Ssangyong to recall cars for defective wheel

Ssangyong Motor Co., the local unit of Indian carmaker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., will recall more than 110,000 cars sold here for defective wheels that may come off while driving, possibly leading to an accident, the transportation ministry said Friday.

The problem comes from a defective ball joint that may cause the wheels to come off, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

The recall affects 112,920 units of four vehicle models ― the Rexton, the Kyron, the Actyon and Actyon Sports ― that were produced between June 1, 2005, and Nov. 17, 2010.

Free repairs will be available starting Friday at any Ssangyong Motor service center, the ministry said.

Meanwhile, Ssangyong said it will hold off any plans of compensation for the overstated fuel efficiency claims on its Korando Sports CX7 SUV until after the verdict for an ongoing lawsuit comes out.

Earlier in June, the carmaker was fined by the government for exaggerating the gas mileage of its Korando Sports 2-liter diesel by as much as 10.7 percent, according to exhaustive tests carried out by automotive institutes. Some 720 owners of the vehicle later filed a class action suit.

“Since the trials for the class action lawsuit by customers, as well as related legal procedures, have already begun, the company will take steps on compensations, according to the final outcome of the suit,” a Ssangyong official said.

Some 37,000 units of the Korando Sports have been locally sold, while 22,000 were sold overseas. Ssangyong later discontinued the model in December last year.

The mileage issue first emerged last year when drivers here questioned the fuel economy figures for some of the cars sold here after South Korea’s largest automaker, Hyundai Motor Co., was sued for overstating the fuel efficiency of several of its cars in the U.S. in 2012.

Hyundai Motor and four import car brands were also fined for inflating gas mileage figures, but the decision came after months of inter-ministerial disputes over conflicting test results.

The transportation ministry had concluded that the gas mileage figures of the local automakers were exaggerated, but the industry ministry had previously deemed the numbers as unproblematic after conducting its own set of tests.

Despite the confusion caused by the discrepancy in regulation standards, some of the carmakers, such as Hyundai Motor and GM Korea Co., the local unit of U.S. automaker General Motors Co., have already rolled out plans to compensate owners of their brands under question. (Yonhap)