Kia acts on faulty brake switch

KIA Motors Australia is recalling about 8000 cars to fix a brake light switch that might malfunction, meaning brake lamps could fail to operate or the cruise control might not deactivate when the brake pedal is depressed.

The service campaign on some Cerato, Magentis and Sportage models is an extension of an existing campaign announced earlier this year on Korean-built Kia and Hyundai cars.

Kia Australia general manager of public relations Kevin Hepworth said customers of affected cars would receive notification from the company, asking them to book their car into their Kia dealer to have the brake switch replaced in a job taking about 40 minutes.

Cars affected by the campaign are older Ceratos built between July 2007 and August 2010, the Sportage SL between March 2010 and April 2011, and the Magentis from May 2007 to December 2009.

In 2009, Kia Australia ordered a safety recall for a similar problem on 431 Carnival people-movers produced in 2006. At the same time, Hyundai recalled 212 Sonatas made in 2006 for the same issue.

In South Korea, the fault has forced the recall of more than 660,000 Hyundai and Kia cars covering 15 models, while 1.8 million cars were recalled in the United States in April.