NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - General Motors Corp. announced a recall of 1.9 million cars Wednesday due to the risk of an electrical fire in the steering column.

The models covered by the recall are the 1995-97 Chevrolet Cavalier and Pontiac Sunfire, and the 1996-97 Buick Skylark, Pontiac Grand Am and Oldsmobile Achieva.

GM said there had been 159 reported incidents of fire or smoke involving the vehicles. It said none of the reported fires occurred while the cars were being driven. Instead it said there have been reports of fire within minutes of an unsuccessful attempt to start the car. Other fires occurred when the cars had been left unattended for a longer period. The only injuries GM reported from the problem are some claims of smoke inhalation.

A 1997 Cavalier, one of the 1.9 million vehicles recalled by GM.

"The ignition switch may deteriorate if the engine fails to crank and the driver holds the key in the 'start' position for an extended period," said a statement from Lori Queen, GM small car vehicle line executive. "High current flows through the ignition switch and sometimes produces enough heat to melt internal switch parts."

GM did not give an estimated cost to the company from the recall. Repairs to the ignition system will be done at no cost to the customer under the recall.

This is the largest GM recall in at least several years. In January GM recalled 546,000 sport/utility vehicles due to a problem with brake lights and hazard flashers. But GM has not had as serious a problem with recalls as its other U.S. competitors.

The 1996 Buick Skylark.

Ford Motor Co. (F: down $0.31 to $15.06, Research, Estimates) posted its first loss in nine years last year greatly because of the cost of replacing Firestone Wilderness tires that were standard equipment on its Ford Explorers and some other light truck models. Ford also had some embarrassing recalls associated with the launch of the new model of the Explorer last year, including the recall of 50,000 of the new cars because the new model didn't fit on the old production line, and tires left the factory with a scratch on the side of the tires.

Ford also had a recall of 1.4 million vehicles in July due to potential problems with its seatbelts, and Chrysler, the North American subsidiary of DaimlerChrysler (DCX: down $0.89 to $43.91, Research, Estimates) has also been hit by a number of large recalls, including six years of Jeep Grand Cherokees, more than 500,000 Neons and 120,000 Jeep Liberties all within the last year. DaimlerChrysler also was hit when Mitsubishi, the Japanese automaker in which DaimlerChrysler owns a controlling stake, had to recall nearly 1 million U.S. vehicles a year ago, including 400,000 that it had built for Chrysler group brands.

Shares of GM (GM: down $0.63 to $59.35, Research, Estimates), which were little changed when it made the recall announcement, closed Tuesday down a bit more than 1 percent.