Thousands of Kia Sportages in New Zealand could be recalled over fears engines could catch fire.

Just recently, more than 57,000 Kia vehicles in Australia were recalled over a potential electric fault that could lead to the vehicles catching fire, even with the engine turned off. 

After being made aware of this recall, Kia New Zealand has announced that it's in the process of releasing a similar recall that will include approximately "15,000 Sportage and 120 Stinger" vehicles in New Zealand. 

“The safety of Kia owners is paramount and, whilst there haven’t been any historical incidents of this specific issue happening in New Zealand, we are proceeding with due caution and will issue a recall notice,” said Managing Director of Kia New Zealand, Todd McDonald.

“We will be proactively contacting all owners of affected vehicles and asking them to take their vehicle to their nearest authorised Kia dealership for inspection and repair, the cost of which will be covered by Kia New Zealand.”

The specific vehicles in question over in Australia are the Sportage models built between MY2016 and 2021, and Stinger models manufactured between MY2017-2019. 

Kia is yet to confirm whether the New Zealand recall will affect these same vehicles. 

- with text by Andrew Sluys, Driven

LISTEN ABOVE