WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- Hyundai Motor Co., Korea's leading automaker, will start recalling more than 200,000 vehicles in the U.S. next month because of defective airbags, the U.S. safety agency said Sunday.
Subject to recall are Santa Fe sports-utility vehicles built from April 19, 2006, to July 7, 2008, and Sonatas manufactured between Jan. 24 and June 21 of this year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
The NHTSA said 199,118 Santa Fe models may have a faulty occupant classification system, or OCS, designed to prevent airbag inflation that could injure children or infants in the front passenger seat.
In the recalled vehicles, the sensor system may keep the bags from deploying even when they should, which increases the risk of injury to passengers.
Hyundai is also recalling 11,512 Sonatas as their side curtain airbags may inflate without receiving an electronic signal to deploy, the NHTSA said.
Unexpected airbag deployment can injure occupants or distract drivers, increasing the risk of a crash.
Under the recall, Hyundai said U.S. dealers will update the OCS software of Santa Fe and replace side curtain airbags free of charge starting from August.