GM Recalls 720,000 Vehicles for Air Bag Problems
By Justin Hyde
DETROIT (Reuters)
- General Motors Corp. on Monday recalled about 720,000 vehicles to
fix two problems that could cause air bags to malfunction in a crash.
One recall covers
about 570,000 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups, as well as
Chevrolet Suburban and Tahoe and GMC Yukon and Yukon XL sport utility
vehicles, all built between February 1999 and February 2000.
GM said the trucks had air bag sensing and diagnostic modules that could
interfere with air bag deployment. The world's largest automaker said
it was investigating whether nine reports of air bags failing to deploy
in crashes were linked to the problem that triggered the recall.
A company spokesman
declined to say whether those reports involved injuries or fatalities.
But a U.S. government database of vehicle safety complaints from consumers
shows 37 reports of air bags failing to deploy in crashes of the recalled
vehicles. including 30 injuries and one fatality.
The National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration typically opens vehicle safety investigations
based on consumer complaints, but it had not started any probe of the
air bags in the recalled trucks.
A second recall
covers 150,000 vehicles, spread among 13 models of cars, SUVs and minivans,
built between May and June 2002.
GM said about 8,000
of those vehicles have driver's side air bag inflater modules that could
crack open if the bag deployed, leaving the bag less than fully inflated
in a wreck.
The automaker said
both problems would be repaired by dealers at no cost to consumers.
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