A last glance at automotive recalls of 2014

AKRON—Last year was a record breaker for automotive industry recalls in the U.S., with auto makers issuing more than 550 recalls covering more than 52 million vehicles.

General Motors Co. won the prize for the largest recalls in 2014, with faulty ignition switches accounting for more than half of the 30 million vehicles called back.

Malfunctioning airbags, faulty headlights and tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) problems also forced vehicle recalls.

Meanwhile, tire maker recalls involved potential tread separation problems or mismarkings on the tire sidewalls. Here's a roundup of tire-related recalls in 2014:

Qingdao Xiyingmen Double Camel Tyre/Lionshead Specialty Tire—1,440 Vail Sport ST LH 99 tubeless trailer tires, size 225/75D15, load range D, DOT Code 69, manufactured between July 14 and July 27, 2013, due to possible failure under prolonged use and may become unseated from the rim. 

American Honda Motor Co. Inc.—9,817 2014 Honda Civic LX cars to inspect the OE tires for possible tears in the bead area caused when a supplier accidentally pinched the tire beads between the assembly equipment and the steel wheel rims while assembling the tires to the rims. 

Federal Corp.—6,209 Couragia A/T light truck tires, size LT245/75R16 120/116Q 10PR with DOT code UXA3, manufactured between May 2013 and April 2014, that may suffer shoulder cracks caused by separation of the steel belt edge. 

Alliance Tire Americas Inc.—286 of its 14-17.5 ML Alliance 239 mining/logging tires because they are missing essential sidewall markings. 

Qingdao Xiyingmen Double Camel Tyre Co. Ltd./Lionshead Specialty Tire & Wheel L.L.C.—42,129 Vail Sport ST LH 99 tubeless trailer tires, size 225/75D15, manufactured between November 2011 and September 2013, due to the load range designation missing from the sidewalls. Their manufacture dates overlap those of similar tires recalled in February. 

TBC Corp.—388 Wild Country Radial XTX Sport tires, size 265/65R18, manufactured by Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. between June 1 and June 28, 2014, due to possible cracking or broken ply cords in the lower sidewall on the white sidewall side. 

Continental—8,070 ContiAttack SM, ContiSportAttack, ContiSportAttack2, ContiRaceAttack Comp. Soft, ContiRaceAttack Comp. Medium, ContiRaceAttack Comp. Endurance and ContiRoadAttack 2 GTW motorcycle tires, size 120/70ZR17 and 120/70R17, with production dating back to first quarter of 2007, due to possible separations between the tread, belt and carcass. 

Chrysler—233,053 2014 Ram ProMaster full-size vans to upgrade TPMS software that helps tire sensors recognize which tire is transmitting low-pressure data. 

Chrysler—10,390 2014 Jeep Wrangler SUVs and Dodge Grand Caravan/Chrysler Town & Country Minivans that need to have their TPMS modules reconfigured to disable test modes that were inadvertently left on and could cause inaccurate tire pressure readings. 

ITG Voma Corp./American Tire Distributors Holdings Inc.—95,000 Capitol Precision Trac II tires in seven sizes, manufactured between March 2009 and May 2010, because of a manufacturing anomaly that could lead to tread separation. The sizes are: 245/70R17—DOT Code JE LJ FTP 2209 through 2010; 235/70R16—JE KJ ETP 5008 through 2010; 235/75R15—JE KK DTP 0909 through 2010; 245/70R16—JE LJ ETR 0909 through 2010; 245/75R16—JE LK ETP 1009 through 2010; 255/70R16—JE MJ ETP 0909 through 2010; and 265/75R16—JE NK ETP 0909 through 2010. 

Continental Tire the Americas L.L.C.—5,993 ProContact GX SSR runflat radials, size 225/45R18 95H XL, produced between June 22 and July 28, 2014, that were fitted OE on the front axles of certain 2015 Mercedes-Benz C-Class vehicles. Some may have been deformed during the curing process, which could cause the tire tread to appear distorted when inflated. Fewer than 100 of the tires were sold in the replacement market. 

Mazda North American Operations—99,711 Mazda6 sedans for TPMS systems installed from Oct. 25, 2012, to Oct. 10, 2014, because the systems may not alert drivers to low tire pressure. 

Toyo Tire Holdings of Americas Inc.—175,000 Toyo Open Country H/T, with Tuff Duty, produced between November 2008 and June 2013, and Nitto Dura Grappler Highway Terrain tires, produced between May 2007 and April 2012, because of the potential for a tread/belt separation in a small number of tires. The recall affects seven LT sizes of the Open Country H/T and four LT sizes of the Nitto Dura Grappler. 

Dynamic Tire Corp.—17,369 Towmax STR tires, size ST225/75 R15, manufactured June 15 to October 14, 2014, due to incorrect load capacity and inflation pressure stampings. 

Chrysler Group L.L.C.—10,390 Chrysler Town and Country and Dodge Grand Caravan vehicles manufactured between March 20 and April 22, 2014, and Jeep Wrangler vehicles manufactured between March 21 and April 22, 2014, due to malfunctioning TPMS warning lights that may illuminate even when the vehicles' tires are within specifications for inflation. 

Toyo Tire Canada Inc.—10,000 Toyo Open Country H/T with Tuff Duty light truck tires, produced from November 2008 through June 2013, and Nitto Dura Grappler Highway Terrain tires, produced May 2007 through April 2012, due to the potential for a tread/belt separation in a small number of tires. This complements and runs parallel to a recall in the U.S. in November.