By Tim Collins

GM has had a rough time in recent years, first they faced bankruptcy, then a much protested government bailout. Their stocks have been down as have been their sales. Now GM has issued a recall on 38,000 police cars.

The problem is from a front end suspension problem that could crack and cause the cars to crash. The models affected are Chevrolet Impalas made between 2008 – 2012.

Impalas sold to the public have some different suspension parts and are not affected by the recall, spokesman Alan Adler said. “We tested for durability on the civilian Impala, and we believe there are no issues,” he said.

GM is unaware of any crashes or injuries related to the suspension problem, but felt the recall was their best option. The problem was discovered after GM got reports from several police fleets that the lower control arms had cracked near a bushing sleeve. GM began investigating the problem in February, and in July, GM engineers had traced the problem to lower control arms that the company started using in the middle of the 2008 model year, the documents said.

GM has been fighting for dominance in the American car market but have been plagued by problems. The Chevy Volt, heralded as GM’s commitment to the “green” movement , has seen slow sales. Early Chevy Volts were prone to overheating and catching fire. GM went into PR overdrive assuring the public that the Chevy Volt was safe. Another problem many Volt owners complained about was a general lack of charging stations. So far the Chevy Volt is outselling rival Nissan’s Leaf.

During March of this year, GM announced that it would suspend production on the Volt for five weeks. Insiders have said it was to allow the company time to rethink their marketing of the car and to seek out any safety issues. Recently, the Volt has made it’s way to China, but the Chinese market isn’t impressed. GM announced lower than expected sales in China, but have remained positive on the car’s potential in the Asian market.

Related articles

• GM Recalls 38,000 Impala Cop Cars (abcnews.go.com)
• GM recalls more than 38,000 Impala police cars (mlive.com)
• GM recalls more than 38,000 Impala police cars (seattletimes.nwsource.com)