DC_20180828

Kia Motors America, Inc.
Corporate Headquarters
111 Peters Canyon Road, Irvine, CA 92606-1790 USA
RECENT KIA MEDIA REPORTS
August 28, 2018
Dear Kia Retailer,
You and your customers may have seen recent media reports regarding thermal incidents in Kia
vehicles or NHTSA’s announcement of the opening of a Defect Petition for fire cases involving the 201114 Sorentos and Optimas, and I want to update you on KMA’s response to this issue. All automobiles
contain combustible materials and a vehicle fire may be a result of any number of complex factors
which must be carefully evaluated by trained technicians to, if possible, determine its cause and,
ultimately, determine if a defect trend exists. At Kia, customer safety is paramount and although both
KMA and NHTSA have independently concluded that no defect trends exist, KMA has significantly
increased its committed resources to ensure that all thermal incidents are fully evaluated.
To quickly and effectively address these incidents, KMA is using third party fire-investigation companies
to increase our ability to investigate all fire events on a high-priority basis. Additionally, KMA has
engaged an independent fire expert to evaluate the results of such fire event investigations and provide
guidance to the organization on an ongoing basis. KMA is also consulting with a recent former head of
NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation to evaluate the organization’s response to these incidents.
In June of 2017, Kia initiated recall mailings to customers for 614,689 vehicles (NHTSA 17V-224, Kia
SC147) to address a manufacturing defect which could lead to engine failure. In some instances, an
engine failure can lead to the breaking of a connecting rod. When a connecting rod breaks, it is
possible for it to puncture the engine block, allowing oil to escape and, in some cases, for the oil to
contact hot engine surfaces and potentially catch fire. At a more immediate customer level, KMA is
initiating re-notification efforts to contact customers whose vehicles have not had the recall conducted
and to encourage them to have the recall conducted as soon as possible. Please also remind customers
that they can go to the Owners section of www.kia.com to check for open safety recalls by clicking on
“Recalls” or they can also verify this information at NHTSA’s website: www.safercar.gov.
Should a customer make any allegation or bring forth a claim alleging a Kia product is responsible for a
situation that has resulted or could result in an accident, injury or fire, you and your staff should
immediately report the situation to your District Parts & Service Manager and advise the customer to
report it to the Kia Consumer Assistance Center at 800.333.4Kia (4542); do not perform any repairs
before receiving authorization from KMA so that we have an opportunity to investigate.
As always, please direct any media inquiries to your field contacts or directly to Kia’s Corporate
Communications Department (James Bell ([email protected]) or James Hope ([email protected]).
Again, let me assure you that Kia is committed to the safety of all its customers and their passengers
and we are taking appropriate action. Thank you for your support of the Kia brand.
Sincerely,
Greg Silvestri
Vice President, Service & Aftersale Operations