GM tells dealers to stop selling Cruze sedans on air bag issue

By Bernie Woodall

DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Co on Wednesday said that it has told its North American dealers to stop selling new and used Chevrolet Cruze sedans from model years 2013 and 2014 because of a potential problem with the air bags.

The Cruze sedans are equipped with air bags supplied by Takata Corp, a GM spokesman said. Potentially faulty airbags supplied by Takata have led to the recall of about 10.5 million vehicles worldwide, many of them made by Toyota Motor Corp and Honda Motor Co.

GM has not at this point recalled the Cruze sedans in consumer hands and is investigating how many vehicles have a faulty part for the air bags, said a GM spokesman.

The company said it does not yet know whether there have been any crashes, injuries or deaths related to this issue.

The Cruze is GM's top-selling car in North America. GM has built about half a million 2013 and 2014 model year Cruze sedans since October 2012.

The stop-sales order follows a series of safety-related problems that have plagued GM since early this year. So far this year, GM has issued 44 recalls covering about 20 million vehicles globally. Among those recalls is one for older model Chevrolet Cobalt and other GM small cars with faulty ignition switches, which have been linked to the deaths of at least 13 people.

"Certain vehicles may be equipped with a suspect driver's air bag inflator module that may have been assembled with an incorrect part," said a GM statement.

The stop-sales order for Cruze was first reported by Automotive News.

(Reporting by Bernie Woodall; Editing by Chris Reese and Steve Orlofsky)