Kia Motors recall has ripple effect locally

Kia Motors last week announced the recall of hundreds of Sorento SUVs, imported into Vietnam, due to defective wiring in decorative lighting.

According to Truong Hai Auto Group (Thaco), the authorised distributor of Kia Sorento in Vietnam, 470 vehicles produced between September 2009 and June 2010 imported from South Korea and the United States into Vietnam were subject to the recall.

The recall was issued due to concerns over the improper soldering of select wiring harnesses- insulated conductors bound together in some of the vehicles’ lighting features.

In early September, Kia started recalling about 35,000 vehicles, including 24,000 Soul hatchback wagons and 11,000 Sorento vehicles made during the same period in the US.

The recall was due to improper soldering of the wiring harnesses used for the lighting in the Soul’s advanced lighting speakers, located in the front door trim panels, and the Sorento’s interior accent illumination, located in the front and rear door trim panels.

According to the US’ National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, when the lights were illuminated under certain conditions, an electrical short could occur, resulting in a fire.

There have been no Soul vehicles in Vietnam subjected to the recall yet.

A Thaco executive said Vietnamese dealers would replace the soldering of wiring harnesses free of charge starting from October. It is awaiting a batch of new parts imported from South Korea-based Kia Motors to replace the defective ones.

Other independent importers with products belonging to the recalled series will also be able to work with Thaco to fix the problem.

The Thaco executive said half of its buyers had been contacted.

“About 60 per cent of the clients were individuals. It will not take time for clients to wait for their Sorento vehicles to be replaced with new soldering, maybe a day,” he said.

This was the first batch of foreign-made automobile vehicles officially recalled in Vietnam since early this year when the world’s big car producers began recalling their vehicles worldwide to fix various problems including door locks, brakes and airbags.

They included Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Mazda, Huyndai, Ford and GM. However, none of their products were reportedly recalled from Vietnam, which has proved to have an increasing demand for cars in recent years.

South Korea is among the largest car exporters to Vietnam, supplying many small cars and sedans produced by GM, Daewoo, Kia and Huyndai.

Vietnam imported 2,100 less-than-nine-seat automobile vehicles worth $26 million in the first eight months of the year, up 2.8 per cent in value against last year’s corresponding period.