GM issues new recall for 2.42 million vehicles

DETROIT, May 20 (UPI) -- General Motors has recalled 2.42 million vehicles for four separate safety flaws, mirroring the 2.6 million cars GM recalled in three stages earlier this year.

While the earlier recalls were related to faulty ignition switches, this recall is linked to safety lap belt cables, dashboard air bags and transmission shift cables. The new recall involves 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 to 2010 model years for safety lap belt cables that wear out over repeated usage.

GM has instructed dealers not to sell new or used versions of these cars until the flaws are fixed.

1,075,102 vehicles, including the 2004-2008 Chevrolet Malibu and Maxx, 2007-2008 Saturn Aura, and 2005-2008 Pontiac G6, were added to a April 29 recall to fix a transmission shift cable that can wear and fail to indicate the correct gear.

GM has admitted to 18 crashes, involving on injury, linked to this fault.

Finishing the list is 1,402 Cadillac Escalades and 58 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra heavy duty pickup trucks that have potential problem with their passenger-side air bags, which did not inflate during a crash.

This latest round of recalls has now resulted in more than 15 million cars recalled by the beleaguered car maker. GM was asked to pay a $35 million fine for failing to inform customers and regulators about two previous recalls involving faulty ignition switches, which resulted in the deaths of 13 people.

GM said it will now use $400 million from its first-quarter earnings to pay for the latest recall, up from the $200 million it had forecast after the five recalls announced May 16. This takes its total expenditure on recall-related costs to $1.7 billion.