Mary T. Barra, General Motors’ chief executive, announced another round of wide-ranging recalls on Monday, a sign that the company was moving with a new sense of urgency on safety problems after it disclosed a decade-long failure to fix a defect tied to 12 deaths.

The recalls, which cover 1.7 million vehicles worldwide for a variety of problems, come in addition to last month’s recall of 1.6 million Chevrolet Cobalts and other models. In one of Monday’s recalls, G.M. had alerted owners to the problem three years ago, but did not make a recall.

Ms. Barra also made her most forceful comments yet on G.M.’s need to reform its safety efforts.

“Something went very wrong in our processes in this instance, and terrible things happened,” she said in an internal video broadcast to employees.

G.M. has come under intense pressure from government officials to explain why it took years to address faulty ignition switches that could cut off engine power and disable air bags in Cobalts and other small cars.