General Motors Co.'s costs for repairing faulty vehicles hit $1.7 billion on Tuesday after the auto maker added another 2.4 million cars, sport-utility vehicles and pickup trucks to this year's list of recent safety recalls.
The nation's largest auto maker has disclosed 29 separate recalls since the start of the year covering nearly 15.4 million vehicles world-wide—equivalent to about 150% of its 2013 production. Among the vehicles in the latest recall are a small number of 2015 models.
GM shares fell 3.4% on Tuesday as the company offered no answer to whether it has completed its safety reviews and whether it would have additional charges to earnings to clean up the quality problems. It finished off $1.18 at $33.07 in 4 p.m. trading, pennies above its $33 initial public offering price.
"People are getting tired of this weekly news flow of more charges," said Efraim Levy, a senior analyst with S&P Capital IQ. "I think some people are getting a little scared about the brand."
Tuesday's recall, and the $200 million charge that came with it, followed by less than a week the disclosure of a $200 million charge and a recall of 2.7 million vehicles.
A GM spokesman couldn't say whether the bulk of the recalls are now done. He said the auto maker is continuing to look for and respond to safety issues.
The latest run-up in recall costs comes after two prominent investors, Warren Buffett and David Einhorn, disclosed their companies had sold GM shares. Mr. Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. cut its position in the auto maker by 10 million shares, and now owns 30 million shares valued at about $1 billion.
Mr. Einhorn's Greenlight Capital Inc. sold its entire stake in GM during the first calendar quarter when the auto maker took a $1.3 billion charge on recall related expenses. Greenlight had owned 17 million shares.
The U.S. auto industry to date this year has recalled almost 22 million vehicles, second only to 2004 when 30.8 million cars and trucks were recalled in the country. GM's 13.5 million U.S. recall tally thus far this year exceeds its previous record of 10.7 million U.S. vehicles recalled during all of 2004, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The recalls are flowing from a review of the company's past responses to vehicle safety problems ordered by new Chief Executive Mary Barra earlier this year. In February, GM disclosed executives delayed for nearly a decade recalling vehicles with defective ignition switches. The switches could slip out of the run position, disabling steering and air bags. GM has linked 13 deaths to the problem.
The auto maker could face additional costs to settle multiple investigations and dozens of lawsuits over the delay in ordering the ignition switch recall. The auto maker earlier this year hired compensation expert Kenneth Feinberg to advise it on dealing with claims by accident victims and their families.
GM recently agreed to pay a $35 million fine to settle a U.S. auto-safety investigation in which it agreed that it had maneuvered to keep secret information on faulty ignition switches installed on 2.6 million vehicles world-wide.
Regulators described a process and culture that stymied attempts to learn early on about defective switches.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.), on Tuesday said he intends to introduce legislation this week that would eliminate the $35 million cap federal regulators can impose on auto makers for safety violations. Mr. Blumenthal wants safety regulator NHTSA to be able to use its own discretion when assessing penalties. The Obama administration has proposed lifting the maximum fine for failing to disclose defects within five days of their discovery to $300 million.
"It is laughable at how low the penalty is and would be hilarious except for the fact that people are being killed in cars amid failure by auto makers to disclose information," Mr. Blumenthal said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. "They need to be held accountable."
GM's most recent action includes recalls of more than 1.34 million Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse and GMC Arcadia crossovers from the 2009 to 2014 model years along with Saturn Outlooks from the 2009 and 2010 model years have been recalled due to possible seat belt failures.
The auto maker also recalled 1.08 million four-speed automatic transmission Chevrolet Malibus from the 2004 through 2008 model years and Pontiac G6s from the 2005 through 2008 model years due to a shift cable issue. GM said it is aware of 18 crashes and one personal injury among the affected Malibu and G6 vehicles.
Rounding out the latest list of recalls are a small number of 2015 Cadillac Escalade sport-utility vehicles, Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra heavy duty pickup trucks.
The Escalades have a potential air bag problem because of a plastic weld that could stop the bags from fully deploying. Retention clips in the pickups attaching to the generator can come loose causing a fire. GM temporarily stopped sales of the 2015 Escalades.
