General Motors on Thursday said it will recall more than four million full-size pickup trucks to replace tailgate support cables that may corrode and fracture.
Reuters noted that the massive recall, one of the largest in eight years, counters recent claims of improved quality at the world’s largest carmaker.
The report said about 3.7 million of the recalled vehicles are in the United States, 325,000 are in Canada, and 93,000 are in Mexico. The recall includes certain 2000-2004 Chevrolet Silverados and GMC Sierras as well as some 2002-2004 Chevrolet Avalanche and Cadillac Escalade EXT trucks.
According to Reuters, GM has reported 430 complaints of one or both of the tailgate support cables breaking on the trucks, which became the target of an upgraded investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration late last month.
In a Thursday statement cited by the news agency, GM also reported 134 “minor injuries” linked to the tailgate problem, which it earlier identified as the source of more than 61,000 warranty claims, though no crashes or fatalities have been reported due to the faulty tailgates.
Reuters said that GM has recalled roughly seven million vehicles due to potential safety problems since the start of February, including the full-size pickups which account for a huge chunk of its automotive profits.
The recalls, while not uncommon for a mass market automaker, run counter to recent assertions that GM’s quality has improved dramatically, the report added.
