Detroit, Aug. 19 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp., the world's largest automaker, is recalling 720,000 cars and light trucks because of potential problems with air bags.

One recall affects about 570,000 of its 2000-model Chevrolet
and GMC pickups and sport-utility vehicles with air bags that
might not deploy in some front crashes, spokesman Jim Schell said.

The bags didn't deploy in at least nine accidents, he said, without giving further details. The problem is a combination of sensor parts and software settings, the company said.

The largest automaker also recalled 150,000 vehicles, including 13 car and truck models from 2002 and 2003, because of
driver-side air bags that might crack a weld and release broken
pieces when deploying, Schnell said. No accidents or injuries have
been reported, General Motors said.

General Motors and other U.S. automakers are trying to improve quality to slow sales gains by Asian rivals. General Motors finished third behind Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor
Co. in the 2002 J.D. Power & Associates initial-quality survey,
which measures buyer complaints in the first 90 days of ownership.

The first recall includes Chevrolet Tahoe/Suburban sport-
utilities and GMC Yukon/Yukon XL models built between February
1999 and February 2000.

The second involves cars including the Buick LeSabre,
Cadillac DeVille, Chevrolet Impala and Monte Carlo, and Oldsmobile Aurora; the Chevrolet Venture, Pontiac Montana and Oldsmobile Silhouette minivans; and sport-utilities including the Buick Rendezvous, Chevrolet TrailBlazer, GMC Envoy and Oldsmobile Bravada. The vehicles were built between May 2002 and July 2002, the company said.

Owner Notification

Model years typically start with production in June. The
150,000 car and truck owners were notified starting Thursday.
Notification for the 570,000 truck owners will begin Aug. 29,
Schell said. The repairs will be at no costs to owners.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has been
notified of the recalls and has no additional information on
injuries, spokesman Rae Tyson said.

Automakers typically pay for such repairs out of warranty
reserves and it's not unusual for a company to have more than a
dozen recalls a year. General Motors' largest recall was a 1971
incident involving 6.7 million vehicles for problems with engine
mounts.

 

3/4 of a million cars... That's quite a bit!!!