General Motors (MTLQQ) has announced to recall more than 300,000 units of its four-door sedan, Chevrolet Impala, due to a problem with its seat belts. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has indicated that the seat belts in the front seats are likely to fail to restrain people during a crash.
The recall affected Impalas manufactured in 2009 and 2010. Of the total recalled vehicles, 303,100 vehicles were sold in the U.S. and more than 19,000 in Canada. GM is not aware of any injuries or deaths related to the defective seat belts in the vehicles.
Since the beginning of the year, GM has recalled more than 3 million vehicles in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and South Korea. Among these, the largest recall occurred in June, involving 1.5 million vehicles, in order to fix a problem with a heated windshield wiper fluid system that has been causing fire in the vehicles.
The June recall affected 2006 to 2009 model years of Buick Lucerne, Cadillac DTS, and Hummer H2; 2008-2009 Buick Enclave and Cadillac CTS; 2007-2009 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV and Escalade EXT; 2007-2009 Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado, Suburban and Tahoe; 2007-2009 GMC Acadia, Sierra, Yukon and Yukon XL; 2007-2009 Saturn Outlook; and 2009 Chevrolet Traverse.
In fact, it was GM’s second recall over the same issue in two years. In August 2008, the automaker recalled 900,000 vehicles due to the same problem of a heated washer fluid system on the back of a short circuit on the circuit board that overheated the ground wire in the vehicles.
Recently, the automaker has announced to recall 4,000 units of Cadillac SRX crossovers in order to fix a problem with the power steering that could lead to engine fires. The recalled vehicles were manufactured in December 2009 and are sold in the U.S. and China.
Automotive safety recalls have become the talk of the town after Toyota Motors’ (TM) announcement of the largest-ever global recall of about 11 million vehicles since September last year. The Japanese automaker’s recall was related to problems such as faulty accelerator gas pedals and slipping floor mats as well as defective braking systems.
The string of recalls has led Toyota to face numerous personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits in federal courts. The U.S. government has also imposed the highest-ever fine of $16.4 million on Toyota, accusing it of a deliberate delay in recalling the vehicles by hiding its flaws even though manufacturers are legally obligated to notify the U.S. safety regulators within five business days once they come to know of a safety defect.
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