GM E-mails Expose Culture of Secrecy over Dangerous Defects, says Congress
AIM Newswire — June 22, 2014
WASHINGTON — Congressional lawmakers are accusing General Motors (known as GM) of neglecting safety, overlooking defects that could harm consumers and trying to ignore the problem at hand with faulty ignition-switch connections in their cars.
GM assembly lineReuters reported that longtime GM CEO Mary Barra faced Congress and was grilled over e-mails and her conduct leading up to the major recall efforts of her company.
GM started to recall their cars in February 2014 over concerns that the ignition-switch would lead to deaths by drivers, which has been thirteen in the past ten years. 44 recalls have been issued this year (or up to 20 million vehicles) in the U.S. 6.5 million of recalled vehicles were due to ignition-switch issues.
A 2005 e-mail from GM employee Laura Andres went to GM engineers and warned that a 2006 Chevy Impala car had an engine stall while she was driving. She suggested that it could be due to ignition-switch problems and said it could lead to a “big recall” by GM.
A GM investigation found that this problem had been ignored for at least a decade, which worried lawmakers. House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton said, “This latest recall appears to follow the same disturbing pattern.”
http://www.aim.org/newswire/gm-e-mails-expose-culture-of-secrecy-over-dangerous-defects-says-congress/
