General Motors Company, also known as GM, is withdrawing approximately 200,000 Hummer SUVs around the world, primarily in the US. This is due to the reported fire incidents that are caused by the overheating of the ventilation fan of the SUV's motor controls.
According to the multinational company, the fire is caused by a component that commands the heating and air-conditioning blower motor speed. The said module likely overheats when operated for long period of time, melting neighboring plastic units which will increase the possibility of fire.
Since the car maker started withdrawing the vehicles, 42 reports of fire have already been registered. About 31 of them were reported to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and 11 to GM.
Three people were burned according to GM. Two of the three Hummer models owned by said individuals were totally consumed by fire.
The total number of Hummer SUVs to be recalled is 196,379. 165,000 of which are coming from the United States and the remainder are distributed to other countries in the world, mostly from Mexico and Canada.
Models that will be recalled include the 2006 to 2010 Hummer H3, and the 2009 to 2010 Hummer H3Ts. The company will eventually change the defective modules and wiring harness of the vehicles for free.
Hummer was one of the four brands of GM that are no longer available in the market since 2009. It was reported during that year that a Chinese company will acquire the brand. However, due to some circumstances, the acquisition failed which led to the total dismantling of the Hummer brand.
Aside from the Hummer, General Motors is also recalling roughly 51,000 Chevrolet Spark and Sonic modeled from 2014 to 2015. This is due to the problem of their radio software which can disable safety warnings and can lock the display screen in the OnStar navigation mode.
No report of injuries or crashes have been linked to the Chevy Spark and Sonic.
