Hyundai Motors Sonata Recall

Hyundai Motors recall of its flagship Sonata sedan in the U.S. has sparked fears of erosion of quality in the largest Korean automaker. U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said Sunday that 139,500 2011 model year Sonatas manufactured at Hyundai's Alabama plant from 11 December 2009 and September 10, 2010 was recalled. The recall affects nearly all Sonatas sold in the U.S. during that period.

The NHTSA began investigating in August all Hyundai and Kia vehicles sold in the U.S. after two consumer complaints about the Sonata and one on the Kia Soul, all address issues of participation. Although the number of complaints is low, the agency opened the investigation because of concerns that the problems could lead to serious accidents.
According to Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group, a defect found in some cars soul in bolt connections holding the steering system together. Sonata a complaint about noise and vibration drift due to a faulty connection in the steering system, while another problem was that the steering system separated by the faulty installation. Both are due to assembly defects.
"Less than 10 cars were affected by the defects, and there have been no accidents due to them," said a Hyundai spokesman. "We will act quickly with the recall in October."
Since the withdrawal does not involve accidents or structural defects are not expected to deal a blow to Hyundai. However, Lee Sung-shin, head of BMR Consulting, said: "It is possible that the Hyundai brand image of quality and reliability at a reasonable price could have some success."


The withdrawal could worsen further if quality issues. Problems with the lock mechanism of the door to the surface when the new Sonata first hit U.S. dealerships in February, but a quick withdrawal of the affected models prevented the problem from getting worse. But the latest recall involves a much larger number of vehicles, causing more concern about quality.
Hyundai-Kia subcontractors automaker says the quality control process has been stretched to the limit of a rapid increase in production. "We're working all night as orders for new vehicles have increased between 50 and 100 percent compared with the targets set at the beginning of the year," said a source to a subcontractor.
Despite the global economic crisis, the Hyundai-Kia sales rose from 4.18 million vehicles in 2008 to 4,640,000 last year. Sales this year are expected to exceed the company's projection of 5.4 million vehicles, resulting in a record 9.3 percent global market share. Sales in Korea, USA and China also are forecast to hit all time highs this month.
Experts say that Hyundai-Kia error should be given to Toyota to expand too fast. The Japanese manufacturer launched a strategy of rapid expansion in 2000 to increase its global market share to 15 percent which represents 10 million to 70 million cars sold worldwide each year. But in the last year has recalled more than 8 million vehicles around the world of defects such as pedals that are stuck or caught on the carpet.
"The rapid increase in production over time can lead to problems in maintaining quality," said Kim Ki-chan, a professor of automotive economics at the Catholic University of Korea. "If the quality deteriorates, Hyundai could have a serious crisis on its hands."
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