Latest GM recalls cover 57,000-plus vehicles

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - General Motors Co said on Saturday it was recalling more than 57,000 vehicles in the United States for potential problems ranging from a wiring problem in the steering column to inadvertent shutdown of the engine.

The recall of 57,182 vehicles in three categories came a day after GM recalled 524,384 cars and sport utility vehicles globally for different problems. The No. 1 U.S. automaker now has issued 74 recalls this year, affecting some 30 million vehicles.

Saturday's recalls included 46,873 Pontiac G8s from 2008 and 2009, and Chevrolet Caprices marketed as police vehicles between 2011 and 2013. GM said the cars' ignition keys could be accidentally knocked out of the "run" position by the driver's knee, shutting off the engine and air bags. GM, which has a reconfigured key to solve the problem, said it was aware of one crash but no injuries or fatalities in the recalled vehicles.

A total of 10,005 Cadillac CTS-Vs from the model years 2004 through 2007 and STS-Vs manufactured from 2005 to 2007 also were recalled because of potential overheating in their fuel pump modules, which the automaker will replace.

A loose electrical connection in the steering column led GM to recall 304 Chevrolet Sonics. GM will repair the bad connection, which could restrict full deployment of air bags in a crash.

A GM statement said it was unaware of any crashes, injuries or fatalities related to the recalled Cadillacs and Sonics.

GM's most serious recall involved 2.6 million cars with defective ignition switches linked to at least 23 deaths.

On Friday, the company said it was recalling 430,550 Cadillac SRX and Saab 9-4X SUVs for possible loose joint and worn threads in the rear toe link assembly that could cause the vehicle to wander at highway speed and could possibly even separate, with the risk of causing a crash.

The Detroit company also recalled 93,834 newer South Korean-built Chevrolet Spark cars because of a risk of the hood opening unexpectedly during driving.

GM said it was not aware of any crashes, injuries or deaths from this problem, but in documents filed with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration it cited two cases in the United Kingdom and one in Denmark where the vehicle hood opened while the customer was driving.

GM also said it had told U.S. dealers on Thursday to stop selling the newly introduced 2015 Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon mid-sized pickup trucks in advance of a recall to fix a potential air bag defect.

(Writing by Bill Trott)