GM Korea fined for faulty engines

By Park Jae-hyuk

GM Korea has been fined 1.06 billion won ($883,000) after its Next Spark and New Malibu vehicles manufactured by the Korean unit of U.S. automaker General Motors were found to violate safety standards.

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Friday, some Next Spark mini-cars possibly have software problems which may cause too much engine oil to be injected.

The problematic model’s engine output was 7.3 percent lower than the car’s certified specification, while the allowable difference in power output should not exceed 5 percent.

The ministry fined GM Korea 519 million won, a thousandth of the model’s total sales, for this violation and ordered the company to recall 44,567 Next Spark vehicles made between May 31 last year and Jan. 24 this year.

In addition, some New Malibu midsize sedans were found to have failures in lights when their turn signals are on.

For this safety issue caused by a software error, the ministry fined GM Korea 541 million won, which is also a thousandth of the model’s sales, and ordered the company to recall 21,439 Malibu vehicles produced between May 10 and Oct. 18 last year.

GM Korea said it would offer free repair services for the Next Spark and the New Malibu models from next Monday and this Friday, respectively, at all GM Korea service centers.

Meanwhile, the ministry also ordered the recall of eight Ducati Multistrada 1200S motorcycles made between Sept. 7 and 30 last year.

The ministry said some of the Italian motorcycles imported by Moto Rossa had fuel leaks. Moto Rossa will offer free repairs from Monday.