American carmaker General Motors on Thursday recalled 2.7 million cars and trucks, bringing its list of faulty vehicles recalled this year to a new high.

Thirteen people had already been injured due to the mechanical problems which would cost $200 million to rectify, the company said.

Earlier this year General Motors recalled some 2.6 million cars worldwide on account of ignition switch problems that left 13 people dead when motors or electronic systems shut off without warning.

Investigations underway

This time around the company cited problems with headlamps in some Corvette models and defective power brakes in certain makes of its Chevy Malibu.

Engineers at the company reportedly knew about the defects since 2001. The US Congress, federal regulators and the Justice Department continue investigating whether the auto maker broke any laws in its handling of the recalls.

cjc /hg (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)