From time to time, carmakers face technical problems with their models. Among other things, convening events are used to resolve them. However, even their announcement sometimes does not protect the brand from possible fines from the authorities. And that’s exactly what happened to Hyundai.
The whole story with a fairytale reward at the end began in 2016, when one of the brand’s engineers at the time, Kim Gwang-ho, pointed out US Department of Transportation Safety (NHTSA) that Hyundai installs engines in cars that are prone to seizure and excessive wear, and although it knows about it, it doesn’t solve it. These were two-liter and 2.4-liter engines for the American versions of the Sonata and Santa Fe models. Although the carmaker eventually called a convening event for this, it received a fine of $ 81 million from the office.
After paying this amount, the office paid out about 30%, or about $ 24 million, to the engineer who pointed out the carmaker’s problems. The NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) said: “This award is the maximum percentage allowed by law. Whistleblowers play a very important role in these cases when they report to us about serious security issues that we would not otherwise be aware of. “
Kim’s award is the largest the informant has ever received. The law that allows such rewards has been in force since 2015. We will add that Kim no longer works for Hyundai.
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