By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, Aug 21 (Reuters) - The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Friday it has upgraded and expanded a probe into nearly 1 million General Motors pickup trucks and SUVs over engine failures that led to a recall in 2025.
The agency said it was opening an enginering analysis, a higher-level investigation than the a formal review it began this year to determine if the company's fix was effective.
An engineering analysis is a required step before the agency
could seek to compel an expanded recall or additional repairs.
The vehicles under investigation are Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Silverado 1500, Suburban, Tahoe and GMC Yukon, Sierra 1500 models equipped with L87 engines from the 2021 to 2026 model years.
GM in 2025 recalled nearly 600,000 vehicles from the 2021 to 2024 model years to address engine failure concerns, citing a supplier's quality issues. In many cases, engines failed while vehicles were moving.
GM has received nearly 7,000 complaints of engine failures in vehicles that had the recall work completed while the auto safety regulator said it received 499 complaints.
NHTSA said it has another 191 reports of engine failures in vehicles with the same engine but not included in the 2025 recall.
The recall fix included inspecting and possibly replacing engines as well possible oil system changes.
GM said Friday it continues to cooperate with NHTSA’s evaluation.
The automaker opened three investigations into the issue between 2022 and 2024 then issued a recall in 2025 after NHTSA began investigating.
GM’s investigation last year identified just over 28,000 complaints and about half alleged vehicles lost propulsion.
GM in 2025 said it had identified 12 crashes and 12 injuries in the United Staes that could be related to the issue as well as 42 reports of fire that were possibly related. All of the alleged injuries were minor, the company said.
(Reporting by Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and Cynthia Osterman)
