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GM to recall 1.3 mln compacts for power steering problem

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An American flag is reflected on the back of a Pontiac G8 sedan at a General Motors auto dealership in Nanuet, New York, April 27, 2009. [Xinhua]

U.S. automaker General Motors on Monday announced its recall of 1.3 million compact cars in North America to fix a power steering problem.

The recall in the United States, Canada and Mexico affects 2005 to 2010 model year Chevrolet Cobalt and 2007 to 2010 Pontiac G5s sold in the United States, 2005 and 2006 Pontiac Pursuits sold in Canada, and 2005 and 2006 Pontiac G4s sold in Mexico.

GM spokesman Alan Adler said steering failures are rare and the cars can still be driven until motors can be replaced by dealers. Drivers will see a warning light and hear a chime if the power steering fails.

He added it will take time for the automaker to get 1.3 million new power steering motors from the supplier, JTEKT Corp.

GM told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) about the voluntary recall on Monday. The NHTSA has begun an investigation into 905,000 of the models on Jan. 27 after getting 1,100 complaints that the cars lost their power steering assist. The complaints included 14 crashes and one injury.

GM's vice president of quality, Jamie Hresko, said the recall was the right thing to do for GM customers' peace of mind. "After our in-depth investigation, we found that this is a condition that takes time to develop. It tends to occur in older models out of warranty," he said.

The recall came after sudden acceleration problems experienced in some Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles, which led to the recall of more than 8 million vehicles worldwide.

Toyota executives have been summoned to testify before U.S. congressional committees investigating the company's actions and whether the NHTSA did enough to make sure the Toyotas are safe.