General Motors Co.'s ignition switch troubles continue to escalate, reported Michigan Live.
The Detroit-based automaker today announced six new recall campaigns covering 8.4 million vehicles globally, including two recalls of 8.2 million due to "unintended ignition key rotation."
The announcement comes hours after attorney Kenneth Feinberg released the terms of a compensation program for victims of GM's first announced ignition switch recall that started in February due to faulty ignition switches linked to at least 13 deaths and dozens of crashes.
GM is aware of seven crashes, eight injuries and three fatalities as part of the newest recalls. The fatal crashes occurred in older model full-size sedans being recalled for inadvertent ignition key rotation. There is no conclusive evidence that the defect condition caused those crashes, according to GM.
Vehicles involved in the two newest ignition switch recalls include nine models ranging from the 1997-2014 model years.
The largest of the new ignition switch recalls covers more than 7.6 million vehicles, including 6.8 million in the U.S. Vehicles included are the 1997-2005 Chevrolet Malibu; 1998-2002 Oldsmobile Intrique; 1999-2004 Oldsmobile Alero; 1999-2005 Pontiac Grand Am; 2000-2005 Chevrolet Impala and Monte Carlo; and 2004-2008 Pontiac Grand Prix.
The other includes roughly 616,000 Cadillac models, including more than 554,000 in the U.S. Included are the 2003-2014 Cadillac CTS and 2004-2006 Cadillac SRX cars.
GM spokesman Alan Adler said the newest recalls are unrelated to the ignition switch recalls that started in February, which Feinberg announced the compensation program for earlier today.
In 2014, GM has now recalled roughly 29 million vehicles globally, including nearly 25.7 million in the U.S.
The plethora of recalls this year for GM are due to the company's exhaustive inspection efforts following the well-publicized ignition switch recall that has been linked to at least 13 deaths.
"We undertook what I believe is the most comprehensive safety review in the history of our company because nothing is more important than the safety of our customers," said GM CEO Mary Barra, in a statement. "Our customers deserve more than we delivered in these vehicles. That has hardened my resolve to set a new industry standard for vehicle safety, quality and excellence."
As part of the recalls announced today, GM increased its expected recall expenses for the second quarter from $700 million to $1.2 billion. That's in addition to a $1.3 billion hit in the first quarter due to recalls.
The four other recalls announced Monday include 18 vehicles ranging from the 2005-2014 model years for a variety of reasons.
