General Motors Co share price down, expands vehicle recall due to software flaw

General Motors Co, the biggest US car manufacturer, recalled around 500 000 vehicles worldwide on Friday, the majority of which due to a software issue, bringing the total number of recalls to more than 20 million so far this year.

The company announced that a software problem which affects the four-wheel drive of SUVs and pickup trucks can cause the cars to switch into neutral without any input from the driver, cutting power to the wheels. GM also said that if the vehicle is parked or stopped and the hand brake is not set, it may roll away.

The software flaw was found in the four-wheel-drive versions of the 2014-2015 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra, the 2015 GMC Yukon and Yukon XL and the 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban. It affects 392 459 full-size pickup trucks and SUVs in the United States and 53 607 in Canada. Almost 21 000 of those vehicles were sold in other countries. General Motors said that it isnt aware of any crashes or injuries linked to the issue.

The car maker also announced that it is pulling back around 33 000 2013-2014 Chevrolet Cruze compact cars to replace the drivers side airbag inflator which could potentially fail to work in a crash or could rupture and propel metal pieces into the cabin. The company said it was aware of one accident linked to the faulty airbags which left a woman in Georgia blind with one eye.

Three other models were also affected by the recall. The company said that 1 939 vehicles of the 2014 Chevrolet Corvette required a replacement of their rear shock absorbers, while 4 794 Chevrolet Caprice police cars and 2014 Chevrolet SS sport sedans where pulled back in the US to replace their windshield wiper modules. No accidents related to the latter three models have been reported.

GMs new Chief Executive Officer, Mary Barra, announced in March a comprehensive safety review aimed to reevaluate known or suspected problems which spurred the following vehicles recalls. GM has recalled more than 20 million units worldwide so far this year, double the amount it sold globally in 2013. However, the companys sales have not lost traction, suggesting that the customers are either not worried about the possible issues, or they believe the faults are left in the companys past before its 2009 restructuring.

General Motors Co fell by 0.76% on Friday to close the session in New York at $36.62 per share, marking a one-year change of +10.63%. The company is valued at $58.73 billion. According to CNN Money, the 16 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 +22.88% increase from the last price of $36.62.