GM Issues Recall for 1.2 Million Vehicles

General Motors Corp. said Thursday that it was recalling 1.23 million vehicles, lifting U.S. recalls by all automakers this year to almost 25 million, a record.

General Motors’ recall included 871,473 Chevrolet TrailBlazers, GMC Envoys and similar vehicles and 256,025 Chevrolet Cavaliers and Pontiac Sunfires from the 2003 model year for separate taillight problems, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said.

The actions push U.S. vehicle recalls this year to 24.8 million, topping the previous high of 23.6 million set in 2000.

Recalls may be rising because automakers are moving faster to fix defects as they install more complex technology that can fail, NHTSA spokesman Rae Tyson said.

“It is an unfortunate fact of life that vehicle problems do arise,” Tyson said. “We would be more concerned if these problems weren’t being identified and fixed.”

Each of the five biggest automakers in the U.S. has recalled more vehicles this year than for all of 2003.

Detroit-based GM, the world’s largest auto company, has recalled 9.43 million vehicles in the U.S. this year, the most of any automaker. DaimlerChrysler’s Chrysler unit is second at 5.12 million and Ford Motor Co. is third at 4.21 million.

Japan’s Honda Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp., which round out the top five U.S. sellers, also are above 2003 totals.