South Korea's Hyundai and Kia warned U.S. owners to stay away from building parking: engines could still catch fire after they were turned off

According to US media reports such as CNN, South Korean automakers Hyundai and Kia urgently informed nearly 485,000 U.S. car owners that they should stop outdoors and stay away from buildings when parking, because of a defect in many models of the above two brands, which may cause the engine to catch fire even if it has been turned off.

The port of Ulsan in South Korea awaits shipment of Hyundai cars for export. Image source: Visual China

The affected models are Hyundai Motor's 2016-2018 Santa Fe SUV, 2017-2018 Santa Fe Sport SUV, 2019 Santa Fe XL and 2014-2015 Tucson SUV, as well as Kia Motor's 2016-2018 K900 sedan and 2014-2016 "Sportage" SUV. Two automakers are preparing to recall the models involved, with Hyundai recalling a total of 357,830 and Kia recalling 126747.

NBC said the recall was due to a series of vehicle fires and engine failures on multiple models of the two South Korean automakers over the past six years. "Exotic contaminants" in the anti-lock braking control modules of these models of cars can cause electrical short circuits, increasing the risk of fire while the vehicle is driving or parking.

Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors said they received 11 reports of vehicle fires in the United States, but no one was injured. The U.S. safety regulator issued a document on Feb. 8 saying owners of affected models should park their vehicles outside the building and stay away from the building until repairs are completed. According to reports, dealers of these models will replace the fuse of the brake control module for the relevant vehicles free of charge, and the new fuse will reduce the amount of electricity entering the module. In addition, Hyundai's dealership will check the brake control modules and replace the vehicle with new ones if needed.

Hyundai will mail recall notification letters to owners starting April 5, and Kia will send them on March 31. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said owners can visit the department's website and enter their vehicle identification number to see if their car is among the recalls.

HYUNDAI Motor Group, Hyundai Motor's parent company, owns a controlling stake in Kia, and the two companies share a lot of engineering skills across a variety of models, CNN said.