Lately it seems that with every week that goes by, there's another automotive recall and in most cases it seems to involve, the Detroit-powerhouse General Motors.

This week, General Motors (GM) made headlines once again by recalling 8.2 million vehicles, including 700,000 in Canada. The cause of the matter are unintended ignition key rotations, eerily similar to the original faulty ignition switch problem that has led to multiple lawsuits.

The vehicles in question are mostly older models that range from 1997-2014, bringing the yearly total to 29 million with 16 in car deaths, possibly related  to switch-related problems.

The latest vehicles being recalled are:

- Chevrolet Malibu, 1997-2005
- Oldsmobile Intrigue, 1998-2002
- Oldsmobile Alero 1999-2004
- Pontiac Grand Am, 1999-2005
- Chevrolet Impala, 2000-2005
- Chevrolet Monte Carlo, 2000-2005
- Cadillac SRX 2004-2006
- Pontiac Grand Prix, 2004-2008
- Cadillac CTS, 2003-2014

There has been seven crashes, three deaths and eight injuries involving the vehicles listed above, so GM is not taking any chances. The problem with the latest recalls come from the keys, in some cases, being able to move the ignition off position simply from bumps on the road or from the driver.

It should  be noted that there isn't any evidence pinpointing these crashes on the unintended key rotations, but in the three fatalities, which were all separate incidents, the air bags didn't deploy. The reason for that might be due to the ignition being out of position.

These latest recalls have all been a part of a thorough two month internal investigation led by new CEO Mary Barra. It's good to see that GM has taken an aggressive approach to fix these problems finding dozens of unreported faults in their investigation, but unfortunately it has come a long time after the initial ignition switch problem was diagnosed and known by some top-level executives.

“We have worked aggressively to identify and address the major outstanding issues that could impact the safety of our customers,” said Barra. “If any other issues come to our attention, we will act appropriately and without hesitation.”

Unbelievably, GM announced a further recall of 200,000 more North American vehicles (24,000 in Canada) to fix an electrical short in the front-seat, driver's door that could potentially disable the power locks and windows that might result in overheating.

For affected customers that have not brought in their vehicles, GM is currently asking owners to remove all other keys and key chains from their ignition key rings, as that can add unnecessary weight and can lead to those same potential problems.

 
Recently, GM has created a compensation fund for those victims involved in defective crashes with the intention of paying them at least $1 million each. However, GM has announced that these latest recalls will not be a part of the compensation fund.

These recalls have been a disaster for GM in all respects. Under Barra, GM seems to be taking on a different corporate culture and let's hope that shows in a major slowdown of recalls for them and other manufacturers for years to come.