CEO of South Korea's Kia Motors Resigns Over Recalls

The top executive at Kia Motors has resigned following the recall of some 100,000 cars worldwide for a wiring defect.

Chung Sung-eun, vice chairman and chief executive of South Korea's second largest automaker, quit Friday, according to company spokesman Michael Choo.

"His resignation comes in the light of the recent global recall issued by Kia Motors," Choo said, without elaborating.

Kia is the sister company to Hyundai Motor. Together they form Hyundai Kia Automotive Group, the world's fifth largest auto company.

Chung's decision to resign contrasts with the management decisions made at Japan's No. 1 automaker, Toyota Motor (TM), which saw its reputation for quality and safety wither in recent months after recalls of about 10 million cars worldwide to fix an array of problems, mostly related to unintended acceleration.

Sponsored Links

Despite the massive recalls, no heads have rolled at Toyota, although top management's pay was cut 10% and some executives, including President Akio Toyoda, forfeited bonuses.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported that Hyundai Chairman Chung Mong-koo asked Chung to step down in order to take responsibility for the recalls, the Associated Press reported. Neither Choo nor Hyundai Motor spokeswoman Song Meeyoung could confirm the report.

Last week, Kia recalled about 100,000 cars for defective wiring that controls mood lighting, including 35,000 Kia Sorento and Soul models sold in the U.S. Defective soldering may short out and possibly result in a fire, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website.

Also last month, federal safety investigators said they were beginning an investigation into a report of steering problems in a 2010 Soul model. The complaint claims steering components broke apart resulting in a complete loss of steering.