Hyundai, Renault Samsung, Mercedes-Benz to recall 29,338 cars for defects

Hyundai Motor, Renault Samsung and Mercedes-Benz will recall 29,338 cars for safety-related mechanical defects, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Monday.

Hyundai, South Korea's No. 1 carmaker, said tires on some of its Genesis premium sedans have been found to have developed minute cracks along the edges that can lead to a loss of air pressure. A drop in pressure can hurt a vehicle's fuel economy and even result in ruptures that can be dangerous.

Cars affected were made between Dec. 1, 2013 through Feb. 28, of this year with the Ventus S1 Noble 2 rubber tires made by Hankook Tire Co. showing signs of cracking.

The carmaker said it will change all four tires free of charge from Monday onwards.

Renault Samsung, the local unit of French automaker Renault S.A., said 10,237 QM5 diesel-powered crossovers have fuel hose defects near the engine that can lead to leaks and fires. Cars with this problem were made from Aug. 9, 2013 through July 6, 2015.

In addition, the company said air bags for the front seat passenger on its SM3 compact car have been found to have defective inflators. The products made by Japan's Takata Corp. could lead to injury, requiring them to be fixed. The 4,418 cars with the problem were made from Feb. 7, 2002 through Feb. 7 of the following year.

The carmaker said it will start servicing the problems starting Wednesday.

Besides local carmakers, the ministry said Mercedes-Benz Korea will voluntarily recall 18 models totaling 1,835 vehicles it sold country.

The cars that include the E250 BlueTEC 4Matic were made from January 2014 through middle of last month, and had problems with engine hoods, power steering systems, headlights and high pressure fuel lines.

Owners can receive repairs at all Mercedes-Benz dealers starting on Monday. (Yonhap)