General Motors
GM
recently issued a recall for more than 400,000 pickup trucks in the United States over defective air bags, wherein the roof-rail airbag could explode without warning, emitting parts into the cabin. Per the company, the defect stemmed from manufacturing fault allowing moisture into the inflator when it was being built, causing corrosion.
According to National Highway Traffic Safety Association (“NHTSA”), the malfunction involves air bag inflators that can puncture or the end cap that can detach from both sides of the vehicles, causing compressed gas to escape and send airbag or interior components into the vehicle. Per NHTSA, this can prove detrimental on road.
The recall pertains to few 2015 and 2016 Chevrolet Silverado 1500, 2500 and 3500 models and certain 2015 and 2016 Sierra 1500, 2500 and 3500 models. The total number of vehicles recalled is 410,019 trucks.
Reportedly, the recall was triggered due to three incidents of fractured inflators in 2015 Silverados in June 2021, with one event in Florida and two events in Texas. All three incidents involved vacant trucks at the time of the rupture, thus causing no injuries.
Nonetheless, the latest recall is not part of the ongoing massive Takata airbag recall, as these were not Takata-supplied airbags, but were made in Mexico by Joyson Safety Systems.
Vehicle dealers will replace both side air bag modules free of cost though it only has a limited number of replacement parts available currently. Owners of the defected vehicles will be intimated about the malfunction starting Aug 16. Owners will receive a second notification for repair when parts are widely available.
The latest recall is the second one related to this issue. Last year, nearly 9,000 trucks were affected in a separate recall due to this problem.
General Motors Q2 Sales in China Gain Steam
Last week, General Motors announced second-quarter 2021 sales figures for China, the world’s largest car market, wherein it commands a huge presence. Encouragingly, the automaker’s retail sales in China during the June-end quarter were more than 750,000 vehicles, marking a year-on-year increase of 5.2%. The upside can be attributed to outperformance in luxury and premium vehicles, SUVs and MPVs, including the Cadillac CT5 and XT6, Buick LaCrosse, Enclave and GL8 family. Sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) across the company’s brands also delivered robust performance.
The mass-market brand Buick deliveries witnessed a 5.7% surge in the second quarter from the prior year’s level to more than 225,000 units. Sales of GL8 MPV, Enclave large SUV and LaCrosse sedan came in at more than 45,000, 8,000 and 16,000 units, respectively.
The luxury brand Cadillac deliveries summed 64,000 units in the quarter under discussion, up 9.1% year over year. Sales of the XT6 SUV registered a solid performance with deliveries of more than 10,000 units and deliveries of the CT5 luxury sedan increased 64% to over 16,000 units.
Sales of the no-frills brand Wuling increased 28% year over year to more than 346,000 units, as the brand maintained its dominant position in commercial vehicles. Sales of Hong Guang mini-EV exceeded 85,000 units, retaining its position as the best-selling green vehicle in the country. In April, Wuling rolled out the Hong Guang MINI EV Macaron and unveiled the Cabrio version.
Chevrolet recorded sale of more than 63,000 vehicles in the second quarter. Improvement in the brand’s SUV mix, led by Blazer and revamped Equinor, aided this sales growth. Also, sales of Malibu XL flagship sedan surpassed 16,000 units.
Baojun sold approximately 52,000 units during the June-end period. In a bid to increase its appeal to the youth generation, the brand recently launched the Valli mid-size wagon passenger vehicle to its line-up.
The Detroit automaker remained committed to its goal of providing green transportation solutions in China. In fact, the company is launching its advanced global EV platform —Ultium— in China, to power a range of electric vehicles. The brand’s inaugural Ultium-based model for China, the Cadillac LYRIQ all-electric SUV, was unveiled at Auto Shanghai 2021 and will hit the market early next year.
General Motors, peers of which include
Tesla
TSLA
,
Ford
F
and
Stellantis N.V
.
STLA
, currently flaunts a Zacks Rank of 1 (Strong Buy). You can see
the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Breakout Biotech Stocks with Triple-Digit Profit Potential
The biotech sector is projected to surge beyond $775 billion by 2024 as scientists develop treatments for thousands of diseases. They’re also finding ways to edit the human genome to literally erase our vulnerability to these diseases.
Zacks has just released
Century of Biology: 7 Biotech Stocks to Buy Right Now
to help investors profit from 7 stocks poised for outperformance. Our recent biotech recommendations have produced gains of +50%, +83% and +164% in as little as 2 months. The stocks in this report could perform even better.
See these 7 breakthrough stocks now>>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.
Click to get this free report