The fallout from General Motors Co.'s troubled recalls escalated yesterday with the automaker raising its estimated costs to $1.3 billion and suspending two engineers involved in fateful early decisions, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The Detroit company's latest cost estimate for a series of recalls, including those covering faulty ignition switches linked to 13 deaths, has it preparing to post its first quarterly net loss since emerging from bankruptcy in 2009, analysts said. The charge — more than three times GM's original estimate — is greater than the company's year-ago first quarter profit, and more than the consensus forecast among Wall Street analysts for the quarter ended March 31.
