Report: GM Ordered Replacement Ignition Switches Two Months Before Recall
The New York Times reported today that GM ordered some 500,000 replacement ignition switches from auto-parts supplier Delphi Automotive in December 2013. That was nearly two months before GM told regulators and the general public that the existing ignition switches, which have led to some 2.2 million recalled small cars in the U.S., could get bumped into the “off” position. Citing emails declassified by a plaintiff’s attorney during class-action litigation against GM — and first reported by The Wall Street Journal — the Times notes that the request represented “an urgent field action” and far outweighed a previous request for 11,000 such switches in 2012.
Related: New House Report Blasts NHTSA
The report fuels claims that GM knew about the problem before disclosing it to the public. Earlier this year, news reports said GM may have known about the faulty switches as early as 2002. The automaker faces investigations from the Justice Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission, 48 state attorneys general and Canadian officials, according to The Detroit News.
GM says the emails simply confirm that the automaker’s previous defect reporting and investigation systems needed reform, something it claimed it’s done. “We have reorganized our entire safety investigation and decision process and have more investigators, move issues more quickly and make decisions with better data,” the automaker said in a statement.
Click here to read the full story from the New York Times.
Cars.com photo by Ian Merritt
