Friday, May 23, 2014

GENERAL MOTORS - Can They Survive 14 Million Recalls?

"Growing list of recalls may be more than a bump in the road for GM’s reputation" PBS NewsHour 5/21/2014

Excerpt

JEFFREY BROWN (NewsHour):  The latest addition to GM’s ever-growing list: 218,000 Chevrolet Aveos recalled just this morning.  They have a dashboard lighting module that could overheat and catch fire.

A day earlier, the company told customers to bring in nearly 2.5 million vehicles for seat belt, gear shifter, and other mechanical problems.  It all started in January, with nearly 2.6 million vehicles recalled, for ignition switch defects going back a decade, and linked to 13 deaths.

GM’s new CEO, Mary Barra, faced senators in April.

MARY BARRA, CEO, General Motors:  Sitting here today, I cannot tell you why it took years for a safety defect to be announced for this program, but I can tell you we will find out.

JEFFREY BROWN:  By now, GM has called back nearly 14 million vehicles, the most ever in a single year.  The 29 separate actions include last Thursday’s recall of 2.7 million Chevrolet, Saturn and Cadillac models for taillight and other malfunctions, the March 13 recall of 1.7 million Buick, GMC and Chevrolet vehicles for brake and air bag problems, and the March 31 recall of 1.3 million Chevrolets, Saturns and Pontiacs for power steering issues.

Last Friday, the government fined GM $35 million for concealing the ignition switch problem.

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