General Motors, Honda, Fiat Chrysler top US government's list of recalls by automaker

General Motors Co. and Honda Motor Co. topped the U.S. government's list of automakers with the most recalled vehicles last year.

GM had 78 separate recalls for a total of 26.8 million vehicles to finish first in the biggest year for recalls in American history. The company was plagued by glitches with vehicle ignition switches, recalling nearly 5.9 million cars to fix that problem. Sometimes the problems were deadly. At least 57 people died in crashes caused by the faulty switches in some small car models, touching off a companywide safety review that generated the record numbers.

Widening problems with air bag inflators made by Japan's Takata Corp. pushed Honda into second place with 18 recalls totaling just over 9 million vehicles. More than half of Honda's recalled vehicles — 5.4 million — were due to the air bags, which can inflate with too much force and spew shrapnel into drivers and passengers. The problem has been blamed for at least six deaths worldwide.

Together, GM and Honda accounted for more than half of the record 64 million vehicles recalled last year.

Here are the top 10 automakers for recalls, their number of recalls last year and the number of vehicles recalled:

Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration