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US probes air bag failures in Hyundai, Kia mishaps; shares slide

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said March 17 it is launching a probe into the failed deployment of some air bags in Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp. vehicles after crashes that reportedly killed four people and injured six, Reuters reported.

NHTSA, which investigates safety defects in motor vehicles, is reviewing 425,000 2012-2013 Kia Forte and 2011 Hyundai Sonata cars. The agency said it knows of six crashes in which six people were injured when air bags failed to deploy in frontal crashes, including four in 2011 Hyundai Sonatas and two in 2012 and 2013 Kia Fortes, Reuters said.

The agency will also determine if other manufacturers used similar air bag control units and if they pose a safety risk. It said the air bag control module was built by ZF Friedrichshafen-TRW, a German auto supplier that acquired TRW Automotive Holdings Corp. in 2015, the news wire reported.

Hyundai is working with NHTSA in the investigation, and the company has not seen any issues with any vehicle aside from the 2011 Sonata, Hyundai spokesman Jim Trainor told Reuters. Kia said it has "carefully monitored" the quality and safety performance of the 2012-2013 Kia Forte.

Hyundai issued a recall of 154,753 U.S. Sonatas in February after non-deployment reports linked the cause to electrical overstress in the air bag control unit, but the company said it did not have a final fix yet. A spokeswoman for Hyundai declined to comment on whether the recall will be expanded while Kia said it has not confirmed problems with the air bags, said a separate Reuters report.

Hyundai shares were down 4.13% while Kia shares fell 3.53% as of 11:53 p.m. ET on March 18.