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Auto Makers and Importers Including Hyundai, Benz, Audi and Porsche Begin Recalls[62,509 Cars from 19 Models]
□ The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (Minister Kim Hyun-mee) announced that it would conduct voluntary corrective actions (recalls) on 62,509 vehicles from a total of 19 models sold by Hyundai Motor, Mercedes-Benz Korea, Audi-Volkswagen Korea, Porsche Korea, etc. from which manufacturing defects were found.
ㅇ This recall includes 54,161 Hyundai Motor Grand Starex and 4,596 Benz that were found to fall short of safety standards after conducting self-certification investigations, 3,437 Audis for which the headrest fixing pin in the center-rear set were found to be defective, and 191 Porsche cars that were found to have defective side air bags.
□ First, in the case of the 54,161 Grand Starex (TQ) Wagons manufactured and sold by Hyundai Motor Company, upon conducting vehicle self-certification investigations by the Korea Transportation Safety Authority’s Korea Automobile Testing & Research Institute pursuant to the Automobile Management Act, it was found that the max speed limit device violated the limit criteria.
ㅇ The max speed of the max speed limit device measured during the vehicle self-certification investigation for this vehicle was found to be 110.4km/h, which violates automobile standards article 54*.
ㅇ Accordingly, MOLIT is planning to levy fines pursuant against Hyundai Motor Company pursuant to Article 74 of the Automobile Management Act for these 54,161 automobiles.
ㅇ Hyundai Motor is planning to notify the violation of the max speed limit device safety standards to owners of the respective vehicles and adjust the max speed of the device according to standards by updating the ECU program from April 12.
□ In addition, for 4,596 A 200, etc. imported and sold by Mercedes-Benz Korea, vehicle self-certification investigation results showed that the light intensity of the reflector such as the rear fog lights, etc. exceeded the standard level (300cd) by as much as up to 160cd, thus going into recall for violating safety standards article 38-2.
ㅇ For the AMG C 63 (1 vehicle) manufactured in February 2018, it was found that there is a possibility that some toolkits such as the tow ring was not included in the trunk, and therefore, as this is a violation of safety standards article 20, recalls will be conducted for this as well.
ㅇ MOLIT is planning to first push forward with recalls for the Benz vehicles in which the above defects were found and later levy penalties against the manufacturer as it did with Hyundai Motor Company.
ㅇ Meanwhile, it was found that adhesives were not properly covered on the panoramic sunroof due to production process errors by the parts supplier for 29 Benz GLA 220, etc., and therefore, if water leaks occur, it can cause humidity near the window air bang, which could cause damages to the ignition device, and even lead to the window air bag blowing up unintentionally.
ㅇ The manufacturer, Mercedes-Benz Korea accepted the self-certification investigation results of MOLIT for 4,596 cars such as the A 200 and agreed to begin recalls to replace improved rear fog lights free-of-charge from April 15, and it has begun recalls for 30 cars such as the GLA220 and AMG C 63 from April 5.
□ In the case of 2,756 cars including the A3 40 TFSI imported and sold by Audi-Volkswagen Korea, there is possibility of the headrest fastening pin on the center seat of the rear row to fall out due to process defects of the parts manufacturer, thus having the possibility to reduce headrest support and protection functions in the case of accidents, therefore having the risk of injury or damage to the passenger.
ㅇ In the case of 681 A6 50 TFSI qu., a connection defect was found in the low pressure fuel rail that functions as engine intake fuel injection due to deviations in the parts manufacturing process, and it was thus found that there is risk of fire due to fine oil leaks because of dropped air-tightness, and will thus be recalled.
ㅇ These vehicles will offer free services to replace the left and right fuel rail with improved parts at official Audi service centers nationwide from April 12.
□ Meanwhile, 130 Panamera and 38 Cayenne imported and sold by Porsche Korea was found to have inaccurate soldering in the internal circuits during the manufacturing process of the gate way control unit*, which is an electric device of the vehicle, and therefore, a defect that could affect safe driving due to possible errors with normal communication with other control units was confirmed.
* Gate way control unit: Acts as information exchange (communication relay) and battery power control of different communication networks in the vehicle
ㅇ It was also found that the nuts in the side air bag sensor, which is an electric device of the vehicle, were not assembled with screw torque for five 911 and 19 817 Boxsters from the same manufacturer, and therefore, a defect in which the air bag may not be properly deployed was found and so recalls will be carried out.
ㅇ Free repairs or replacements of parts can be received from nationwide Porsche official service centers from April 15 (five 911 and 19 718 Boxster recalled since April 1).
□ Lastly, 94 motorcycles such as the Bonneville T100 imported and sold by Bike Korea will be recalled because it was found that because of design errors in the main harness moulding headstock tidy that fastens the main wire harness and clutch cable to the vehicle, it can cause interference and friction between the two parts, thus damaging the internal wire covering of the main harness, thus having the possibility for the lighting device or engine ignition device to not work properly.
ㅇ Parts can be replaced with improved parts for free for the above vehicles from Bike Korea starting on April 12.
☐ The makers will notify the vehicle owners via mail or mobile phone text message on recall instructions and in the event that the vehicle owners repaired the respective defects at their own expense prior to the recall, the owners can request compensation to the maker for the repair costs.
□ The MOLIT operates an automobile recall center (www.car.go.kr, 080-357-2500) for the purpose of collecting and analyzing manufacturing defect information of vehicles to ensure safety of citizens from automobile defects. Enter your vehicle number in the homepage to check whether your vehicle is subject to recall and the detailed manufacturing defects and flaws at any time.
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