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GM Announces New Recall, Has Only Fixed 6 Percent Of Cars

Days before CEO Mary Barra goes before Congress to explain her company's handling of the ignition switch crisis, GM recalled another 3 million cars.
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Another day, another recall as General Motors tries to get a handle on its ongoing ignition switch problem. (Via Wikimedia Commons / BriYYZ)

The company says an additional 3.16 million U.S. vehicles need their keys fixed or replaced to keep the ignition switch from moving out of the "run" position.

That brings GM's recall total this year well past 17 million. In fact, it would probably be easier for GM to list which cars aren't being recalled at this point.

The company has taken a beating in the press this year since it admitted the ignition switch problem was responsible for at least 13 deaths and an investigation showed the company knew the switch was faulty more than 10 years ago. So if it seems like there's a new recall every few days, a Bloomberg analyst says you're right.

"It's a kitchen sink approach to recalls, right? GM is now going to recall anything and everything that they see as possibly not working, possibly malfunctioning, anything they can fix."

But a new memo from Congressional investigators says so far the company has only managed to actually repair around 6 percent of the vehicles in the first recall — that's 6 percent over four months.

The company says that's due to the needed part being in limited production for several years, and that it will take until October for the company's supplier, Delphi, to meet the demand.

The slow progress will likely be brought up when CEO Mary Barra goes before Congress once again this Wednesday. (Via C-SPAN)