Transport Ministry recalls Palisade for defects

The government is recalling Hyundai Motor’s popular Palisade SUV, after finding a defect in its airbag system, as part of a wider voluntary recall on over 120,000 vehicles from six automakers.

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on Sunday, it will recall 34,861 Palisades after it found that side airbags might not deploy properly due to the placement of a bolt that holds the airbag.

The large-sized SUV has been a hit for the automaker this year, selling nearly 40,000 units through September in the domestic market, according to Hyundai Motor.

The government is also recalling other Hyundai Motor vehicles such as 78,729 i30s, manufactured between 2007 and 2011, due to defects in the airbag control unit and 2,903 hybrid Sonatas made this year for defects that could result in random blinking of hazard lights or the engine turning off while the vehicle is running.

Hyundai Motor started repairs on the problematic Palisades and i30s from Nov. 1, while it has been conducting fixes on Sonatas since Oct. 24.

The Transport Ministry will also recall a total of 5,283 vehicles from Porsche Korea for a software error that may lead to warning lights for the brake pad wear not turning on in the Panamera and Cayenne models. The government said it plans to levy a fine on the company after the recall as the defects violated safety standards.

The recall also covers 438 Ford vehicles, which includes models such as Mondeo, after finding that a bolt in the power steering motor could be damaged from rust.

The Transport Ministry added that 13 Honda vehicles, including the CR-V SUV, will be recalled again. The vehicles were originally recalled for having faulty airbags made by Takata but had the airbags replaced with other problematic airbags made by the same company. The vehicles will receive new and improved airbags through the new recall.

BY CHAE YUN-HWAN [chae.yunhwan@joongang.co.kr]