General Motors has shipped thousands of replacement parts to fix vehicles affected by its ignition switch recall, the automaker.
GM said owners of the first batch of 1.4 million small cars from the 2003 through 2007 model year have received letters notifying them that they can schedule appointments at dealers.
The company did not immediately specify how many parts are available. It has previously said that it will take until late fall for all parts to be available.
GM said the replacement parts include a new ignition switch, a new ignition lock cylinder and new keys for owners of vehicles such as the Chevrolet Cobalt and the Saturn Ion. All vehicles affected by the issue are no longer made.
The company said it will mail a letter in early May to owners of 2008 through 2011 model year small cars also affected by the same recall.
-- Brian Dickerson: Bankruptcy shield can't restore GM's moral solvency
GM is responding to an ignition switch defect that engineers first discovered more than a decade ago but failed to fixed. The defect is the subject of multiple government investigations and at least 50 lawsuits. It is blamed for at least 31 crashes and 13 deaths.
GM has maintained that the vehicles are safe to drive until they are fixed as long as drivers use the vehicle with only the key in the ignition.
Some safety advocates have pushed the company to order vehicle owners to park the cars until they can be fixed.
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