Hyundai Motor’s all-new Grandeur sedan suffers from quality problems

Hyundai Motor Co.’s all-new Grandeur sedan [Photo provided by Hyundai Motor]

South Korean auto giant Hyundai Motor Co.’s all-new Grandeur sedan is suffering from continued quality problems after it regained top position in the domestic market with about 10,000 units sold every month since its launch in November last year.

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on Wednesday, Hyundai Motor has taken a total of 13 follow-up measures, including two recalls and 11 free repairs, since it was first reported in January that the gear of its seventh-generation flagship sedan changed from D mode to P mode by itself, turning off the engine.

Recently, there was also a malfunction problem with the Forward Collision-avoidance Assist (FCA) controller, causing the vehicle to mistakenly recognize that there was an obstacle in front and stop automatically, even though there was no obstacle.

Hyundai Motor explained that it was caused by a faulty design of FCA function-sensitive operation and has been upgrading the front radar and driver assistance controller of the vehicle through its designated repair and service centers.

On Tuesday, the company discovered a software misconfiguration problem with the integrated electric brake (IEB) system and initiated voluntary recalls for the all-new Grandeur Hybrid model. This is because a defect can cause a safety accident when a driver uses the Smart Cruise Control mode on an uphill road, a function which maintains a constant distance from the vehicle in front while driving autonomously. If the vehicle in front stops, it should automatically stop in response, but it may not keep its place and may be pushed back. This defect can be solved in five minutes using the wireless over-the-air (OTA) software update function, the company said.

The all-new Grandeur has more frequent quality problems than other new models. The new fourth-generation Sorento (MQ4) of Kia Corp., the smaller automaker under the conglomerate, which ranked first in domestic sales last year, has been recalled six times and free repaired 20 times since it started selling in March 2020.

Unlike in the past, when hardware defects were mostly behind the problems, nine of the 13 free repairs and recalls conducted by Hyundai Motor so far were identified as software problems. This is because the proportion of software applied to vehicles has increased. The seventh-generation Grandeur is playing a leading role in the transition to a software-defined vehicle (SDV) system, which is being promoted by the Hyundai Motor Group with a goal of completion in 2025.

The key is OTA. The all-new Grandeur has the highest level of OTA function among Hyundai Motor Group‘s previous models. The number of items subject to OTA for the all-new Grandeur has more than doubled compared with the previous generation models. Industry insiders saw the quality problem of the all-new Grandeur as a phenomenon that appears during the transition to SDV.

“If the all-new Grandeur goes through trial and error first, its software defect problem will be reduced in the models to be released later,” said Lee Hang-gu, head of the Automotive Convergence Technology Institute. The all-new Grandeur sold a cumulative 49,509 units in the domestic market for six months from its launch in November until April this year.