General Motors said on Friday that it had told its dealers to stop selling Chevrolet Cruze small cars equipped with 1.4-liter turbo engines for an undisclosed issue, another blow for a company dealing with the crisis created by defective ignition switches linked to at least 12 deaths.



The No. 1 U.S. automaker said the affected Cruze cars from model years 2013 and 2014 are not being recalled. The move only covers the affected models that are unsold on dealer lots.

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"I can just confirm that we put a stop-sale in last night,'' GM spokesman Alan Adler said.

He said he did not have any details on why the action was being taken, but said stop-sale orders can happen for various reasons. He said stop-sale orders mean the dealers need to do something to the vehicle before it can be sold.