General Motors is recalling more than 140,000 2014 Chevrolet Malibu midsize cars to fix a problem with the power-assisted brakes. According to Dallas News, the Malibus were among the 2.7 million General Motors vehicles that were included in the recalls that had been issued on Thursday for problems with power brakes, headlamps and with brake lights.
The nation’s largest automaker announced a total of five recalls covering 2.7 million vehicles, according to the Huffington Post. General Motors said that the cars are being recalled to fix problems with the brake lights, headlamps and power brakes. GM will take a $200 million charge this quarter, mostly to cover the repairs.
The General Motors Company, commonly known as GM, is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan that designs, manufactures, markets and distributes vehicles and vehicle parts and sells financial services. General Motors produces vehicles in 37 countries under ten brands: Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac, Opel, Holden, Vauxhall, Wuling, Baojun, Jie Fang, UzDaewoo.
The General Motors Company acknowledged it knew about the brake light problem as early as 2008, according to a report by the Huffington Post. In announcing the recall, GM said the brake light problem has been tied to 13 accidents and 2 injuries.
“All manufacturers are re-calibrating their recall programs to go from ‘if in doubt, don’t recall’ to ‘if in doubt, recall,'” reported Clarence Ditlow, the executive director of the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety.
Senator Clare McCaskill, D-Missouri, who heads a Senate subcommittee looking into GM’s handling of the ignition switch problem, said that, “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.”
Jeff Boyer, GM’s newly appointed safety chief, said GM now will recall cars as soon as it sees a safety problem. “We’re not waiting for warranty trends to develop over time,” he said, according to the Huffington Post. “It’s not only about frequency; it has to be about seriousness of the potential defect as well.”
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