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Recalls have been plaguing the auto industry in the past few months. The latest news involves BMW and Volkswagen recalled cars and minivans in the United States due to defects that can cause fires according to the government auto safety regulators.

BMW needed to recall 1 Series cars M.Y. 2008 through 2011 due to defective retractor of the front safety belts which may ignite. This is according to the notice at the website of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The number of the affected vehicles is not indicated on the notice.

Volkswagen recalls 15902 units of Routan minivans due to short circuit risks with the latches of the rear-door.

The announcement of the recalls were made after the committee in charge of regulations for the automotive industry sent its report to the Senate body to toughen the laws and penalties for violations.

The recall of VW for the 2009 model year of their mini vans following a recall of the Chrysler Group of 284,831 units of the Town & Country by Chrysler and Grand Caravan under the Dodge brand.

According to the safety engineers of BMW, the problem with the BMW will occur during road accidents of significant severity. The mechanism of the seat belt is designed to add tension, tighten, and hold the person back to his seat during a crash. The problem was traced to the insulation wrapped around the pre-tensioner.

The major car manufacturers in the United States posted double digit gains in May except for Japanese carmaker Toyota. The sales for light vehicles peaked since December.

The figures are up by as much as 19% compared to the May 2009 sales numbers marking the eight consecutive month of increase which is considered the longest streak since the first half of 2000. The adjusted rate of sales hit the bell at 11.8 million way over the predictions of experts.

Ford registered a 22% gain for May and also performed well during the incentive spree during the weekend of Memorial Day. General Motors also saw a jump of 17%.

Chrysler soared to a 33% improvement compared a year ago when the carmaker suffered bankruptcy.

The Detroit 3 surpassed the forecast figures of analysts going over by at least 6%.

The sales of Japanese car manufacturer Toyota also went up but only by 7% despite its barrage of incentive programs since March. This is the worst performance by Toyota after posting drops from January through February during the peak of the recall issues. Toyota is still struggling to get up and come up with a better image for the market after recalling over eight million units due to braking and acceleration problems.