General Motors Recalling 1.5M Vehicles

DETROIT (AP) _ General Motors Corp. is recalling about 1.5 million vehicles, making 2004 a record year for auto recalls, according to federal statistics. <br/><br/>The world's largest automaker reported

Friday, November 5th 2004, 12:31 pm

By: News On 6

DETROIT (AP) _ General Motors Corp. is recalling about 1.5 million vehicles, making 2004 a record year for auto recalls, according to federal statistics.

The world's largest automaker reported the four recalls to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Oct. 27, spokesman Alan Adler said Thursday.

GM has recalled 10.47 million vehicles in North America so far this year, up from 7.8 million for all of 2003, Adler said.

Overall, automakers have recalled 24.8 million vehicles this year, topping the previous high of 24.6 in all of 2000, NHTSA figures show.

``The good news is that the manufacturers seem much more inclined to step forward and quickly remedy the problems,'' agency spokesman Rae Tyson told The Detroit News.

The latest recalls involve 1,496,056 vehicles, including 946,817 sport utility vehicles _ the 2002-2004 Chevrolet TrailBlazer, GMC Envoy and Oldsmobile Bravada, and the 2004 Buick Rainier.

Adler said the tail lights could malfunction. The company says two crashes, one with injury, possibly are related to the defect.

A second recall involves 339,008 2003-model Chevrolet Cavalier and Pontiac Sunfire for tail light and turn-signal malfunctions. Adler said the malfunction may have caused at least three crashes, none involving injuries.

A third recall involves the 204,317 2003-model Chevrolet Malibu, Pontiac Grand Am and Oldsmobile Alero vehicles. Their accelerators could stick and not return to idle, GM said.

A fourth recall involves 5,914 2004-2005 Cadillac XLR and 2005 Chevrolet Corvette models for a possible brake-fluid leak discovered in field tests, Adler said.

Owners will be notified by GM through the mail and repairs will be made free of charge at GM dealerships.