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(4th LD) Hyundai to recall Sonatas in U.S., S. Korea over door-lock defect
SEOUL, Feb. 24 (Yonhap) -- Hyundai Motor Co. said Wednesday it will "voluntarily" recall 47,300 units of the new version of its popular Sonata sedan in the United States and South Korea next month due to a problem with their door locks.
The glitch of front-door latches on the 2011 Sonata, Hyundai's flagship sedan that went on sale early this month in the U.S. and September last year in South Korea, could trap front-seat passengers when they try to open their doors from the inside while depressing the lock button at the same time.
Hyundai will recall 1,300 vehicles of the 2011 Sonata in the U.S. and another 46,000 sold in South Korea after notifying the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Korea's transportation ministry this week about the problem, company officials said.
"We decided to voluntarily recall the vehicles under our management rules that put top priority on the safety of customers," said an official at Hyundai.
The decision came less than a day after a U.S. industry magazine AutoWeek reported 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 the circumstances.
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.
Hyundai has been banking on sales of the revamped Sonata to lure customers in the U.S., where Toyota's quality reputation was tarnished over its multi-million vehicle recall.
Shares of Hyundai Motor, which sank more than 4 percent earlier in the day, dropped 2.58 percent to close at 114,000 won (US$98.9) on the Seoul bourse.
Last year, Hyundai and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. were two of few major carmakers to increase sales in the U.S. market, where auto sales were battered by the industry's worst downturn in decades.
Hyundai's U.S. auto sales gained 8.3 percent to 435,064 units in 2009, helping it raise the U.S. market share to 4.2 percent last year, from 3 percent in 2008.
In 2010, Hyundai aims to increase its U.S. market share to 4.5 percent.
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