DETROIT (AP) — General Motors issued six more recalls on
Wednesday, bringing its annual total to 60 recalls covering almost 30
million vehicles.
The latest recalls cover nearly 823,000 cars,
trucks and SUVs mostly in North America but including a small number of
exports. The largest is for faulty seats in just over 475,000 cars and
small SUVs. Other problems include incomplete welds on seat brackets,
turn signal failures, power steering failures, loose suspension bolts
and faulty roof rack bolts.
GM is conducting a companywide safety
review as it tries to correct a dysfunctional corporate culture in which
safety was a low priority.
GM’s spate of recalls comes after
trial lawyers discovered that the company knew about a deadly small-car
ignition switch problem for more than a decade, yet failed to recall the
cars until this year. The company says 13 people have died in crashes
linked to the switches in 2.6 million older small cars, but lawmakers
and lawyers say the death toll is closer to 100.
The company has
set up a fund to compensate victims. The bungled recall has brought
investigations from the Justice Department and Congress, as well as a
maximum $35 million fine from the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration for delays in reporting problems to the agency.
Even
before Wednesday, GM had passed its old full-year record of 11.8
million vehicles recalled in 2004. The recalls also pushed the total
number of vehicles recalled in the U.S. by all automakers to 41.6
million so far this year, according to Stericycle, a firm that tracks
recalls and helps corporations manage them. That’s well above the old
record of 30.8 million, also set in 2004.
GM spokesman Alan Adler
wouldn’t say if the company is nearing the end of its safety review. But
he said the recalls indicate that GM has changed its approach to safety
by issuing recalls more quickly. Adler said he did not have global
totals for the latest recalls.
"If we identify an issue — large or
small — that might affect the safety of our customers, we will act
decisively," GM safety chief Jeff Boyer said in a statement.
Most
of GM’s previous recalls covered models no longer in production, but
Wednesday’s batch affects numerous current models such as the Chevrolet
Camaro, Chevy Equinox and the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups.
So
far, the recalls haven’t had much of an impact on GM’s sales or resale
values of its cars, said Eric Ibara, director of residual values for
Kelley Blue Book. But Wednesday’s recalls of current models could change
that, he said in an email. "Going forward, attention will be focused on
whether sales and values are impacted on these models," Ibara wrote.