DETROIT — The U.S. government’s highway safety agency has decided to open two new investigations into fires involving Hyundai and Kia vehicles after getting complaints of more than 3,100 fires and 103 injuries.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it granted a petition seeking the investigations from the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety, a consumer advocacy group.
The investigations would look into Hyundai and Kia separately and cover non-crash fires in almost 3 million vehicles from the affiliated Korean automakers, including the Hyundai Sonata and Santa Fe and the Kia Optima, Sorento and Soul. The complaints came from consumers and from data provided by both automakers.
The agency had previously said it would incorporate the noncrash fires into an investigation it had already started on Hyundai and Kia engine failures.
