Half a million Kia cars have faulty airbags that may not deploy

Kia announced on June 8 that it is recalling 508,000 vehicles in the US to fix a technical defect that could cause airbags to not deploy in the event of a collision, according toWall Street Journal(WSJ). There have been four deaths and six injuries in Kia and Hyundai vehicles due to air bags not deploying. All of these cases are being investigated by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

Kia also said the airbag control unit in the 508,000 vehicles subject to the recall could be affected by "electrical overstress" in some frontal crashes. The control unit contains a circuit that, if damaged, could prevent the front airbags from deploying and could tighten the front seat belts, "increasing the risk of injury to vehicle occupants," Kia said in the statement.

The recall covers several Kia Forte, Optima, and Sedona models from the 2010 through 2013 model years. The company has no specific plans for repairs yet, but will notify owners of more details starting in late July.

The airbag control system is supplied by ZF Friedrichshafen AG. ZF is an automotive parts supplier headquartered in Friedrichshafen, Baden-Württemberg (Germany).

Previously, in April, Hyundai also carried out a similar recall of more than 580,000 vehicles, including Sonata models from 2011 to 2012. Hyundai Group is currently the owner of the Kia brand.

Airbags are an important factor for people when driving cars. But this device has been a big problem for car manufacturers in recent years. The most serious is the Takata airbag scandal involving about 10 million cars worldwide when there is a risk of injury, even causing dozens of deaths, due to airbags exploding and shooting metal fragments when the car collides.