05-06-2011, 11:12 AM
General Motors Co.’s Chevrolet division says it will recall about 154,000 of its new Cruze compact cars to check for possible problems in with the installation of their steering shafts and, in some cases, their transmission shift linkages.
The car maker says it will inspect the intermediate steering shafts on all of the recalled cars, which were built in its Lordstown, Ohio, assembly plant and sold in the U.S. and Canada. Within that group of vehicles, the company plans to check 120,295 with automatic transmissions to make sure the shift linkage is properly installed. It will also inspect unsold vehicles on dealer lots.
The latest recall is not the first stumble Chevrolet has had in rolling out the Cruze, which has been a big seller and a cornerstone of the company’s recent success. It began a recall last month following an incident in which a Cruze’s steering wheel fell of while it was being driven. The company says the current recall is not related to the earlier case.
General Motors says no crashes or injuries have resulted from the problems and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received no consumer complaints. The company also says it expects few vehicles to actually have either of the flaws. “We think very few vehicles in the population have either issue, but we chose to conduct these inspections to give customers additional peace of mind about the quality of the Cruze,” said GM’s vice president of global quality Terry Woychowski. “I conducted a quality inspection of the Lordstown plant this week and I am confident we have made the necessary process changes so neither of these conditions happens again.”
The company says customers should contact their dealers to schedule an appointment for the inspection, which is expected to take about an hour.
Separately GM announced recalls of 8,723 2011 Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana vans for possible brake fluid leaks on and 6,303 Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon pickup trucks from the 2011 model year to check a nut on the windshield wiper motor crank arm that may not be tightened adequately.
The car maker says it will inspect the intermediate steering shafts on all of the recalled cars, which were built in its Lordstown, Ohio, assembly plant and sold in the U.S. and Canada. Within that group of vehicles, the company plans to check 120,295 with automatic transmissions to make sure the shift linkage is properly installed. It will also inspect unsold vehicles on dealer lots.
The latest recall is not the first stumble Chevrolet has had in rolling out the Cruze, which has been a big seller and a cornerstone of the company’s recent success. It began a recall last month following an incident in which a Cruze’s steering wheel fell of while it was being driven. The company says the current recall is not related to the earlier case.
General Motors says no crashes or injuries have resulted from the problems and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received no consumer complaints. The company also says it expects few vehicles to actually have either of the flaws. “We think very few vehicles in the population have either issue, but we chose to conduct these inspections to give customers additional peace of mind about the quality of the Cruze,” said GM’s vice president of global quality Terry Woychowski. “I conducted a quality inspection of the Lordstown plant this week and I am confident we have made the necessary process changes so neither of these conditions happens again.”
The company says customers should contact their dealers to schedule an appointment for the inspection, which is expected to take about an hour.
Separately GM announced recalls of 8,723 2011 Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana vans for possible brake fluid leaks on and 6,303 Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon pickup trucks from the 2011 model year to check a nut on the windshield wiper motor crank arm that may not be tightened adequately.