The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened an investigation into the 2011 Hyundai Sonata sedan after receiving complaints of loss of steering because the steering shaft decoupled from the hand wheel. The vehicles experiencing these problems were all built in the same month at Hyundai’s plant in Alabama and each had fewer than 600 miles on them.
While vehicles built at the Alabama plant are sold in the U.S. and Canada, others market receive their cars from a factory in South Korea at its sister company Kia. Last month, a similar preliminary investigation was opened by NHTSA for the Kia Soul after a driver complained of a total loss of steering and limited braking in a car that was two months old and had about 4,300 miles on it.
There have not been any reported crashes or injuries due to this problem, but about 16,000 vehicles could be affected.
