GM Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra declared a recall of more than 1.5 million vehicles which should undergo an advanced safety inspection. The company admitted they were aware of technical problems 10 years ago; however, no action was taken. Ignition-switch problems of GM vehicles had been linked to at least 31 accidents with 12 people killed.
Mary Barra said in the official statement: “Something went wrong with our process in this instance and terrible things happened”. She also noted that the company changed its politics in questions of trouble shooting and feedbacks and asked her colleagues to redouble their efforts on solving the problems.
Here’s the list of the recalled vehicles. 303,000 Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana vans from the 2009–2014 model years with gross weight under 4.5 tonnes will be recalled because the material on the instrument panel might not adequately protect unbelted passengers' heads in a crash. 63,900 Cadillac XTS sedans from the 2013 and 2014 model years were recalled due to faulty braking system. The biggest amount of recalls included 1,180,000 vehicles with safety bag defects — Buick Enclave and GMC Acadia (produced in 2008–2013), Chevrolet Traverse (2009–2013), Saturn Outlook (2008–2010).
All in all, GM has recalled the terrifying number of over 3.1 million vehicles over the last 3 months. In February 1,600,000 cars from the 2003–2007 model years were returned to the carmaker including Saturn Ion, Chevrolet HHR, Pontiac Solstice, Saturn Sky, Chevrolet Cobalt and Pontiac G5. The cars were recalled for a faulty ignition switch and air bag issues.
Needless to say, all repairs will be done free of charge. GM also offered a $500 discount toward a new car to those of their US clients who suffered the February recalling campaign. No more similar statements are made now. The company will spend around $300 million for repairs but most probably it’s not the final amount. According to ITAR-TASS, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration started an investigation which might oblige the company to pay a big fine.
