After Ford and Nissan, now KIA is recalling more than 410,000 vehicles in the US to fix the faulty airbags. Reports say the cars’ airbag control computer cover can contact a memory chip and damage the electrical circuit. That could stop the airbags from inflating in a crash and cost people their lives.
The vehicle owners can identify this problem with an airbag warning light on the gauge cluster behind the steering wheel.
The problem surfaced in Korea last July. So far, the company has received 13 customer complaints and 947 warranty claims. Thankfully, no crashes or injuries have taken place.
KIA Recall in the US
KIA has now filed a recall for customers to take those units back to dealerships and get them fixed for free. The recall is for 2017 to 2019 models of KIA Sedona (aka the KIA Carnival), KIA Soul (both petrol and electric variants), and 2017 to 2018 models of KIA Forte.
Out of the 410,000 recalled vehicles, 108,693 are Forte, 47,690 are Sedona/Carnival, 253,281 are Soul, 953 are Soul EV units.
The car owners can take their vehicles to the nearest KIA dealership. The company will fix the faulty airbags problem by updating or replacing the computer software.
Recalls by companies are common in auto industries all over the world, especially in the US. Big auto giants such as BMW and Nissan made huge vehicle recalls in the past. Nissan has recalled more than 790,000 vehicles for a fire hazard due to faulty wiring in the cars. Ford has issued a recall for nearly 200,000 vehicles for a brake-light issue.
The point is things happen in the automotive industry. Everything turns out fine as long as the companies acknowledge their shortcomings and fix the problems before anybody gets hurt. It also leaves a positive impact and helps build customer trust.
