Weekly Recap: Ignition-switch recall stirs new controversy for GM

Filed under: Motorsports, Performance, Government/Legal, Recalls, Safety, Chevrolet, Ford, GM, Fisker, Design/Style

GM has recalled an estimated 2.6 million vehicles for the ignition switches, and it's believed at least 32 deaths have resulted from the crashes.

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General Motors again came under fire this week for its handling of its far-reaching ignition-switch recall.

Newly released emails indicated GM had ordered 500,000 replacement ignition switches nearly two months before it notified the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of the dangers posed by the cars. An urgent order was placed in December 2013 with parts supplier Delphi Automotive, though the recall wasn't announced until February 2014.

"The question is why the delay and how many lives were put at risk since GM waited at least two months before issuing a recall even though it had already decided to order parts," Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said in a statement.

GM said it has revamped its safety processes, compressing the time required to take action, and a vice president of global safety, Jeff Boyer, was appointed in April. The company says these moves allow information about safety issues to reach senior executives sooner.

"These emails are further confirmation that our system needed reform, and we have done so," GM spokesman Alan Adler told Autoblog earlier this week. "We have reorganized our entire safety investigation and decision process and have more investigators, move issues more quickly and make decisions with better data."Continue reading Weekly Recap: Ignition-switch recall stirs new controversy for GM

Weekly Recap: Ignition-switch recall stirs new controversy for GM originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 15 Nov 2014 11:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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