Fountain Valley, CA — June 9, 2016 — A new Hyundai recall concerns several vehicles with possible air bag deployment issues. The relatively small action involves just 33 Sonata, Sonata Hybrid and Elantra vehicles from the 2015 and 2016 model years produced between 2014 and 2016. As of April 20, no injuries have been traced back to this problem.
According to the Part 573 Safety Recall Report attributed to this case, there is no signal identified that could indicate the problem could occur. If the affected vehicles were not equipped with the proper chemical enhancer, the report stated, the front driver second stage air bag may not deploy. Even if the first stage unit works properly, this failure could be dangerous for drivers and leave them unprotected for more advanced dangers.
The components in question come from Key Safety Systems, based in Lakeland, Florida. In early April, Key alerted Hyundai to some air bag inflator issues. The manufacturer launched the official recall nine days later.
This planned notification date for both dealers and owners was scheduled for April 29, as the supplier made necessary changes to the affected air bag manufacturing process. The replacement air bag module units won’t be produced in the same lots as the others.
As Left Lane News reported, Kia is executing a similar recall with its 2016 Optima, which includes just 17 potentially affected units. The Kia recalls are also due to components from Key, and the replacement air bags will feature the chemical enhancer missing in the previous ones.
All of the affected Kia vehicles were produced between November 2015 and February 2016. Owners and dealers in this recall were both scheduled for notification a week earlier than those in the Hyundai action.
