All things considered, 2014 was the worst year in terms of vehicle recalls, especially in the U. S. of A. The previous yearly record was stood at 30.8 million cars back in 2004. However, 2014 saw the call back of a whopping 52 million vehicle, with a little over two months still to go until year's end.
The entire fiasco entered the limelight in February, when General Motors informed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration it's recalling roughly 800,000 Chevrolet Cobalt and Pontiac G5s over a defective component in the ignition switch assembly.
Fast forward eight months since that announcement and here we are today, with General Motors' year-to-date tally now numbering over 30 million cars recalled worldwide and a little over 26.5 million only in the United States. That's more than half the year-to-date industry-wide recall tally of all carmakers operating in the States, which is a pretty lukewarm situation for an American auto brand to find itself in.
Consultancy firm Stericycle tells in a report that taken together, 544 recalls were issued in the U.S. until the present moment starting January 1st. Besides GM, other notable operations include the faulty Takata airbags, Toyota's unintended acceleration recall and various other campaigns from every car manufacturer and type of vehicle imaginable, including the Ferrari 458 Italia.
Of course, cars these days are a lot more complex than those of yesteryear, and that's a contributing factor for the plethora of recalls in 2014. But the untold story of this unfortunate turn of events for the automotive industry has a whiff of cost-cutting and shady company executives to it as well.
Fast forward eight months since that announcement and here we are today, with General Motors' year-to-date tally now numbering over 30 million cars recalled worldwide and a little over 26.5 million only in the United States. That's more than half the year-to-date industry-wide recall tally of all carmakers operating in the States, which is a pretty lukewarm situation for an American auto brand to find itself in.
Consultancy firm Stericycle tells in a report that taken together, 544 recalls were issued in the U.S. until the present moment starting January 1st. Besides GM, other notable operations include the faulty Takata airbags, Toyota's unintended acceleration recall and various other campaigns from every car manufacturer and type of vehicle imaginable, including the Ferrari 458 Italia.
Of course, cars these days are a lot more complex than those of yesteryear, and that's a contributing factor for the plethora of recalls in 2014. But the untold story of this unfortunate turn of events for the automotive industry has a whiff of cost-cutting and shady company executives to it as well.