“It has taken way too long,” Barra said about the recall.
In a strategy to ‘get out of Washington hearings with minimal damage,’ both the head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, David Friedman, and the CEO of General Motors, Mary Barra, today used the prevaricating non-answer that both organizations were still investigating the GM ignition switch controversy that, allegedly, caused the deaths of 13 people.
The simple question – asked in various ways repeatedly at the hearing – remains why did it take a decade to recall what everyone now admits was a defective ignition switch whose failure caused cars to stall suddenly while the airbags were disabled.
Why didn’t GM recall the switches sooner? Why has no one at GM been fired?
Why didn’t NHTSA identify the deadly trend of airbags failing to deploy sooner?
The “we’re still investigating it” excuse was particularly lame in front of grandstanding Congresspersons, many of whom were clearly ignorant of the technicalities surrounding the issue. Lost in the hype is the fact that people die from airbag deployment if they are not wearing a seatbelt and as a result are moving forward during the explosion.
What wasn’t lost was the fact that both bureaucracies were scrambling and covering butts.
During the last ten years, NHTSA investigations have resulted in 35 recalls buy klonopin legally related to airbags involving 6.5 million vehicles, including 18 recalls of 3.5 million vehicles specifically involving non-deployment. In those cases, information available to NHTSA demonstrated the need to investigate, the agency claimed. However NHTSA had plenty of information from outside GM.
The core issues – ultimately remain – was GM honest in presenting its data to NHTSA and was NHTSA doing its job? Damning is the fact that supplier Delphi of the defective ignition switches, a former GM subsidiary, changed the design without changing the part number years after the problem was identified. GM should be in charge of the part number. There are also internal GM memos that suggest that the cost of a recall prevented it.
In February 2014, GM admitted to NHTSA that, for the first time, it acknowledged a link between the ignition switch to the airbag non-deployment, as well as other information regarding parts changes, discussions with suppliers, and other efforts currently under investigation.
At the end of a long day, NHTSA fared better than GM, but it was a Pyrrhic victory. GM should have recalled the cars because the Delphi switch did not meet specs, and it knew it. NHTSA should have identified the defects from complaints it had and several internal NHTSA investigations years ago.
GM statement on the quit claims bankruptcy protection on ignition switch recall:
“General Motors has taken responsibility for its actions and will keep doing so. GM has also acknowledged that it has civic and legal obligations relating to injuries that may relate to recalled vehicles, and it has retained Kenneth Feinberg to advise the company what options may be available to deal with those obligations.”
Background:
GM has asked the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York to rule on whether the growing number of lawsuits alleging purely economic damages resulting from the ignition switch recall may proceed.
“The motion does not concern accidents or injuries. As the motion states clearly, it “does not address any litigation involving an accident or incident causing personal injury, loss of life or property damage.”
“Further, the motion does not involve whether New GM should repair the ignition switch defect. New GM has committed to replacing the defective ignition switch as a result of the recall. The lawsuits that are the subject of this motion, most of which purport to be class actions, are brought by or on behalf of individuals who were not injured as the result of any failure of the ignition switch.”
Unfortunately, Garrett is probably right, and GM have followed the great corporate tradition of treating their customers with a combination of ignorance and disdain.It’s not even as if GM make great cars, although there are one or two that are better than the rest.
Mary Barra was one of the executives in charge at GM throughout this period, which means she is as culpable as the rest of the GM board.
Why did it take a decade? Several contributing factors are likely to include heaping portions of moral cowardice, corporate inertia, blind adherence to authority and the great cop-out of all time; I was just following orders.