Regulators Probing Gear Shift Trouble with GM Cars

Federal safety regulators are investigating problems with the automatic shift levers on several General Motors cars.

The probe began with the Saturn Aura midsize car from the 2007 and 2008 model years, affecting nearly 89,000 vehicles.

But the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says on its website that it’s looking into the same problem with other GM cars. The 2004-2008 Chevrolet Malibu and the 2005-2008 Pontiac G6 have similar shifting systems.

The agency says that in some cases the floor shift lever may not match the car’s gear. That means a driver could put the car in park but the transmission could be in drive or reverse.

Seven crashes and one injury have been reported to the agency and GM.

General Motors Co. says the problem mainly affects models with four-speed transmissions.