Honda, GM add fresh recalls affecting 75,000 cars

Honda and General Motors announce recalls today, adding 75,000 cars to this year's list over safety issues.

Honda isrecalling24,889 Odyssey minivans from the 2014 model year in North America because side air bags may not deploy during a crash. Honda will start notifying owners May 16.

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About 1,500 Canadian cars are to be recalled.

Honda says no injuries or crashes have been linked to the flaw, caused by a shorting terminal. The Japanese automaker has had ongoing problems with airbag defects on its cars.

General Motors, which has recalled seven million vehicles since February, says it plans to recall 50,000 luxury SUVs later this year.

The 2013 Cadillac SRX SUV with a 3.6-litre V6 engine is affected by a computer error that can delay acceleration for three to four seconds. A lag in acceleration can increase the risk of a crash.

Dealers will replace the transmission control computer to fix the fault at no cost to owners, GM said. It did not set a date for the recall.

The bad publicity over delays in GM's recall record is prompting automakers to be very cautious in handling of safety defects.

In the U.S., GM CEO Mary Barra was called to answer questions to Congress over a recall of 2.6 million cars because of an ignition switch that turns off while the car is being driven. Most disturbing were revelations GM may have known about the fault internally for as many as 10 years.

GM has recalled about 368,000 vehicles in Canada, but has yet to be called before the transportation committee at the House of Commons.

The Globe and Mail is reporting that Conservative MPs, who hold a majority of seats on the committee, have blocked efforts to call GM officials or Transport Minister Lisa Raitt to speak on the issue.

GM Canada faces Canadian lawsuits over the ignition switch recall, which it acknowledged in a news release issued March 29 was linked to at least one fatal crash last year of a driver in Quebec.

Tory MP Larry Miller said the committee has been concentrating on dealing with rail safety issues, after the Lac-Mgantic tragedy last summer.