General Motors is recalling 154,112 of its top-selling Chevrolet Cruze compact cars to check that the steering shaft has been properly installed.
The affected models were all built at its plant in Lordstown, Ohio, between the start of production last summer until 22 April when changes at the plant were completed. The cars were sold in the US and Canada from last September.
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GM added that 120,000 cars with automatic transmission will also be inspected to ensure the shift linkage was properly installed.
Global quality chief Terry Woychowski said very few of the vehicles should have either problem, and GM has made quality process changes to ensure neither error happens again.
The company said the wider steering shaft issue was discovered when a customer lost steering control in a parking lot, but did not have an accident. The issue regarding Cruze models with automatic transmissions was discovered when customers brought in cars for repair under warranty.
The inspection at Chevy dealerships will take about an hour, GM said, adding that the fix requires no parts and is a matter of realigning the steering shaft or shifting links.
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By GlobalDataThe Cruze was GM’s top-selling car in April as North American buyers seek better fuel economy.
A manual transmission version, the Cruze Eco, gets 42 miles per gallon on the highway and the more popular automatic transmission version gets 37 mpg.
Last month, GM recalled 2,100 Cruze cars to inspect for an improperly fastened steering wheel. The company also announced two other recalls to fix a nut on the windshield wiper motor crank arm which could come loose on some 2011 Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon pickup trucks, affecting 6,303 vehicles.
A possible brake fluid leak has prompted a recall of 2011 8,723 Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana vans.
