Yahoo Finance General Motors (GM) Recalls 484K+ SUVs Over Seat Belt Hitch
General Motors GM recently announced its decision to recall more than 484,000 large SUVs in the United States to fix a malfunction in the seat belts. The problem pertains to the third-row seat belts that might fail to protect occupants during a crash.
In a report, the automaker said that rivets that hold the buckle to the mounting bracket on the left and right side third-row seats might have been fixed improperly at the factory, and there are chances that pieces of the buckle assembly may come apart. Due to this, the seat belts might not protect third-row occupants and increase the risk of injury in a crash. The recall covers both the left and right side belts.
The company is aware of eight instances where the seat belt buckle assemblies separated but no injuries were reported.
After the glitch was reported, the seat belt supplier altered its manufacturing processes and introduced an additional inspection step to ensure that new parts were kept clean of the issue.
As mitigation efforts, dealerships will look into the seat belt buckle assemblies on recalled vehicles and replace them with new parts, free of charge, if required.
Drivers whose vehicles are involved in the recall may have the provision to be eligible for a rental car or courtesy transportation until the repair is performed.
On the one hand, automakers seek technological advancements in their products, but on the other, recalls have also increased significantly.
In April, GM announced that it recalled nearly 682,000 compact SUVs over faulty windshield wipers. In March, the company decided to recall 740,000 SUVs in the United States to address headlight glare problems. Last year, General Motors recalled its affordable EV, the Chevrolet Bolt, and its crossover counterpart, the Bolt EUV, after instances of battery pack fires. A decision to halt production was arrived at in November 2021, and a stop-sale order was issued as GM and the battery supplier LG Energy Solution worked on a solution. However, this year production has restarted at the Lake Orion Assembly plant in Michigan.
Another auto giant, Ford Motor F recently issued the first recall of its Ford F-150 Lightning electric pickup trucks. The recall is due to a safety issue pertaining to the tire pressure monitoring system. It covers trucks with 20-inch or 22-inch all-season tires. Ford has also been issuing a number of recalls of late. Some time ago, F recalled more than 2.9 million vehicles that might fail to shift into the correct gear due to a damaged or missing shift cable. This could cause the vehicles to lose balance and deflect, even after selecting the ‘Park’ position.
Shares of GM have lost 23.3% over the past year against its industry's 11.6% rise.
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Zacks Rank & Key Picks
GM carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), currently.
Better-ranked players in the auto space include Harley-Davidson HOG and Genuine Parts Company GPC, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), currently. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank stocks here.
Harley-Davidson has an expected earnings growth rate of 6.9% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has been revised 8.5% upward in the past 30 days.
Harley-Davidson’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters and missed in one. HOG pulled off a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 49.52%, on average. The stock has risen 3.2% in the past year.
Genuine Parts has an expected earnings growth rate of 15.3% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has been revised 1.5% upward in the past 30 days.
Genuine Parts’ earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all of the trailing four quarters. GPC pulled off a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 11.03%, on average. The stock has risen 28.3% over the past year.
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Ford Motor Company (F) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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General Motors Company (GM) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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