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U.S. Senate panel wants Hyundai, Kia to testify about engine fires

WASHINGTON — The Senate Commerce Committee's Republican chairman and ranking Democrat said on Wednesday they had asked top U.S. executives at Hyundai and Kia to testify at a Nov. 14 hearing on reports of engine fires involving vehicles from the Korean automakers. The call to testify comes after safety advocates raised concerns about fires in vehicles not involved in collisions. The nonprofit consumer advocacy group Center for Auto Safety said last week that 103 fire complaints had been filed with U.S. safety regulators since June 12 and urged an immediate recall of nearly 3 million vehicles. Hyundai said in a statement it had received the request to appear "and is currently reviewing it." The company added it "actively monitors and evaluates potential safety concerns, including non-collision fires, with all of its vehicles and acts swiftly to recall any vehicles with safety-related defects." Kia did not comment. Shares of Hyundai Motor fell as much as 3.8 percent in Seoul trading on Thursday. Kia Motors stock also slid 3.7 percent, while the wider market was down 0.6 percent as of 0232 GMT. In May 2017, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Transportation, opened a formal investigation into the recall of nearly 1.7 million Hyundai and Kia vehicles over engine defects. A South Korean whistleblower in 2016 reported concerns to NHTSA, which has been probing the timeliness of three recalls carried out in the United States and whether they covered enough vehicles. Sen. Bill Nelson, the top Democrat on the Commerce Committee, said a non-collision fire death had been reported last year in a 2014 Kia Soul. "We've got to get to the bottom of what's causing these fires," Nelson said in a statement Wednesday. "Car owners need to know if their vehicles are safe." The letter to the automakers, also signed by Sen. John Thune, who chairs the committee, said the hearing will also "examine efforts to mitigate vehicle fires and promptly identify and respond to defects that may pose a fire risk" and invites the chief executives of Hyundai and Kia's U.S. units to testify or their designee. In 2015, Hyundai recalled 470,000 U.S. Sonata sedans, saying engine failure would result in a vehicle stall, increasing the risk of a crash. At that time, affiliate Kia did not recall its vehicles, which share the same "Theta II" engines. In March 2017, Hyundai expanded its original U.S.

Rivian R1T, Mini Cooper Electric owners happiest with their EVs

The J.D. Power 2023 U.S. Electric Vehicle Experience (EVX) Ownership Study is out, and there's change at the top. With the swelling adoption of electric vehicles in the U.S. over in the past two years especially, the third year of the EVX study changes focus to first-time EV buyers. Those two factors encouraged change at the top of both premium and mass-market segments. Among premium EVs, the Rivian R1T pickup scored overall victory in its first year of eligibility with a satisfaction score of 794 out of 1,000. The Tesla Model 3 takes second place with 759 points. Tesla had won the top two premium spots in the study in 2021 and in 2022. The average score in the premium segment was 756. The Tesla Model Y (754), Audi E-Tron (735), and Polestar 2 (724) filled out the list of the five eligible models this year. Among the ten eligible mass-market vehicles, the Mini Cooper Electric nabbed the overall win by scoring 782. The Kia EV6 came second with 762 points, keeping Kia in the top two; the Kia Niro EV won the mass-market segment the previous two years. The Ford Mustang Mach-E (742), Hyundai Ioniq 5 (738), and Volkswagen ID.4 (735) completed the top five, the Niro EV (733) in sixth. All were above the segment average of 730. The four models fell below the segment average were the Ford F-150 Lightning (723), Chevrolet Bolt EUV (716), Chevrolet Bolt (711), and Nissan Leaf (698). How are the scores derived? J.D. Power worked with EV app maker and research firm PlugShare to get owner responses in ten areas: accuracy of stated battery range; availability of public charging stations; battery range; cost of ownership; driving enjoyment; ease of charging at home; interior and exterior styling; safety and technology features; service experience; and vehicle quality and reliability. Brent Gruber, executive director of the EV practice at J.D. Power, said, "Recent vehicle launches from both new brands and traditional automakers have had a profound effect on what factors are most important in the ownership experience. Today’s EV owners are looking for quality, reliability, driving enjoyment, safety and technology features." The Mini, in fact, scored highest of any premium and mass-market EV in the studyÂ’s highest-weighted index factor, quality and reliability.

Hyundai Kona crossover factory grinds to a halt ahead of U.S. launch

SEOUL — Hyundai workers in South Korea have stopped building the Kona sport utility vehicle this week ahead of its U.S. launch at the L.A. Auto Show — a protest against what the automaker's labor union says are plans to trim assembly-line headcount. The union, which is also in annual talks with management over pay, warned that a wider strike was possible. Hyundai has been in discussions with its labor union since October on production plans for the Kona, a key model that it hopes will reverse a U.S. sales slump. The union contends that the automaker wants to introduce more automation and outsource more assembly of key sections to part makers — plans that it is vehemently opposed to. Hyundai management argues that the union is making "irrelevant demands" such as requests for extra windows in the factory as part of the production discussions. The automaker's decision to start production of the Kona on a new assembly line was made without consultation with the union and was unacceptable, union leader Ha Boo-young said in a statement, adding that a wider strike was possible "should there be another provocation by management." The move comes ahead of a planned unveiling of the U.S.-production version of the Kona at the Los Angeles Auto Show on Wednesday, with U.S. sales slated to begin early next year. The Kona is currently sold in South Korea, where it has proven to be a popular model, as well as Europe. The two days loss of production so far this week is equivalent to 1,230 vehicles, Hyundai said. Hyundai Motor President Yoon Kap-han said it was regrettable that the labor union was disrupting production for a high-demand model at a time when most of its plants were "suffering from the worst sales slowdown." Hyundai Motor's global sales fell 6 percent from January to September compared with the same period a year earlier, as a limited number of SUV models hurt sales in the U.S. market and a diplomatic row between Seoul and Beijing hurt sales in China. Reporting by Hyunjoo JinRelated Video: Featured Gallery 2018 Hyundai Kona: LA 2017 View 13 Photos Related Gallery 2018 Hyundai Kona View 20 Photos Image Credit: Live photos copyright 2017 Drew Phillips / Autoblog.com Plants/Manufacturing LA Auto Show Hyundai Crossover SUV 2017 LA Auto Show autoworkers