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| GM names new vehicle safety chief in wake of recalls | GM names new vehicle safety chief in wake of recalls |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| DETROIT—General Motors chief executive Mary T. Barra, facing intense scrutiny for failing to repair an ignition defect that the giant automaker has linked to 12 deaths, appointed a top executive to oversee global vehicle safety on Tuesday. | |
| Barra said the new executive vice president, 40-year GM employee Jeffrey Boyer, will be in charge of new car safety as well as all safety recalls. She said the new post “elevates and integrates our safety process under a single leader so we can set a new standard for customer safety with more rigorous accountability.” | |
| Barra, speaking Tuesday to a group of reporters in a conference room at the company’s headquarters overlooking the Detroit River, said the appointment is just one of several steps GM is taking to tighten its oversight of vehicle safety. | |
| “We want to make sure this problem never happens again,” said Barra. | “We want to make sure this problem never happens again,” said Barra. |
| The appointment comes as the company is in the midst of an unfolding scandal over why it did not fix flawed ignition switches that if jostled or weighted with too many keys could cause cars to stall, disabling their air bags. So far the problem has been officially linked by the company to 31 accidents and 12 deaths. Last month, the automaker recalled 1.6 million Chevrolet Cobalts and five other models. | |
| GM has told safety regulators that it had fielded complaints about the problem as early as 2001, but the company said it could not firmly pinpoint the problem and did not issue a recall until last month. | GM has told safety regulators that it had fielded complaints about the problem as early as 2001, but the company said it could not firmly pinpoint the problem and did not issue a recall until last month. |
| The appointment comes a day after the automaker announced three more recalls, unrelated to the faulty ignition switch problem. | |
| The long inaction on the ignition switch defect has made the company the focus of investigations by two congressional committees and federal safety regulators. The company is also the subject of a preliminary probe by federal prosecutors who are considering a criminal investigation, according to people familiar with the matter. | |
| Staffers from the House Energy and Commerce committee, one of the congressional panels preparing for hearings, met Tuesday with GM officials, mainly to go over the company’s version of events as laid out in chronologies it has filed with federal regulators, company officials said. Barra said that she would testify if summoned by Congress once hearings are held. | |
| Barra has named a former federal prosecutor to lead an internal investigation that could stretch over months to create a more precise record of “what went wrong and why,” Barra said, adding: “there are no sacred cows.” | |
| Barra was noncommittal when asked whether she would waive the immunity GM enjoys from liability claims predating its 2009 bankruptcy and federal bailout, saying the internal investigation would provide the company with a baseline of facts that will guide it as it moves forward. | |
| Vehicle safety advocates have called on GM, which has seen its profits soar and standing with car buyers improve since its restructuring, to establish a $1 billion victims’s fund to compensate the families of those killed and injured in connection with the defective part. | |
| GM has paid settlements in several lawsuits filed in connection with the part, but it has not released a comprehensive list of the lawsuits it has faced in connection with the defect or a list of names of those it believes were hurt and killed in connection with defect. | |
| In her remarks to reporters, Barra repeated her apology for the problem and promised to work diligently to resolve it. She also said that repairs connected with the ignition switch recall should begin by mid-April and be completed by October. | In her remarks to reporters, Barra repeated her apology for the problem and promised to work diligently to resolve it. She also said that repairs connected with the ignition switch recall should begin by mid-April and be completed by October. |
| The recall debacle has posed a stern early test for Barra, who took over as chief executive officer of GM in January. She said that she first learned about the problem when the company decided a recall was warranted in late January. | |
| Since then, she has pledged GM’s cooperation with the ongoing investigations and apologized repeatedly for the deaths and injuries connected to the defective ignition switches. | |
| “This is a big crisis and it is going to go on for a while,” said Dan Hill, president of Ervin Hill Strategy, a crisis public relations firm. “They are going to be fighting battles on many fronts. But GM taking it seriously, they are showing contrition, and the CEO is engaged.” | |
| Barra said she is confident that the recalled cars are safe to drive so long as drivers remove all other items from their key rings. She added that if owners are uncomfortable driving the recalled models, they can have loaners and rentals provided by their dealers. She also reiterated GM’s pledge to reimburse dealers for the cost of providing those cars. | |
| The models recalled by GM because of the ignition switch problem are: 2005-2007 Cobalts and Pontiac G5s; 2003-2007 Saturn Ion compacts, and 2006-2007 Chevrolet HHRs, Pontiac Solstices and Saturn Skys. | The models recalled by GM because of the ignition switch problem are: 2005-2007 Cobalts and Pontiac G5s; 2003-2007 Saturn Ion compacts, and 2006-2007 Chevrolet HHRs, Pontiac Solstices and Saturn Skys. |
| Related: | Related: |
| Watchdog group says review identified 303 deaths in GM cars with undeployed air bags | Watchdog group says review identified 303 deaths in GM cars with undeployed air bags |
| GM announces 3 new recalls, takes $300 million charge | GM announces 3 new recalls, takes $300 million charge |