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(LEAD) Hyundai halts U.S. sales of Sonata sedans over door glitch: report
SEOUL, Feb. 24 (Yonhap) -- Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's top automaker, has suspended sales of some of its revamped Sonata sedans in the United States because of defective front-door locks, a U.S. industry magazine reported Wednesday.
Shares of Hyundai dived more than 4 percent in early morning trade on Wednesday as investors feared that the report could lead to a recall of Hyundai's flagship sedan.
Hyundai's U.S. unit ordered the halt of sales of the 2011 Sonata after notifying dealers that front door-lock modules on some of the cars could stick under certain circumstances, the U.S. magazine AutoWeek said on its Web site, citing company spokesman Miles Johnson.
Hyundai's engineers were trying to determine whether the malfunction warranted notification to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the report said.
Hyundai launched sales of the 2011 Sonata sedan this month and about 1,300 such models have been sold, according to the report.
The report comes at a sensitive time as Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. was forced to recall about 8.5 million vehicles worldwide, with the company's president set to testify before U.S. Congress over the safety of its vehicles.
Officials at Hyundai's public relations team in Seoul said they were still working on "figuring out" details of the report.
Shares of Hyundai Motor dropped 2.99 percent to 113,500 won (US$98) as of 10:08 a.m. on the Seoul bourse.
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