DETROIT, June 30 (Reuters) - General Motors Co on Monday widened the list of older models it is recalling for potentially deadly ignition switches, adding 8.45 million compact and midsize sedans that it has linked to seven crashes and three fatalities.
GM this year has recalled 29 million vehicles, more than half of them because of potentially defective ignition switches.
Earlier on Monday, GM provided details of a compensation fund set up to provide at least $1 million to victims of crashes tied to defective switches in older compact cars, including the Chevrolet Cobalt and Saturn Ion.
GM said on Monday it would increase by $500 million a second-quarter charge to cover the cost of the recalls. So far this year, the writedowns are expected to total $2.5 billion.
GM did not say how it would fix the latest batch of switches, but as with earlier cases it urged owners to remove all items, including the fob, from key rings, leaving only the ignition key.
GM said the switch could be turned off because of "inadvertent key rotation." In turn, that could shut off the engine and cut power to steering, brakes and air bags. (Reporting by Paul Lienert and Bernie Woodall in Detroit; editing by Matthew Lewis)