General Motors is issuing a vehicle recall order for about 196,000 of the company's Hummers because of a problem in the SUV's electrical systems, which has led to at least two of the vehicles being destroyed due to fire.
According to GM, an electrical component of the SUV's ventilation, cooling and heating system could possibly overheat, causing fire within the Hummer's dashboard.
GM also reported three people who have suffered from minor burns due to the issue. In two of these incidents, the owner reported that their SUVs were destroyed by the fire.
"There was a funny smell. I immediately stopped and told my passenger to get out and noticed a fire under the passenger glove box," wrote an owner of a Hummer to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
The owner said that he had tried to put out the fire under his Hummer's dashboard. However, the fire did not subside and eventually consumed the entire vehicle in flames.
At least 20 owners of Hummers have filed complaints with the NHTSA regarding fire igniting under the dashboard of their vehicles.
The NHTSA started to receive reports about the fire problem in the Hummer in 2008. Overall, GM said that there have been 42 reported incidents of dashboard fire, with 31 being reported to the NHTSA and 11 being reported directly to the company.
The vehicle recall order covers 165,000 SUVs within the United States and includes the Hummer H3 with model years 2006 to 2010 and the Hummer H3T with model years 2009 and 2010. The remaining vehicles are located mostly within Canada and Mexico.
Hummer was one of the four brands that were shed by GM in 2009 when the car company had to undergo restructuring amid bankruptcy. A Chinese company tried to maintain the Hummer brand, but it was not successful in doing so. As such, no Hummer SUVs are currently being manufactured.
In addition to the issued recall order for Hummers, GM has also released a vehicle recall order for almost 51,000 Chevrolet Spark subcompact cars with newer model years.
The Spark cars, with model years 2014 and 2015, affected by the recall order have problems in their software, which could cause safety warning signs to malfunction.
The problem is in the radio software when the car owner uses the OnStar navigation system. The malfunction will cause the display to disappear, disabling safety warnings such as unworn seat belts while driving and keys being left in the car's ignition.
Photo: Brian Cantoni | Flickr
