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Why Cadillac thinks it needs to succeed in Europe to sell cars elsewhere

Ward's Auto has taken an interesting look at the renewed focus General Motors is showing towards Cadillac in Europe. Susan Docherty, president and managing director of Chevrolet and Cadillac in Europe (pictured), says in order for the luxury brand to thrive in China, it first needs to succeed in the old country. The reason? Chinese buyers look to Europe for cues as to what's deemed worthy of the term "luxury." There are hurdles to the plan, however. In addition to the fact that the EU is flooded with high-end nameplates, GM doesn't necessarily have the distribution network in place to put buyers behind the wheel.
Combine that with persistent economic woes and Cadillac's checkered past marred by a lack of diesel engine options and a bankrupt distributor, and the road ahead for the brand looks like less of an uphill climb and more like a straight-up cliff face. But Docherty is optimistic and says she has a plan for the brand. We recommend heading over to Ward's for a closer look at the full read.

GM alerting truck and sedan owners to a do-over on brake recall

A recall campaign intended to address issues with braking systems on certain 2019 General Motors trucks and sedans may have introduced a new issue, the automaker has acknowledged, and thousands of owners driving repaired vehicles may need to return to their service departments for another update.  The update addresses a fix that was pushed out to owners of more than half a million brand-new GM trucks and sedans that could potentially lose partial braking function, according to the Detroit Free Press. The original software fix helped address situations where the vehicles' anti-lock braking systems would become disabled, which in turn would prevent electronic stability control from activating. Vehicles subject to the recall would often experience software glitches that prevented them from properly communicating the operational state of these systems, meaning drivers would have no idea that their brakes may not behave as expected in an emergency. The 2019 Chevrolet Silverado 1500, Cadillac CT6, and GMC Sierra 1500 were all recalled in the original campaign.  Unfortunately, the early version of this fix appears to have introduced yet another software glitch, indicating that the original fix did not do the trick. Those who have not yet had their cars serviced can rest easy; they will only receive the most up-to-date version of the software fix.  Related video    

GM recalling 521,817 cars in two campaigns

General Motors is issuing two, separate recalls covering a total of 521,817 vehicles worldwide. The larger campaign covers 468,887 units of the 2011-2012 Chevrolet Malibu. Specifically, 437,045 of these are in the US, and the rest are outside the country. In these sedans, a steel cable that connects the seat belt to the vehicle can fatigue and separate. GM knows of 36 claims about the problem but only one minor injury. According to The Detroit News, this happened when a taxi driver hit his head. To fix things, dealers will replace the "outboard lap mounting bracket," which will move the tensioner rearward. They'll also inspect and if necessary replace the steel cable and lap pretensioner. In the second campaign, 52,930 examples the 2015 Chevy Colorado and 2015 GMC Canyon have seat frame attachment hooks that were installed incorrectly during assembly. GM hasn't received any reports of crashes, injuries, or fatalities about this problem. Dealers will inspect the affected trucks and repair as necessary. GM spokesperson Alan Adler told Autoblog that he didn't yet have a specific date when affected owners would receive official mailings about either of these recalls. GM Statement General Motors is recalling 48,309 2015 model year Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon midsize pickup trucks in the U.S. because certain seat frame attachment hooks were not properly attached to the vehicle body during assembly. Dealers will inspect the potentially affected seats for proper installation and repair if necessary. GM knows of no crashes, injuries or fatalities related to this condition. The total vehicle population of the recall is 52,930 including 4,620 vehicles sold in Canada. General Motors is recalling 437,045, 2011-2012 model year Chevrolet Malibus in the U.S. because the flexible steel cable that connects the safety belt to the vehicle can fatigue and separate over time as a result of occupant movement in the seat. Dealers will replace the outboard lap mounting bracket to relocate the tensioner slightly rearward. Dealers will inspect the cable and, if necessary, replace the lap pretensioner. GM knows of 36 claims, no crashes or fatalities and one minor injury reportedly related to the condition. The total vehicle population of the recall is 468,887 including Canada, Mexico and exports.