GM adds 748,024 cars to recall over ignition switches tied to 13 deaths

General Motors apologized Tuesday as it linked seven more deaths to its faulty ignition switches and more than doubled a recall from earlier this month in the U.S. to 1.37 million vehicles.

GM now says it knows of 13 deaths and 31 crashes that may have been caused by the problem. The recall now covers cars for model years 2003 to 2007 and adds new models -- the Pontiac Solstice, Saturn Ion, Saturn Sky and Chevrolet HHR -- to a recall that already covered the Chevrolet Cobalt and Pontiac G5.

The company said drivers of the cars should use a single key to operate their vehicles and remove all other keys and chains until after the repair is made.

"The chronology shows that the process employed to examine this phenomenon was not as robust as it should have been," GM North America President Alan Batey said in a statement Tuesday. "We are deeply sorry, and we are working to address this issue as quickly as we can."

While the recall is still substantially smaller than any of the 10 largest in U.S. history, the size is significant and the potential deadly nature of the problem raises the stakes for the automaker as it manages the recall and the potential for multiple lawsuits or a class action. It's unclear how much fixing the problem will cost. Those figures generally are reported after the fact in quarterly earnings reports.

"As this goes along, the story isn't likely to get better for GM; it gets worse," said Sean Kane, founder and president of Safety Research & Strategies, a research firm and advocate for more stringent automotive safety.

In 2010, Brooke Melton died on her 29th birthday in the Cobalt she bought new in 2005. GM settled the lawsuit by her estate but the terms are confidential.

"It is only under the pressure of the litigation of the Melton case that led GM to do the initial recall," Kane said. "How many more (accidents) have gone undetected? This is not just an airbag issue. This is a loss of control crash issue."

The ignition switch problem allows the car key to unintentionally move or switch to the off position. GM said that jarring movements or heavy attachments on key chains could cause the ignition switches to move out of the "on" position, shutting off the engine and power systems -- and disabling airbags, which is the key safety issue in the recall.

Until now, GM's recall of the Chevy Cobalt and Pontiac G5 covered fewer than half those models on U.S. roads.

In the recall expansion, GM acknowledged that years had gone by between the first indications of a problem as early as 2004 and the recalls.

The additional models had been identified by GM as early as 2005 in a dealer alert as having the same potential switch problem. Along with the Cobalt and G5, they all use switches with the same part number, an automaker's definitive way to identify components.

"Today's GM is committed to doing business differently and better," Batey said in the statement. We will take an unflinching look at what happened and apply lessons learned here to improve going forward."

On Feb. 13, GM recalled 619,122 of its 2005-07 Chevrolet Cobalt and 2007 Pontiac G5 compacts based on its own investigation of the problem. It says it doesn't rule out a wider recall, and talks with National Highway Traffic Safety Administration officials continue.

Two HHR owners complained to NHTSA about airbags not deploying in front-impact crashes.

And a May 2009 report by WTVD-TV in Raleigh, N.C., quoted Loretta Barnes as saying her 2007 HHR "stalled on the train track" in Roanoke Rapids. She said she was able to quickly restart the vehicle but that it was a recurring problem, and "I'm scared."

She said she had taken her HHR to the dealership five times without the problem being solved. As a result of the TV report, Barnes said, GM gave her a deal on a new car.

Many companies have survived high-profile recalls with their reputations intact, but GM may face at least a short-term hit to its reputation as publicity about this recall continues, said Arthur Henry, senior analyst for Kelley Blue Book.

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