 쏘렌토와 모하비 1천800여대에 대해서도 리콜하기로 했다.

기아 측은 이달 중 해당 차량 소유자에게 리콜 통보를 하고 수리를 시행할 계획이다.