In April, a man (K) who served in Hyundai Motors for 25 years cast a doubt on a Hyundai car recall. He strongly insisted that Hyundai Motors had been attempting to cover up the existence of serious defects of cars. Hyundai Motors directly denied the allegations.

The first doubt raised by the chief informer, K, was the engine noise and engine damage caused by a defect in the con rod bearing seizure Theta 2 engine. "The company has found a defect such as engine noise, and starting off in the US last September, conducted a recall of the 'YF Sonata' model. But in Korea they did not conduct a recall for the same car," he said. For some models produced in the United States, Hyundai has confirmed the defects produced in the US and recalled a lot of cars that were unsafe. In contrast to the US, Hyundai Motors changed their stance in Korea.

They explained the reason for not carrying out a recall domestically was that the problem occurred on one side of Hyundai products produced in the US which were different from domestically produced products. A Hyundai Motors official said, "The failure rate of 0.34%, compared to the United States as domestic-type YF Sonata record’s low defect rate of 0.07% (four out of all 6033 cars). The difference in the failure rate caused by temporary issues in Alabama because of clean factory management issues and there is no relationship with domestic plants.” The Theta engine fitted to the controversial vehicle was produced in Hyundai's Alabama plant in Ulsan Mars and the United States and South Korea.

But Kim said "Looking at the failure rate trend in the United States, it can be seen that the error rate is significantly lower when you apply con rod bearings-plated applied, the material changes and oil clearance... As the result shows, this is a matter of the design specification.”

On a related issue, the US rapidly responds to defects and defines its position. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) examined thoroughly the submitted recall chronology (History Report) and disputed against the safety issue. NHTSA said, "Starting off during high-speed driving can lead to a dangerous situation." Eventually, Hyundai Motors accepted the claims of the NHTS and has conducted a recall.

It can lead to big accidents because the air bag can explode while driving, when cars go over a speed bump with a sudden shock. However, with the i30 that is equipped with the same ACU, they didn’t do a recall.

Kim Pilsu, a Daerim University Automotive professor said, "Errors resulting from one or two car may cause a big problem, but eight cases means that there is a significant problem in common… They’re the same parts, the same system, so the same recall is common sense." In response to the stress, Hyundai said, "We are currently constantly monitoring the situation."

The Ministry of Transportation does not move quickly and merely looks past the situation. The Ministry of Transportation usually says it is under investigation, but the results have not come to light because the investigation process is so complicated and too many targets are taking a longer time. The government should carry out investigations as soon as possible and quickly put into force a recall. It is only the way to prevent more damage to drivers.

By Sarah Park  sarah96@naver.com

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