GM Recalls 8.4 Million Vehicles Globally, Lists Three Fatalities

Just the Facts:

• GM announced six new recalls covering 8.4 million vehicles globally and reported seven crashes, eight injuries and three fatalities linked to the recalled vehicles.
• "The fatal crashes occurred in older model full-size sedans being recalled for inadvertent ignition key rotation," GM said in a statement.
• GM said 7,610,862 vehicles, including the 1997-2005 Chevrolet Malibu and 1998-2002 Oldsmobile Intrigue, are among the vehicles being recalled for unintended ignition key rotation.

DETROIT — The recall crisis deepened at General Motors on Monday as the Detroit automaker announced six recalls covering 8.4 million vehicles globally and reported seven crashes, eight injuries and three fatalities linked to the recalled vehicles.

"The fatal crashes occurred in older model full-size sedans being recalled for inadvertent ignition key rotation," GM said in a statement.

GM said 7,610,862 vehicles, including the 1997-2005 Chevrolet Malibu and 1998-2002 Oldsmobile Intrigue, are among the vehicles being recalled for unintended ignition key rotation.

The others include the 1999-2004 Oldsmobile Alero, 1999-2005 Pontiac Grand Am, 2000-'05 Chevrolet Impala and Monte Carlo and 2004-'08 Pontiac Grand Prix.

A second recall for unintended ignition key rotation covers 616,179 vehicles globally. They are the 2013-'14 Cadillac CTS and 2004-'06 Cadillac SRX.

"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 seatbelts," GM said. "The key fob, if present, should also be removed from the key ring."

The third recall involves 20,134 vehicles worldwide, including the 2011-'14 Chevrolet Cruze; 2012-'14 Chevrolet Sonic; 2013-'14 Chevrolet Trax, Buick Encore and Buick Verano.

"On certain vehicles, insulation on the engine block heater power cord (if equipped) may become damaged during very cold conditions," GM said.

The fourth worldwide recall involves the 2014 Chevrolet Camaro and Impala, Buick Regal and Cadillac XTS.

"Some vehicles may not have had a 'Superhold' joint fastener torqued to specification at the assembly plant," GM said.

The fifth worldwide recall covers 12,008 2007-'11 Chevrolet Silverado HD and GMC Sierra HD trucks equipped with an auxiliary battery.

"An overload in the feed may cause the underhood fusible link to melt due to electrical overload, resulting in potential smoke or flames that could damage the electrical center cover and/or the nearby wiring harness conduit," GM said.

The sixth recall covers 188,705 2005-'07 Buick Rainier, Chevrolet TrailBlazer, GMC Envoy, Isuzu Ascender, Saab 9-7X and 2006 Chevrolet TrailBlazer EXT and GMC Envoy XL vehicles globally.

They are being recalled "(for) a possible electrical short in the driver's door module that could disable the power door lock and window switches, and, in rare cases, overheat the module," GM said.

GM did not respond immediately to a query from Edmunds asking for details about specific fixes for each recall, start times and any further instructions for consumers.

The recall portion of the Web site of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was down on Monday. 

Edmunds says: We will update information on all of these recalls as it becomes available.