General Motors and the NHTSA failed to recall nearly 335,000 Saturn Ion compact cars over power steering failures despite consumer complaints and warranty claims.
General Motors, one of the biggest car making companies in the world, is in trouble again after government documents revealed on Saturday that GM and the National Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA) failed to immediately recall nearly 335,000 Saturn Ion compact cars that had faulty power steering.
The problem with the Saturn Ion cars was highlighted by consumers through a series of complaints and warranty claims, but the documents show GM waited years to recall the affected cars. The recall was finally issued last month, NY Times reports.
Besides Saturn Ion, GM also included other models in the recall affecting 2004-2006 and 2008-2009 Chevrolet Malibu, 2004-2006 Malibu Maxx, 2009-2010 HHR (non-turbo), 2010 Cobalt, 2008-2009 Saturn Aura and 2005-2009 Pontiac G6.
NHTSA had also launched an investigation over two years ago but did not seek a recall of the 2004-2007 Ion compact cars. The government's automobile safety watchdog learnt of almost 4,800 complaints, more than 30,000 warranty claims, 12 crashes and two injuries due to the faulty steering. The investigation on the Ion model was closed last Tuesday.
As for GM, the company had recalled nearly 1.1 million Cobalts and Pontiac G5s for damaged power steering systems in March 2010 but did not include Saturn Ions even though it used the same steering system.
A recall can either be demanded by the government or the automaker can voluntarily issue a recall.
As a part of the fix to the faulty steering in Saturn Ion and other affected models, GM will notify owners and dealers starting next week, Chief Jennifer Timian of the Recall Management Division Office of Defects Investigations of the NHTSA, said in a recall letter addressing director Carmen Benavides of Product Investigations of GM.
"In the affected vehicles, there may be a sudden loss of electric power steering (EPS) assist that could occur at any time while driving," Timian wrote in the letter dated March 31. "If power steering assist is lost, greater driver effort would be required to steer the vehicle at low speeds, increasing the risk of a crash."
The latest recall issued by the automaker follows a major one in February, where GM and NHTSA were criticized over a delayed response towards ignition-switch problem. The recall affected 2.6 million small cars and the company admitted to about 13 deaths, Reuters reports.
The firm announced $1.3 billion to cover recall-related repairs in the first quarter, higher than its previous estimate of $750 million.