GM:
1981 - GM recalled 5.8 million vehicles due to loose suspension bolts that affected steering.
July 1998 - GM recalled close to 1 million Cadillac, Pontiac and Chevrolet cars because of fears that the air bags may have deployed by accident.
2004 - GM recalled nearly 4 million pickups because of corroding tailgate cables.
April 2005 - GM said it was recalling more than 2 million vehicles to fix a variety of potential safety defects, most of them on cars and trucks sold in the U.S.
GM said the largest of the safety actions included 1.5 million full-size pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles from the 2003 to 2005 model years with second-row seat belts that may be difficult to properly position across passengers' hips.
Aug. 2008 - GM announced a recall of 857,735 vehicles equipped with a heated windshield wiper fluid system for a potential short-circuit problem, according to federal safety regulators.
FORD:
1996 - Ford Motor Co (F.N) recalled more than 8 million vehicles to replace defective ignition switches that could have led to electrical shorts and engine fires.
Oct. 2009 - Ford completed a series of recalls affecting 14 million vehicles due to faulty cruise control deactivation switch. The latest recall involved some 4.5 million vehicles.
-- Texas Instruments said in a statement that a former business unit had designed and manufactured the switch to "meet and exceed" Ford specifications, and is not the "root cause" of fires. A 2006 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigation, Texas Instruments said, concluded that multiple factors contributed to fires.
