Kia issues recall for more than one lakh cars in this country. Here's why

Kia Corp's Russian subsidiary has launched a voluntary recall of more than one lakh units on Monday due to a possible airbag malfunction, a government regulator announced. The recall involves Kia Rio models that were assembled between 2013 and 2018 at the Hyundai Motor Group factory in the Russian city of St Petersburg, the country's federal agency for technical regulation and metrology said.

The automaker's Russian arm will contact the owners of 105,405 affected vehicles to get the issue fixed.

Last year, Kia revealed the new 2021 Rio facelift for the international markets. The fourth-generation Rio hatchback got a number of enhancements to reinvigorate the car's position in the competitive B-segment space. The biggest change on the facelift model is the the carmaker's first petrol 48V mild-hybrid system with ‘clutch-by-wire’ manual transmission.

The vehicle gets features such as up-scaled cabin with new visual, material and technological upgrades. The key tweaks include a new bigger 8.0-inch widescreen, and a 4.2-inch digital instrument cluster display. Its safety suite includes Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist (FCA) with pedestrian, vehicle and new cyclist recognition, Lane Keeping Assist (LKA), Driver Attention Warning (DAW), and Blind-Spot Collision Warning (BCW).

In a separate development, there have been reports of increase in car theft in the US for some models from Hyundai and Kia, where the accused makes use of just a USB cable to drive off. As per reports, Kia models from 2011 onwards and Hyundai models from 2015 onwards are being specifically targeted by those with nefarious intentions with just a USB cable. These particular models are the ones that do not have engine immobilizers, a technology that makes it necessary for a coded key or fob to be used.

This however does not include newer car models which come with engine immobilizers.