DETROIT (REUTERS) - General Motors Co said on Tuesday it is recalling another 2.6 million vehicles globally, raising the number of vehicles it has recalled so far this year to almost 15.4 million.

The four recalls are the latest announced by the largest US automaker, the highest profile of which is the recall of cars with defective ignition switches linked to at least 13 deaths.

GM has been criticised by safety advocates and fined by US safety regulators for not catching the faulty switch earlier.

GM also said on Tuesday that it is doubling the charge it expects to take in the second quarter to about US$400 million (S$500 million), mostly for recall-related repairs. In the first quarter, GM took a charge of US$1.3 billion, mostly related to the ignition switch recall.

The total number of recalled vehicles this year is more than the previous five years combined.

The latest actions cover possible faulty seat belts, transmissions, air bags and fire issues, and mostly affected vehicles sold in the United States.

GM said there have been no fatalities associated with the latest recalls. The actions affect the Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse, GMC Acadia and Saturn Outlook full-size crossover vehicles; older-generation Chevy Malibu and Pontiac G6 mid-sized sedans; and newer versions of the Cadillac Escalade SUV and heavy-duty Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra full-size pickup trucks.

Last week, GM announced five recalls covering almost 3 million vehicles globally and said it would take a second-quarter charge of about US$200 million. It also was fined by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration a record US$35 million for its delayed response to the defective ignition switch.

GM is also under investigation by the US Department of Justice, Congress, the US Securities and Exchange Commission and several states for its handling of the faulty ignition switch, which engineers first discovered in 2001.

GM has been criticised for failing to detect the faulty part and for not recalling the vehicles before this year.

The automaker expects to complete an internal probe of its handling of the issue within the next two weeks.

The largest of the four new recalls announced on Tuesday covers more than 1.5 million full-size crossovers from model years 2009 through 2014 to replace potential defective seat belts.

GM has told dealers to stop selling the newer models until they are repaired.