Car recalls set for record this year

Korea has ordered automakers, domestic and multinational, to recall more than 1.3 million vehicles so far this year, with the figure expected to set a record high in 2017, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Wednesday.

A total of 1,308,758 vehicles have been ordered to be recalled this year through Wednesday in 172 cases, according to the ministry.

In the next one to two weeks, the number of cars subject to recalls is expected to exceed the country’s record high of 1,369,925 vehicles in 2004, Ko Seong-woo, an official in charge of recall matters at the ministry, said over the phone. “This year, compulsory vehicle recalls by Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors have sharply driven up the figure,” he said.

Hyundai and Kia, which together form the world’s fifth-largest carmaker by sales, were ordered to recall a combined 979,687 cars this year, accounting for 75 percent of the total figure.

In May, a Hyundai Motor official blew the whistle on parts defects, which affected 12 different car models, including the i30, Sonata and Genesis. It resulted in the country’s first compulsory vehicle recall order. YONHAP