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GM Ordered 500,000 Replacement Ignition Switches Months Before Recall

posted by n1 on Tuesday November 11 2014, @01:29AM   Printer-friendly
from the more-than-just-a-lucky-premonition dept.

Hugh Pickens writes:

The NYT reports that according to emails to its supplier Delphi Automotive, General Motors placed an urgent order for 500,000 replacement switches nearly two months before notifying federal regulators and the public that it was recalling cars with a dangerously defective ignition switch. The emails were sent on December 18, 2013, a day after a crucial committee met to discuss the switch issue but declined to order a recall. Despite the official inaction, a GM employee sent an email to Delphi the next day requesting the half-million replacement parts: for “an urgent field action for our customers.” The emails were turned over by Delphi during discovery in sweeping class-action litigation against the automaker and were released to the press by Robert C. Hilliard, one of the three lead attorneys for plaintiffs in the case. The fault had been known to GM for at least a decade prior to the recall being declared. Some have suggested that the company actually approved the switches in 2002 even though they knew they might not meet safety standards

 
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  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Ethanol-fueled on Tuesday November 11 2014, @02:29AM

    by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Tuesday November 11 2014, @02:29AM (#114706) Homepage

    Tyler Durden: " A new car built by my company leaves somewhere traveling at 60 mph. The ignition switch malfunctions and the brakes and steering freeze. The car crashes and burns with everyone trapped inside. Now, should we initiate a recall? Take the number of vehicles in the field, A, multiply by the probable rate of failure, B, multiply by the average out-of-court settlement, C. A times B times C equals X. If X is less than the cost of a recall, we don't do one."

    Woman: "Are there a lot of these kinds of accidents?"

    Durden: "You wouldn't believe."

    Woman: "Which car company do you work for?"

    Durden: " General Motors."

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  • (Score: 1) by middlemen on Tuesday November 11 2014, @03:15AM

    by middlemen (504) on Tuesday November 11 2014, @03:15AM (#114711) Homepage

    Haha ! Funny modification there... The original quote from IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0137523/quotes?item=qt0479130 [imdb.com]

  • (Score: 2) by compro01 on Tuesday November 11 2014, @04:10AM

    by compro01 (2515) on Tuesday November 11 2014, @04:10AM (#114720)

    Obviously we need to add D, the length of the prison term everyone involved gets sentenced to, to the equation.

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by davester666 on Tuesday November 11 2014, @08:53AM

      by davester666 (155) on Tuesday November 11 2014, @08:53AM (#114752)

      Adding zero to the equation changes nothing.

      And it's not like that equation is specific to GM.