Photo: GM; image edited by autoevolution
With this latest set of 6 call back operations, General Motors has broken the 25 million vehicles mark and is steadily heading even higher than that. If you're still keeping count, the carmaker has announced no less than 54 different safety campaigns throughout 2014.
General Motors said in a statement that the latest batch of recalled cars are connected to three fatalities, eight injuries and seven crashes. And guess what - the fatal accidents occurred in older model full-size sedans called back over inadvertent ignition key rotation.
This peculiar problem has been known by the current vice-president of General Motors since 2005, but Mr. Doug Parks was too busy with other stuff and couldn't be bothered to actually start digging deeper into the problem. Considering Parks was then the chief engineer of the Chevy Cobalt, we'll let you draw your own conclusions about him.
As for the 8.4 million vehicles recalled on this occasion, 7.6 million of them are affected by the infamous unintended ignition key rotation responsible for tens of deaths and God knows how many injured in accidents. The culprits are the 1997 - 2005 Chevrolet Malibu, 1998 - 2002 Oldsmobile Intrigue, 1999 - 2004 Oldsmobile Alero, 1999 - 2005 Pontiac Grand Am, 2000 - 2005 Chevrolet Impala, 2000 - 2005 Chevrolet Monte Carlo and the 2004 - 2008 Pontiac Grand Prix.
As if that wasn't enough bad news, two more nameplates are being called back over a different issue related to ignition key rotation. 616,179 cars are affected by more or less the same problem over which the whole production run of the fifth-gen Chevy Camaro was recalled only recently. The 2004 - 2006 Cadillac SRX and 2013 - 2014 Cadillac CTS are prone to accidental bumping of the driver's knee in the key fob.
Just over 188,700 vehicles located in North America are prone to "a possible electrical short in the driver's door module" that may disable the power door lock and power window switches. In "rare cases," the module may overheat and even melt, the manufacturer tells. Nameplates affected include the 2005 - 2007 Buick Ranier, 2005 - 2007 Chevrolet Trailblazer and Chevrolet Envoy, 2005 - 2007 Isuzu Ascender, 2005 - 2007 Saab 9-7X, as well as the 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer EXT and GMC Envoy XL.
In addition to the previously mentioned, a little over 20k GM vehicles are expected to hit dealership service departments over a fault described as "insulation of the engine block heater power chord may become damaged during very cold conditions." Models affected include the 2011 - 2014 Chevrolet Cruze, 2012 - 2014 Chevrolet Sonic, 2013 - 2014 Chevrolet Trax, 2013 - 2014 Buick Encore and the 2013 - 2014 Buick Verano.
Some 12,000 heavy-duty trucks, namely the 2007 - 2011 Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra with auxiliary battery, are recalled for quite a big electrical fault. The automaker says that "an overload in the feed may cause the under hood fusible link to melt due to electrical overload, resulting in potential smoke or flames that could damage the electrical center cover and/or nearby wiring harness conduit."
Last but not least, 117 cars are affected by a "Superhold" joint fastener that hasn't been torqued to specification by assembly plant workers. These few vehicles come in the form of the 2014 Chevrolet Camaro, 2014 Chevrolet Impala, 2014 Chevrolet Regal and 2014 Cadillac XTS. "We undertook what I believe is the most comprehensive safety review in the history of our company because nothing is more important than the safety of our customers," declared CEO Mary Barra. "Our customers deserve more than we delivered in these vehicles."
General Motors' CEO continued by saying "We have worked aggressively to identify and address the major outstanding issues that could impact the safety of our customers. If any other issues come to our attention, we will act appropriately and without hesitation." The company expects to pay approximately $1.2 billion in the 2nd quarter for the cost of recall-related repairs announced this quarter.
This peculiar problem has been known by the current vice-president of General Motors since 2005, but Mr. Doug Parks was too busy with other stuff and couldn't be bothered to actually start digging deeper into the problem. Considering Parks was then the chief engineer of the Chevy Cobalt, we'll let you draw your own conclusions about him.
As for the 8.4 million vehicles recalled on this occasion, 7.6 million of them are affected by the infamous unintended ignition key rotation responsible for tens of deaths and God knows how many injured in accidents. The culprits are the 1997 - 2005 Chevrolet Malibu, 1998 - 2002 Oldsmobile Intrigue, 1999 - 2004 Oldsmobile Alero, 1999 - 2005 Pontiac Grand Am, 2000 - 2005 Chevrolet Impala, 2000 - 2005 Chevrolet Monte Carlo and the 2004 - 2008 Pontiac Grand Prix.
As if that wasn't enough bad news, two more nameplates are being called back over a different issue related to ignition key rotation. 616,179 cars are affected by more or less the same problem over which the whole production run of the fifth-gen Chevy Camaro was recalled only recently. The 2004 - 2006 Cadillac SRX and 2013 - 2014 Cadillac CTS are prone to accidental bumping of the driver's knee in the key fob.
Just over 188,700 vehicles located in North America are prone to "a possible electrical short in the driver's door module" that may disable the power door lock and power window switches. In "rare cases," the module may overheat and even melt, the manufacturer tells. Nameplates affected include the 2005 - 2007 Buick Ranier, 2005 - 2007 Chevrolet Trailblazer and Chevrolet Envoy, 2005 - 2007 Isuzu Ascender, 2005 - 2007 Saab 9-7X, as well as the 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer EXT and GMC Envoy XL.
In addition to the previously mentioned, a little over 20k GM vehicles are expected to hit dealership service departments over a fault described as "insulation of the engine block heater power chord may become damaged during very cold conditions." Models affected include the 2011 - 2014 Chevrolet Cruze, 2012 - 2014 Chevrolet Sonic, 2013 - 2014 Chevrolet Trax, 2013 - 2014 Buick Encore and the 2013 - 2014 Buick Verano.
Some 12,000 heavy-duty trucks, namely the 2007 - 2011 Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra with auxiliary battery, are recalled for quite a big electrical fault. The automaker says that "an overload in the feed may cause the under hood fusible link to melt due to electrical overload, resulting in potential smoke or flames that could damage the electrical center cover and/or nearby wiring harness conduit."
Last but not least, 117 cars are affected by a "Superhold" joint fastener that hasn't been torqued to specification by assembly plant workers. These few vehicles come in the form of the 2014 Chevrolet Camaro, 2014 Chevrolet Impala, 2014 Chevrolet Regal and 2014 Cadillac XTS. "We undertook what I believe is the most comprehensive safety review in the history of our company because nothing is more important than the safety of our customers," declared CEO Mary Barra. "Our customers deserve more than we delivered in these vehicles."
General Motors' CEO continued by saying "We have worked aggressively to identify and address the major outstanding issues that could impact the safety of our customers. If any other issues come to our attention, we will act appropriately and without hesitation." The company expects to pay approximately $1.2 billion in the 2nd quarter for the cost of recall-related repairs announced this quarter.
Google News