Tag: cars

36 BMWs Have Burst Into Flames this Year on South Korean Roads, is Ban Coming?

If you own a BMW you better get it checked out soon:

Two more diesel vehicles, a 730Ld model, left, and a 320d, right, caught fire on Korean highways on Thursday. The former is not included on a recall list announced by BMW Korea last month. [YONHAP]
Two more BMW diesel cars caught fire Thursday morning, less than an hour apart, as Korea’s Transport Ministry mulls banning the fire-prone BMW vehicles from Korean roads.

This makes 36 cases of BMWs bursting into flames in Korea this year, eight in the last nine days.

As some of the vehicles that caught fire in recent weeks are not even included in BMW’s official recall list, industry analysts are raising new doubts about the company’s description of the cause of the fires.

On Thursday, a 730Ld model caught fire on the Namhae Expressway in South Gyeongsang.

The fire was extinguished within 15 minutes, according to the local fire station.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link, but BMW is saying the fires are being caused by an exhaust gas recirculation issue.

President Park Vows Support to Develop Driverless Cars in South Korea

South Korea due to its small size seems like an ideal location for the use of eco-friendly and driverless cars. It will be interesting to see how this technology develops over the next few years:

President Park Geun-hye pledged Friday to support the development of self-driving cars to ensure local carmakers won’t lag behind their global competitors.

Park said South Korea can compete with Google and other foreign rivals in developing driverless cars and eco-friendly vehicles, including electric cars, citing the technological prowess of local carmakers and information and technology companies.

South Korea is the world’s fifth-largest automobile producer and is home to Hyundai Motor Co. and its smaller affiliate, Kia Motors Corp., the two flagship units of Hyundai Motor Group.

“I think our carmakers won’t lag behind global competition and (will instead) stay ahead of it,” Park said at Hyundai’s assembly plant in Asan, about 100 kilometers south of Seoul. [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.