General Motors has announced new recalls affecting more than half a million more vehicles, adding to the mounting toll of its safety crisis. In the largest new recall, the company is recalling 392,459 full-size pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles in the United States, 53,607 in Canada and almost 21,000 sold elsewhere. The recalled models include the 2014-15 GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Silverado pickups along with the new 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe, Suburban, GMC Yukon and Yukon XL sport utility vehicles.
The recalled vehicles have the potential to suddenly switch into neutral. According to the automaker, the four-wheel drive system in the recalled vehicles could switch into neutral without any action by the driver. While the engine would continue to run, there would be no power to the wheels. Without having the emergency brake set, a parked vehicle could roll away.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has already been receiving complaints about the vehicles spontaneously switching to neutral. In January, a driver from Fox River Grove, Ill., filed a complaint with the regulator that stated, “2014 GMC Sierra 1500 rolls backward when parked on an incline and the transmission is in park.” In another complaint, filed this month, the driver of a rented 2014 Chevrolet Silverado reported that power to the pickup truck had abruptly cut off while she was going 40 miles an hour on the highway.
The automaker also told regulators that it would recall about 29,000 2013 and 2014 Chevrolet Cruze sedans in the United States because a defective air bag inflater could rupture, propelling pieces of the metal case at the driver. G.M.’s other recently announced recalls include 4,794 2013-14 model year Chevrolet SS sedans and Chevrolet Caprice police cars in the United States because the windshield wipers may fail and 1,900 2014 Chevrolet Corvettes in the United States to fix a problem with the rear shock absorbers.
For the year, General Motors’ total number of recalls now numbers more than 20 million vehicles. Last year, 22 million vehicles were recalled by all the automakers combined. G.M. has set aside $2 billion for repairs through the second quarter; however that amount does not include the cost of repairs for the latest announced recalls.
