Southfield, Michigan

US vehicle recalls surpassed the 60 million mark for the first time in a single year, largely because of the rush to prevent more deaths from defective General Motors Co ignition switches and Takata Corp air bags.

The tally of 60.5 million through Sunday is almost double the previous annual record of 30.8 million recalled vehicles set in 2004, according to an analysis of data on the website of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The number will rise further as recent recalls that have been announced by carmakers are recorded in the database.