General Motors Co share price up, recalls half a million Camaros

General Motors, the biggest US car manufacturer, has conducted a yet another wave of recalls after it found that it needs to fix the key design on more than half a million Chevrolet Camaros.

While trying to resolve a recall of 2.59 million older cars due to faulty ignition switches linked to 13 deaths, GM found out that the drivers knee can bump the ignition key out of the “run” position and cause loss of power in the current generation of Camaros. Although the faulty design is not linked to the Cobalts ignition switch issues, the car maker will recall 511 528 vehicles, 464 712 of which in the US, in what is the 38th wave of recall this year, bumping the number of withdrawn cars to 16.5 million.

GM safety spokesman Alan Adler said that the 2010-2014 Camaro recall is not at all related to the Cobalt model recalls. He explained that the issue involves an abnormal seating situation and that if the driver sits somewhat normally and doesnt pull his seat all the way up, it wouldnt occur.

Adler said the company will notify Camaro owners to visit dealers and get the issue resolved, but until then they should drive their cars while “being aware” of the problem.

Jake Fisher, director of automotive testing at Consumer Reports, said for Bloomberg that although the Camaros were made after the companys 2009 restructuring, the ignition key design dates further back and that other parts designed before the bankruptcy were still broadly in use.

GM in terms said that the recall of all of its current generation Camaros was an example of GMs new policy toward safety. The car manufacturer said it was aware of three crashes resulting in four minor injuries that may be linked to the problem, but there were no fatalities.

Jeff Boyer, GMs vice president of global safety said in the statement: “Discovering and acting on this issue quickly is an example of the new norm for product safety at GM.”

Mary Barra, who took the position of Chief Executive Officer in January, faced a storm of criticism from customers, politicians and regulators after conceding GM had known about the faulty part designs for 13 years before initiating the first wave of recalls.

Ms Barra said she was deeply saddened by the results of the internal probe, led by Anton Valukas, chairman of law firm Jenner & Block LLC, which found out that GM officials avoided disclosing known safety issues with ignition switches that continued to be installed into GMs vehicles for more than a decade. As a result, shed dismissed 15 employees, including several high-ranking executives in the engineering, legal and public policy groups.

Ms. Barra was called in April to explain before Congress why General Motors failed to disclose these known issues for years. She is scheduled to speak before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on June 18th and will be joined by Mr. Valukas.

Representative Henry Waxman of California, the senior Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said, cited by Reuters: “It is troubling that GM continues to announce ignition switch-related recalls on late-model vehicles which raises questions about how pervasive the problem is and why it is taking so long for GM to act.”

General Motors Co rose by 0.31% on Friday to close the session in New York at $35.63 per share, marking a one-year change of +3.28%. The biggest US car maker is valued at $57.14 billion. According to CNN Money, the 17 analysts offering 12-month price forecasts for General Motors Co have a median target of $45.00, with a high estimate of $55.00 and a low estimate of $32.00. The median estimate represents a +26.30% increase from the last price of $35.63.