Reuters reported on Dec. 28 that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has stepped up its investigation into engine fires that have plagued some Hyundai and Kia cars for more than six years.
NHTSA said it began an "engineering analysis" of about 3 million vehicles to assess the effectiveness of the recall measures at both automakers and other issues. NHTSA added that it had been informed of 161 fires that could be caused by engine failures. Hyundai and Kia said Monday they would continue to work fully with NHTSA on investigating non-collision fires in engines.
In November 2020, Hyundai and Kia Motors' U.S. subsidiaries paid NHTSA a record $210 million in civil fines. Previously, U.S. auto safety regulators said Hyundai and Kia failed to recall 1.6 million vehicles in time due to engine problems.
![NHTSA launched an investigation into Honda, 1.7 million vehicles with injury defects?[fig]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAP///wAAACwAAAAAAQABAAACAkQBADs=)