GM Announces 4 Recalls Covering About 600K Vehicles, Including Chevrolet Camaros

(RTTNews) - Automaker General Motors Co. (GM), which continues to be plagued by vehicle recalls, announced Friday another four safety recalls that covers a total of about 581,367 million cars in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and exports.

The first safety recall includes 511,528 current generation 2010-2014 model years Chevrolet Camaro cars, particularly in North America, as the driver's knee can bump the key FOB and cause the key to move out of the "run" position, thereby resulting in loss of power.

General Motors said it is aware of three crashes that resulted in four minor injuries that it believes may be attributed to this condition.

Detroit, Michigan-based General Motors, the largest U.S. automaker, said the defect, which primarily affects drivers sitting close to the steering column, was discovered by GM at the time of internal testing, following the ignition switch recall earlier this year.

"Discovering and acting on this issue quickly is an example of the new norm for product safety at GM," said Jeff Boyer, vice president of GM Global Safety.

The automaker added that the Camaro ignition system meets its engineering specifications and is not related to the ignition switch recall.

General Motors said it will change the Camaro key to a standard design from one in which the key is concealed in the FOB and is opened by pushing a button.

The second, third and fourth recalls include a total of 69,839 cars, particularly in North America, off which two are safety recalls and one non-compliance recall. The automaker said it is unaware of any crashes, injuries or fatalities related to these vehicles.

These include 28,789 Saab 9-3 convertibles from the 2004-2011 model years, 21,567 Chevrolet Sonic 2012 model year compacts equipped with a six-speed automatic transmission and a 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine, as well as 14,765 model year 2014 Buick LaCrosse sedans.

Saab 9-3 convertibles are recalled for an automatic tensioning system cable in the driver's side front seat belt retractor that could break. The company said dealers will replace the driver's side retractor in the recalled vehicles to fix the defect.

The Chevrolet Sonic cars are recalled for a condition in which the transmission turbine shaft may fracture as a result of a supplier quality issue. The company said dealers will replace the transmission turbine shaft.

Meanwhile, the Buick LaCrosse sedans are recalled because a wiring splice in the driver's door may corrode and break. The company said dealers will inspect the driver door window motor harness and, if necessary, replace an electrical splice.

The company has already ordered an internal investigation into the several vehicle recalls since January 2014. It is also under multiple investigations by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Congress, the Justice Department and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for the recalls.

According to the General Motors site, it has already initiated 38 safety and non-compliance recalls in the U.S. since the beginning of 2014, including the current recall, covering a total of about 14.40 million vehicles, with seven of these involving more than a million vehicles, while four of these involved fewer than 100 vehicles.

The company has incurred a $1.3 billion charge related to the recalls in the first quarter, and is currently projecting recall-related charges of $400 million in the second quarter.

The total number of vehicle recalls this year is already significantly higher than General Motors' previous record of 10.7 million vehicle recalls in the U.S. in 2004.

In Friday's regular trading session, GM is currently trading at $35.57, up $0.05 or 0.13% on a volume of 2.58 million shares.