GM recalls 1.5 million vehicles

General Motors has announced three separate safety recalls of seven different vehicles in North America, totalling more than 1.5 million cars and trucks in the US and 1.76 million globally – but none in Australia.

The latest recalls, which involve more than double the number of vehicles GM called back in the US during the whole of last year (23 recalls including 757,677 vehicles), is in addition to a recall to fix an unrelated ignition switch defect last month.

GM CEO Mary Barra said the latest recalls were fast-tracked following intense public pressure over its slow response to fix the ignition problem in its small cars, indicating a fresh approach to recalls by GM.

“I asked our team to redouble our efforts on our pending product reviews, bring them forward and resolve them quickly,” she said in a statement. “That is what today’s GM is all about.

"Today's announcement underscores the focus we're putting on the safety and peace of mind of our customers. We are conducting an intense review of our internal processes and will have more developments to announce as we move forward."

GM said this year’s recalls will reduce its first-quarter earnings by about $US300 million in repair costs, and that the supplier making replacement ignition parts for switch recall is adding a second production line to double the parts' availability.

The latest recalls involve 1,515,314 vehicles, including 1.18 million examples of the 2008-2013 Buick Enclave, 2008-2013 GMC Acadia, 2009-2013 Chevrolet Traverse and 2008-2010 Saturn Outlook, the seat-mounted side airbags in which could fail due to potential wiring harness pinching.

Also recalled are 303,000 units of the 2009-2014 Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana full-size vans, which will be fitted with revised dashboard materials to satisfy US crash standards designed to protect unbelted occupants.

Cadillac’s new full-size XTS luxury sedan (MY2013-2014) has also run into trouble, with 63,900 recalled to fix a problem with brake booster corrosion that can lead to overheating.

Two vehicle fires linked to the latter defect have been reported in the US, but GM says it is not aware of any injuries or deaths related to any of the three new defects.

GM’s latest recalls mark a sharp upturn on the number of vehicles it called back in 2013, when it ranked ninth in a US recall rollcall compiled by the New York Times (see below).

According the NYT, Toyota led with the most recalls (nearly 5.3 million) for the second year running in 2013, followed by Chrysler, Honda, Hyundai and Ford.

Almost 22 million vehicles recalled in the US last year in 632 recalls, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

That was up from less than 16.4 million in 2012, when there were 581 recalls, and is the highest number since 2004, when 30.8 million vehicles were recalled.

Top 10 US recalls in 2013:
Toyota, 15 recalls, 5.3 million vehicles
Chrysler, 36 recalls, 4.7 million vehicles
Honda, 15 recalls, 2.8 million vehicles
Hyundai, 9 recalls, 2.2 million vehicles
Ford, 16 recalls, 1.2 million vehicles
Kia, 3 recalls, 1.1 million vehicles
Nissan, 17 recalls, 958,148 vehicles
BMW, 14 recalls, 934,047 vehicles
General Motors, 23 recalls, 757,677 vehicles
Suzuki, 4 recalls, 405,605 vehicles