Category Archives: safety

GM to take $700 Million Charge for Q2 Safety Recalls

GM said today in an SEC filing that it expects to take a charge of up to $700 million in the second quarter for the cost of recall-related repairs announced. This amount includes a previously disclosed $400 million charge for recalls announced May 15 and May 20. Continue reading

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More than 3 Million GM cars under latest Ignition Switch Recall

GM claimed the use of a key with a hole, rather than a slotted key, addresses the concern of key rotation due to a common road event, such as striking a pothole or crossing railroad tracks. Continue reading

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More GM Ignition Switch Recalls and Several Others

GM claimed, “The Camaro ignition system meets all GM engineering specifications and is unrelated to the ignition system used in Chevrolet Cobalts and other small cars included in the ignition switch recall.” Continue reading

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The Worst is yet to be on GM Ignition Switch Debacle

While the GM Town Hall meeting last week and the following press conference were devastating demonstrations of the complete failure of product development, legal and management executives at GM, the worst is yet to come in the deadly GM ignition switch disaster. It truly is the “switch from hell” as the GM engineer in charge of it said. Continue reading

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Center for Auto Safety Blasts Valukas Report as Whitewash

In a completely predictable move, the Center for Auto Safety, aka CAS, has called the internal GM investigation (the Valukas Report) into defective ignition switches that are responsible for at least 13 deaths, “little more than an elaborate whitewash that buys into GM’s arguments that it was a bunch of incompetent engineers, lawyers and mid-level managers who were fired as a result.” Continue reading

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AAA Want More Federal Oversight on US Auto Safety Matters

The largest motoring organization in the US, AAA, has called for more Federal government oversight of auto safety issues, a likely outcome of the Cobalt ignition switch debacle. The organization with 54 million members said it, “believes that GM’s promise of reform should be supplemented with greater federal oversight of the recall system.” AAA added, “A systemic reluctance to raise and react to critical safety concerns at GM reflects an ingrained culture that could require years to fully eradicate.” Continue reading

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Four More GM Recalls – Ignition Switch and Airbag Defects

A beleaguered General Motors is now conducting three safety recalls and one non-compliance recall on about 100,000 vehicles in the US. And – Yes – the safety defects involve ignition switch and airbag deployment defects on some of its most popular vehicles. Continue reading

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Ex Takata Exec Indicted for Seatbelt Price Fixing

Including Nakajima, 35 individuals have been charged in the government’s ongoing investigation into price fixing and bid rigging in the auto parts industry, 24 of whom have pleaded guilty or agreed to plead guilty. Of those, 22 have been sentenced to serve prison terms ranging from a year and one day to two years. Additionally, 27 companies have pleaded guilty or agreed to plead guilty and have agreed to pay a total of more than $2.3 billion in fines. Continue reading

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GM Probe on Deadly Cobalt Ignition Switches Clears Top Management as 15 Engineering, Legal, Policy Heads Roll

GM CEO Mary Barra said the Valukas findings were “extremely thorough, brutally tough, and deeply troubling. Overall the report found that, from start to finish, the Cobalt saga was riddled with failures which led to tragic results for many.” Continue reading

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GM Expands Shift Cable Recall from 56k to 1 Million

This latest GM recall – and by no means the last coming this year – is its another reputational hit in a safety defect / cover-up fiasco that came to light with the ignition switch recall made public in February of 2104. Thus far, GM sales have not been measurably affected. Continue reading

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GM Recalls another 2.4 Million Vehicles for Safety Defects

The beleaguered General Motors Company announced four new recalls of 2.4 million cars, trucks and sport utility vehicles, for a staggering year-to-date total 13.5 million recalled vehicles, clearly the largest in the company’s history. Continue reading

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NHTSA Fines GM a Paltry $35 Million for Ignition Switch Fiasco

GM also faces billions in criminal penalties. Recently Toyota Motor agreed to pay a $1.2 billion fine in a controversial plea agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice whereby Toyota Motor Corporation admits to lying to consumers and U.S. safety regulators about unintended acceleration in its cars during the fall of 2009 and early 2010. Continue reading

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Ex PetroTiger CEO Indicted for Bribery and Kickbacks

Joseph Sigelman, 43, of Miami and the Philippines, was indicted by a federal grand jury in the District of New Jersey and charged with conspiracy to violate the FCPA and to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to launder money, and substantive FCPA and money laundering violations while working for PetroTiger. Continue reading

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Department of Transportation Kisses Big Oil and Railroad Butts

The problem, the deadly problem, is that many of the tank cars in use by Big Oil and the railroads to move crude oil are not safe – as the Lac-Mégantic derailment that killed 42 civilians and wiped half of a southern Quebec town proved. Continue reading

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Safety Recalls Galore! The Toyota and GM Effect Has Industry Scrambling as BMW, Honda, Mazda, Mercedes and Saturn Join the Defect Parade

A reinvigorated NHTSA – called the lapdog of the auto industry during the Toyota hearings – along with automakers who are now all too well aware of the large fines – civil and criminal – and lawsuits that derive from stonewalling safety defects has resulted in a seemingly unending list of recalls that occur almost daily. Continue reading

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