[THE INVESTOR] South Korean government has launched an investigation into a possible defect in Ford Explorers, following the US probe into complaints that exhaust fumes are leaking into the cabin of the SUVs.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on July 7 said it opened the inquiry to see if the Ford units sold here have a similar problem, after the US’ National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began the investigation. 

According to US media outlets, there have been 154 complaints from owners of Ford Explorers from model year 2011 through 2015 that they detected exhaust fumes when the car was in full throttle. One of the driver said he passed out due to the fumes but he was not seriously injured. The American automaker sold more than 950,000 units during the period, according to Autodata.

“There is no global standard on the leakage of exhaust fumes inside the car, but because it is a matter of safety, we decided to investigate,” an official with the ministry told a local media outlet.

“While monitoring NHTSA’s investigation process, we will check whether the exhaust fumes entered inside the car and how it affects driving safety.”

By Ahn Sung-mi (sahn@heraldcorp.com)