Safety group calls for Hyundai, Kia recall over fire risk

DETROIT — A non-profit auto safety group is demanding that Hyundai and Kia recall 2.9 million cars and SUVs in the U.S. due to consumer complaints that they can catch fire.

The Center For Auto Safety said Friday that there have been more than 220 complaints to the U.S. government since 2010 about fires and another 200 complaints about melted wires as well as smoke and burning odours.

The complaints involve the 2011 through 2014 Kia Sorento and Optima and the Hyundai Sonata and Santa Fe. Also included is the 2010 through 2015 Kia Soul.

The fires are being investigated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as part of a 2017 probe into Hyundai and Kia engine failures.

“The volume of fires here make it appear that Hyundai and Kia are content to sit back and allow consumers and insurers to bear the brunt of poorly-designed, manufactured and repaired vehicles,” Jason Levine, the centre’s executive director, said. The fire reports have come in from across the country, including a death in Ohio in April of 2017, he said.

Hyundai says it monitors safety concerns and acts quickly to recall defective vehicles.

“We have a robust system in place for monitoring and investigating reported vehicle fires that includes investigation and reporting to NHTSA as required,” a company statement said.

Kia said it is using company and third-party fire investigators to determine what caused the fires so it can address them.

“A vehicle fire may be the result of any number of complex factors, such as a manufacturing issue, inadequate maintenance, the installation of aftermarket parts, an improper repair, arson, or some other non-vehicle source, and must be carefully evaluated by a qualified and trained investigator,” the company said in a statement.

In June, the Center for Auto Safety filed a petition asking NHTSA to investigate the fires separately from the engine failures. The agency said Friday that it is evaluating the petition and it has requested information from automakers.

In May of 2017 the government began investigating whether Hyundai and Kia moved quickly enough to recall over 1.6 million vehicles because of engines stalling.

NHTSA is looking into three recalls by the related Korean brands, and it’s also investigating whether the automakers followed safety reporting requirements.

Hyundai recalled about 470,000 vehicles in September of 2015 because manufacturing debris could have restricted oil flow to connecting rod bearings. That can cause bearings in four-cylinder engines to wear and fail. The repair is an expensive engine block replacement.

In March of last year, the automakers issued two more recalls covering 1.2 million additional vehicles with the same engine problem.

If NHTSA finds that the companies moved too slowly to recall vehicles, then it can issue fines or order additional recalls. The agency has said the fires appear to be related to engine failures.

Melissa Markoutsis, 39, of Kenosha, Wis., said the engine on her 2012 Kia Soul exploded and failed in an Interstate 94 construction zone south of Milwaukee on May 14, spewing thick black smoke as she was driving amid semis and Jersey barriers.

“I panicked. I couldn’t see anything,” she recalled.

Markoutsis said she safely coasted to an exit ramp and had the Soul towed to a Kia dealer.