Personal Injury Law

GM Recalls Over 1 Million Vehicles

By Greg Webb

Toyota is not the only company that has potential safety-related defects with its cars. General Motors has announced a recall of approximately 1.3 million Chevrolet and Pontiac vehicles citing over 1,000 reports of power steering problems. Specific models are the 2005 through 2010 Chevrolet Cobalt, the 2007 through 2010 Pontiac G5, the 2005 and 2006 Pontiac Pursuit sold in Canada, and the 2005 and 2006 Pontiac G4 sold in Mexico.

The recall comes at a time when the company was just beginning to see a rise in sales due to runoff from Toyota's own recall debacle. Considering the Toyota recall has received so much attention, it's certainly possible that GM's recall will be overshadowed in the press and in the eyes of the consumer as Toyota's government hearings move forward. Still, the recall proves a substantial setback for the automaker that was just beginning to close the quality gap between it and other more highly rated automakers in the past several years.

Of course, all automobile manufacturers have problems with defects at some point. It would be optimal, and safest, for the public if the manufacturer recognized, investigated, accepted, and took responsibility for the defect when it became aware of the problem. Sometimes the manufacturer sticks its head in the sand (the "ostrich" defense); sometimes it hides the defect from the general public; and sometimes it is forced to recall the product (witness Toyota). This writer is pleased that GM has taken the step to recall these cars for an obvious safety issue: power steering. Having recently rented a Chevrolet on a business trip, I was surprised with how much improvement GM had made over previous GM models I had driven. I hope GM keeps improving its cars and trucks.

Full post as published by Charlottesville Personal Injury Lawyer on March 13, 2010 (boomark / email).