General Motors recalls another 8.4m cars

Associated Press

General Motors has recalled a further 8.4 million cars as part of an ongoing investigation into a fault that causes the ignition key to turn unintentionally.

Almost 30m cars across the US, Canada and Mexico have now been recalled by General Motors in 2014.

Approximately 3,500 people are making claims for death or injury

The recalls affect cars made as far back as 1997, but the American car maker insists that there is no conclusive evidence that faults with the cars caused crashes involving the vehicles.

In a statement, the company said it is “aware of seven crashes, eight injuries and three fatalities” among the latest vehicles to be recalled.
 
General Motors CEO Mary Barra said:

“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.

“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.”
 

The company has warned that drivers should remove all items from their vehicle’s key ring. Not doing so could result in the ignition key being turned unintentionally.

This could cause the engine to turn off, locking up the power steering and preventing the air bags from deploying in a crash.

General Motors has been criticised for failing to act on the issue, which was first highlighted nearly 10 years ago. The company only admitted to the problem and started to recall cars in February 2014.

The recalls are expected to cost the manufacturer in the region of $1.2 billion (£700 million), with approximately 3,500 people making claims for death or injury.

So far, at least 15 GM employees have been sacked for failing to act on the issues, although a recent report blames lower-level employees for failing to alert senior managers to the issue.

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By Andrew Brady, Motoring Research