General Motors dealers are frustrated the automaker is not telling them more about the recall of 1.6 million cars after a string of deadly accidents, and many say a weeks-long delay before a remedy hurts business.
The company has said that 12 people have died in accidents related to an ignition switch problem, first observed by GM more than a decade ago, and the long road to a recall has raised questions about whether the post-bankruptcy GM is truly a different company.
On Monday GM recalled another 1.5 million vehicles, for issues including side airbag deployment.
The earlier recall has not yet started in earnest. Replacement parts to swap out a faulty ignition switch that could cut off a car’s engine and disable its airbags won’t be available until the second week of April, GM said on Monday.
“It does not seem like GM was very forthcoming about this issue and so it hit us like a thunderbolt,” said Al Cerrone, an owner of the Cerrone Chevrolet Buick & GMC Truck dealership in South Attleboro, Mass.
On Monday, new GM chief Mary Barra promised to change the company’s recall process.
GM shares closed at $34.63 on Monday, up 54 cents.