GM CEO Mary Barra will be testifying again on Wednesday before the House Oversight and Investigations subcommittee.
General Motors is going to have to step on the gas in order to meet its goal of having 2.6 million ignition switch repair kits built and shipped by the end of October, according to a U.S. House committee memo distributed today.
As of June 11, GM has built and shipped 396,253 kits globally and 154,731 vehicles have been repaired: most of those in the United States. In the U.S., 339,672 kits have been shipped and 129,583 vehicles repaired, the committee reported in the memo. It accounts for just about 5% of 2.6 million vehicles that are slated for the repair.
The automaker has met with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to discuss how it plans to meet its October deadline. GM officials have noted that they are in the process of working Delphi Corp., the supplier of the kits, to add a third production line to reach the goal.
The subcommittee, which is part of the House Energy and Commerce committee, is slated to hold a hearing on Wednesday to ask GM’s CEO, Mary Barra, and the lead investigator of GM’s recent internal report about the recall, Anton Valukas, questions about the kits and the report.
(Click Here for more details about GM’s latest recall of 3.3 million vehicles.)
At the hearing, according to the memo, the committee is expected to ask:
- Is the Valukas report the end of GM’s internal investigation of the facts related to the ignition switch recall?
- Does GM believe that the kinds of systemic failures and mistakes that contributed to the failure to issue a timely recall of the Cobalt and Ion ignition switches may have affected other investigations and recalls?
- How did the culture and systemic problems that are identified in the Valukas report develop at GM?
- What must be done to address these problems and when will GM know if they have been successfully fixed?
They are also expected to quiz Valukas, a former U.S. attorney, about why it took him so long to produce the report. The memo states Valukas told the staffers preparing the memo that GM gave him unfettered access to employees, witnesses and records, which required a lot of time to sift through. In fact, GM has sent the subcommittee more than 1 million pages of documents related to its investigation.
(Fiat Chrysler takes next step toward completing merger. For more, Click Here.)
As a result of the report, Barra fired 15 employees and disciplined five others. A similar subcommittee on for the Senate is not expected to meet with Barra and Valukas until next month.
I have been waiting since April 15,2014 for my ignition to be fixed, at GADSDEN Chevrolet in GADSDEN, AL. How much longer must I wait. Also there is a problem with my air bag. At times when a passenger is in the seat the air bag indicator goes off. The service center says it is a bad seat sensor. To repair it will cost me over $800.00. I have less then 50,000 miles on my 2007 SATURN SKY. This is a safety issue that should be covered even though my car is over 5 Yrs old.
Hi, Eugene,
Unfortunately, the number of vehicles covered by the ignition switch recall is SO large the supplier cannot keep up with the production of new parts. GM claims they will have everything handled by October, though they are off to a slow start. The good news is that GM — and NHTSA — say you will be completely safe by removing all other keys from your ignition switch key ring. There won’t be enough weight to potentially jar the key out of the On position. Remove any other keys immediately.
Separately, if your dealer will not perform the seat sensor repair contact the factory rep — get the number from the dealer or your manual. And you can also find a direct contact to GM’s corporate customer service number on their website. Right now, I believe, they are jumping through hoops to keep owners happy. That said, please go to the NHTSA site — try https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/ — to report the seat sensor problem.
Paul A. Eisenstein
Publisher, TheDetroitBureau.com
With millions of cars covered under the ignition switch recall, GM’s ignition switch supplier can’t just magically produce millions of new ignition switches overnight. It’s simply impossible. You can bet however with the lawsuits and governmental scrutiny GM is under they are doing everything they can to service the ignition switch recall as quickly as possible.
As noted the majority of people have not nor would they ever experience an issue with the ignition switch malfunctioning unless you drive “off road”, jam you knees against the steering colum/ignition switch or carry a bunch of keys on the ignition key ring.