Korean car manufacturers Hyundai Motor Company and its Kia Motors affiliate are recalling more than 1.8 million cars and sports utility vehicles in the US to repair a potentially faulty switch that could increase the risk of a crash.
Hyundai is recalling 1,059,824 cars and SUVs while Kia will pull out 623,658 vehicles from the 2007 to 2011 model years to replace a switch that could malfunction and stop the brake lights from illuminating when drivers press on the pedal, according to documents filed with the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
A stop lamp switch malfunction may cause an inability to deactivate the cruise control by pressing the brake pedal, the NHTSA said.
It may also result in intermittent operation of the push-button start feature, prevent the shifter from being moved out of the park position, allow the driver to move the shifter out of park without applying the brake, or cause the Electronic Stability Control (ESC) malfunction light to illuminate, according to NHTSA documents, reports Reuters.
In addition, Hyundai is also recalling about 194,000 Elantra compacts from 2011 to 2013 to fix an air bag problem.
There have been no reported crashes or injuries due to the problem.
A spokesman for the automakers said the company was not aware if the recall was being done in other countries and pointed out that malfunctions don’t occur all the time and doesn’t affect the performance of brakes.
