GM announces six more safety recalls involving 7.6 million vehicles

(July 1, 2014) DETROIT — General Motors announced Monday it will conduct six new safety recalls in the United States involving about 7.6 million vehicles from the 1997 to 2014 model years.

“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,” said GM CEO Mary Barra. “Our customers deserve more than we delivered in these vehicles. That has hardened my resolve to set a new industry standard for vehicle safety, quality and excellence.”


Most of the recalled cars are full-sized, recalled for inadvertent ignition key rotation, GM said. Among these recalled vehicles, GM is aware of seven crashes, eight injuries and three fatalities. The two fatal crashes occurred in older model full-size sedans being recalled for the inadvertent ignition key rotation. They involved 2003 and 2004 Chevy Impalas, although GM said there is "no conclusive evidence that th
e defect condition caused those crashes.”

The older-model cars range from model years 1997 to 2008, including the 1997-2005 Chevy Malibu; 1998-2002 Oldsmobile Intrigue; 1999-2004 Oldsmobile Alero; 1999-2005 Pontiac Grand Am; 2004-08 Pontiac Grand Prix; and 2000-05 Chevy Impala and Monte Carlo.

“We have worked aggressively to identify and address the major outstanding issues that could impact the safety of our customers,” Barra said. “If any other issues come to our attention, we will act appropriately and without hesitation.”

GM said it has made changes to every process that affects the safety of its vehicles, and the company has acted or will act on all 90 of the recommendations put forward by former U.S. Attorney Anton Valukas in his independent report to the company’s Board of Directors.

GM expects to take a charge of up to approximately $1.2 billion in the second quarter for the cost of recall-related repairs announced in the quarter. This amount includes a previously disclosed $700 million charge for recalls already announced during the quarter.

GM says that until the ignition recall repairs have been performed, it is very important that customers remove all items from their key ring, leaving only the vehicle key, and always use their seat belts. The key fob, if present, should also be removed from the key ring.