Just look at how much they recall:
General Motors announced on Monday that it’s recalling more than 1.3 million vehicles that may experience a sudden loss of electric power steering. GM’s new recall comes after 2.6 million vehicles were recalled earlier this year for ignition-switch problems linked to 13 deaths. GM models involved in the new recall include Chevy Malibus, HHRs and Cobalts, Saturn Auras and IONs, as well as Pontiac G6s from model years 2004 to 2010. GM says it will replace the vehicles’ power-steering motors, steering columns, power-steering motor-control units or a combination of those free of charge, depending on the vehicle.
Sara Morrison notices that the recall “includes ‘Service parts installed into certain vehicles before May 31, 2010 under a previous safety recall'”:
Yes, at this point, GM is recalling its own recalls.
In the first three months of 2014, GM has recalled 6.1 million cars. Last year, Toyota was the automaker with the most recalls, with 5.3 million. GM had just 750,000 recalls in that year, which means in the first three months of 2014 alone, GM has recalled more cars than it and Toyota did in all of 2013 combined. GM also said it expects to spend up to $750 million this quarter on recall-related repairs, more than double its previous estimate of $300 million.
Schuyler Velasco looks into what’s causing all these recalls and finds a silver lining:
The good news is that this seemingly unending stream is actually a side effect of US automakers building safer cars, says Joe Phillippi, an industry analyst and president of AutoTrends Consulting in Andover, N.J. “Safety technology is a lot more democratic than it was even three years ago,” he notes. “Now, even little cheap cars like a Mazda 3 compact have features that you could only get in [Mercedes-] Benzes and BMWs before. Lane departure warning systems, stability control, electronically controlled brake force distribution – nothing is exclusive to high-end cars anymore.”
As cars become more complex, however, problems – and subsequent recalls – become more frequent. And as car parts become more expensive and complicated, there is less diversity in suppliers. For example, Faurecia, a large global auto producer, manufactures seats and other auto parts for Nissan, Volkswagen, Ford, and GM, among others. If, theoretically, something goes wrong with one of its products, it could prompt a recall affecting several automakers.
Nicholas Freudenberg sees the GM recall as part of a bigger problem:
According to the latest report from the International Transport Forum, a body that monitors global road safety, the auto death rate in the United States is more than three times higher than the rate in Sweden, a country that has made auto safety a priority. If the United States had achieved Sweden’s rate, in 2011 more than 20,000 U.S. automobile deaths would have been averted. Since its inception, however, the auto industry has resisted regulation, failed to disclose problems, and refused to correct problems when they were detected.
Meanwhile, Shikha Dalmia points out that the GM bailout has left some victims of faulty products without legal recourse:
If you are own one of the 1.6 million vehicles General Motors has recalled since February with faulty ignitions and you or a loved one had an accident in the car, there’s some more bad news. Your right to collect damages from GM has been signed away. If your accident happened in the years before the old GM’s 2009 bankruptcy reorganization, the managers of the auto industry bailout gave immunity to the new GM that emerged.
The GM bailout, which ultimately cost U.S. taxpayers more than $10 billion, is the gift that keeps on giving to the auto giant. Unless courts overturn that immunity, many victims of GM’s delayed response in recalling cars with faulty ignition switches will recover few damages.
The Dish 