David Dewhurst/Hyundai
Hyundai’s Remote Smart Parking Assistant — perhaps better known as “smaht pahk” — can help the 2020 Sonata squeeze in and out of tight spots. But if there’s a glitch in the software, the car might just keep on moving.
That’s the cause of a new recall announced by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Friday, concerning 11,870 Hyundai vehicles in the US. The brand-new 2020 Sonata sedan is the most significant vehicle affected, though the recall includes the company’s low-volume Nexo hydrogen fuel-cell crossover, too.
“The Remote Smart Parking Assist (RSPA) software may fail to prevent vehicle movement upon detection of an RSPA system malfunction,” NHTSA said in its official statement (PDF). “Unintended vehicle movement increases the risk of a crash.”
The fix for this recall is pretty easy: Hyundai dealers will simply reprogram the RSPA software, free of charge. The recall work is expected to begin on June 4, and Hyundai said it is not aware of any crashes or injuries related to this problem.
Only the top-end Sonata Limited is available with the remote parking tech, and since the all-new 2020 model only recently went on sale, that’s why the recall only affects a relatively small number of cars. RSPA is not available on the gasoline-electric Sonata Hybrid.
Want to check if your vehicle is affected? Head over to Roadshow’s handy-dandy guide to see if your car is subject to this — or any other — safety campaign.
