GM recalls Saturn Outlook and GMC Acadia SUVs
Posted by
IB ContributorFebruary 24, 2007 10:46 PMGeneral Motors Corp., the world's largest auto maker, announced Friday that it is recalling most of its new 2007 Saturn Outlook and GMC Acadia sport utility vehicles because the vehicles' front air bags may fail to deploy in a crash, according to a Bloomberg News report.
The recall includes 13,032 of the SUVs built from August to this month, the automaker told the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. It doesn't include those built after Feb. 2, GM spokesman Alan Adler said today in an interview with the Bloomberg reporter.
GM officials have also said that computer controls for the air bags will be reprogrammed in a procedure that takes about 25 minutes and will be done at no cost to owners. The Detroit-based company began sending out letters to owners about the recall on Thursday, according to the article.
The problem mainly affects two of the so-called crossover SUVs that the automaker is relying on to help regain sales in the United States. Both models began U.S. sales in December, and the company sold 2,162 Acadias and 1,088 Outlooks through last month, according to Autodata Corp.
Most of those affected by the recall are still on dealer lots and will be fixed before they're sold, the article said. Crossovers combine a car-like ride with features of light trucks such as more interior space. GM is bringing out several such models as it seek to rebound from an 8.7 percent decline in U.S. sales of cars and light trucks last year.
"Good catch and good move GM!" Better to catch this defect before someone gets hurt and/or it costs millions more to reprogram tens of thousands of vehicles. It appears that GM did this own their own without a NHTSA forcing a volutary recall.
All though airbags save many lives and even more serious injuries, they also cause injuries when software does not perform properly. We recently reached a settlement for a women's children and husband, after she died due to a GM vehicle airbag failing to deploy after she hit a telephone pole at a modest speed.