DETROIT -- General Motors' efforts to root out lingering safety problems across its wide range of cars and trucks has produced another big recall -- and highlights a sudden shift at GM and throughout the industry toward issuing recalls instead of avoiding them.
The biggest U.S. automaker announced a total of five recalls covering 2.9 million vehicles -- including 204,000 in Canada -- on Thursday.
The biggest involves 2.4 million midsize cars from model years 2004 to 2012 with brake lights that can fail.
GM acknowledged it knew about the brake light problem as early as 2008. That year it issued what's known as a technical service bulletin, but that only required dealers to offer to fix the problem if the owner became aware of it. Such bulletins typically cover problems an automaker considers minor, and avoid the larger cost of a recall. But a driver's safety could be jeopardized by unknowingly operating a car with a defective part.
In announcing the recall, GM said the brake light problem has been tied to 13 accidents and two injuries.
GM launched a top-to-bottom safety review after recalling 2.6 million small cars earlier this year for faulty ignition switches. GM knew about that problem for at least a decade, issuing service bulletins years before it started to recall the cars. The switch problem, which can unexpectedly shut down a car's engine, has been linked to at least 13 deaths and has prompted multiple investigations, including one by the Justice Department.
"These additional recalls underscore how important it is to keep the pressure on GM to make sure the company is being as transparent as possible," said Sen. Clare McCaskill, D-Missouri, who heads a Senate subcommittee looking into GM's handling of the ignition switch problem.
The recalls could also add to scrutiny of federal safety regulators, who were criticized for their handling of the ignition switch problem. Documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show that neither the company nor the government sought a recall to fix the brake light issue despite 1,300 consumer complaints and more than 14,000 warranty claims as of February of last year.
The agency said in a statement Thursday that an investigation it opened into the problem last year influenced GM's decision to recall the cars.
Jeff Boyer, GM's newly appointed safety chief, said GM now will recall cars as soon as it sees a safety problem. The company, he said, has added 35 safety investigators to its team as it sifts through records looking for cars that should have been recalled earlier.
"We're not waiting for warranty trends to develop over time," he said. "It's not only about frequency, it has to be about seriousness of the potential defect as well."
GM has now recalled more than 11 million cars and trucks in the U.S. so far this year, close to its annual recall record of 11.8 million set in 2004.
The auto industry also is on track to set a single-year record for U.S. recalls. Companies have recalled 15.4 million vehicles in a little more than four months, according to government records. The old single-year record for recalls is 30.8 million vehicles in 2004. Toyota, Ford, and Chrysler also have announced sizeable recalls this year.
Industrywide, automakers are moving faster to fix problems than they have in the past in a bid to avoid bad publicity and record fines from government agencies.
"All manufacturers are recalibrating their recall programs to go from 'if in doubt, don't recall' to 'if in doubt, recall,"' said Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the non-profit Center for Auto Safety.
Earlier this year, the Justice Department made Toyota pay a $1.2 billion penalty and admit to concealing problems with unintended acceleration in its cars and trucks. That fine and the GM investigation -- which could bring criminal charges against individuals -- have changed the way automakers view recalls.
GM said the recalls announced Thursday also will fix problems with headlamps, power brakes and windshield wipers. The Detroit automaker will take a $200 million charge this quarter, on top of a $1.3 billion charge in the first quarter, mostly to cover the repairs. GM shares fell 1.7 per cent to close at $34.36.
The auto industry set the standing recall record in 2004 after U.S. laws were changed requiring them to report more defects to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Experts also blamed the high number on vehicles that rely more heavily on computers, more common parts across each company's model lineup and more safeguards at litigation-sensitive automakers to catch flaws earlier.
Other GM recalls announced Thursday include:
- More than 140,000 Malibus from 2014, where a software problem in the brake control computer can disable the power brakes. That means drivers would have to push the brakes harder to stop, and stopping distances would increase.
- Nearly 112,000 Chevy Corvettes from 2005 through 2007 because they can lose low-beam headlights. GM says when the engine is warm, an electrical housing can expand and bend a wire, causing it to fracture. GM will also repair Corvettes from 2008 through 2013 if owners have the problem.
- 19,000 Cadillac CTS sports sedans because the windshield wipers can fail after the cars are jump-started and the wipers are stuck by ice and snow.
- 477 Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups and Chevy Tahoe SUVs. A suspension part can detach from the steering and cause loss of steering.
Thursday's recalls also cover about 290,000 vehicles in Canada, Mexico and other countries, bringing the global number of recalled vehicles to more than 2.9 million.
In Canada, a quick look at the roughly 204,000 vehicles included in a safety recall Thursday of about 2.7 million vehicles by General Motors:
- 194,314 Chevrolet Malibus, Chevrolet Malibu Maxxs, Pontiac G6s and Saturn Auras from various model years from 2004 to 2012 for a problem that could see brake light wires corrode and fail.
- 5,115 Chevrolet Corvettes from 2005 through 2007 for a problem that could mean the loss of low-beam head lamps.
- 3,550 Chevrolet Malibus from 2014 for hydraulic brake booster malfunctions that could require drivers to push on the brakes harder to stop.
- 732 Cadillac CTS 2013-2014 models for windshield wiper failures after the cars are jump-started and the wipers are stuck by ice and snow.
- 33 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks from 2014 and Chevrolet Tahoe SUVs from 2015 for a tie-rod defect that could lead to a loss of steering.
