The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it's investigating problems that affect an estimated 425,000 cars made by the Korean automakers. U.S. Government Launches Investigation Into Hyundai And Kia Airbags

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation Friday into problems with air bags in Hyundai and Kia vehicles. The administration's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) "is currently aware of six crashes with significant collision related damage events involving Hyundai and Kia models where air bags failed to deploy in frontal crashes," which killed four people and injured six, it said in document on its website. According to a statement from Hyundai spokesperson Jim Trainor, the company knows of "three rare and unique accidents where airbag control circuitry was confirmed to be damaged, and a fourth accident is under investigation." Kia spokesman James Bell said he could not comment beyond the company’s statement. The NHTSA's investigation seeks to evaluate the scope of Hyundai's recall, confirm Kia's use of similar airbag control units, review the root cause analysis of all involved parties and review factors relating to the airbag control units or the vehicles that may be causing the failures. The agency said it was reviewing 425,000 2012-2013 Kia Forte and 2011 Hyundai Sonata cars.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of the United States launches an investigation into potential defects in the airbag control systems of some Kia and Hyundai models.