Updated on: 11/12/2019
Hyundai is issuing product recalls for two of their most popular vehicles due to safety concerns in a number of their newer-model vehicles, according to news reports from Reuters news agency.
The company is recalling more than 221,000 vehicles in the United States – specifically 199,118 Santa Fe SUVs made from 2007 to 2009 and 22,513 Sonata sedans from the 2012-2013 model years – in addition to more than 31,000 vehicles in Canada.
For the Santa Fe SUV model, reports of the vehicle having difficulty detecting small people in the front passenger seat and therefore failing to deploy the airbag prompted the recall. For the Sonata sedans, concerns over unexpected inflation of the side curtain airbags were the reason for the mass recall.
According to a Hyundai spokesman, there has been one reported instance of an airbag being deployed unexpectedly without a crash. The company will replace the side airbags on the Sonata and update the software of the Santa Fe free of charge to car owners, and the recall is set to begin next month.