Mary Barra delivers the keynote at ITS.

After an embarrassingly slow start, General Motors is rapidly moving ahead with repairs on its recalled vehicle, said CEO Mary Barra, especially 2.6 million equipped with faulty ignition switches that have been blamed for at least 13 deaths.

The maker hopes to get past its recall woes and focus on making its brands more competitive, Barra said during a series of appearances, including an interview on CNBC. In particular, GM plans to invest heavily in its flagship brand Cadillac, though the GM chief executive cautioned “We have a lot of work to do” there.

GM has been hammered in connection with this year’s safety problems – which have resulted in the recall of over 30 million vehicles worldwide and so far $1.6 billion in charges against earnings. It is facing a series of lawsuits, a number of investigations, and the threat of criminal charges as a result of a probe by the U.S. Justice Department looking into the decade-long delay in ordering a recall for the defective ignition switches..

For her part, Barra put a positive spin on matters during a CNBC interview, insisting that, “when you look at the safety we have on today’s vehicles and the ratings they’ve gotten from a variety of external sources, those vehicles speak for themselves.”

But the recall crisis has dominated the headlines, GM going back, in some cases, more than a decade to address various issues. A big challenge for the maker has been getting enough parts to dealers to handle all the repairs, one reason it originally said it could take until October to handle just the ignition switch service action.

“We are to the point now where we have parts that are available that a customer hasn’t already made the request, and so that is why we are stee=pping up our efforts to communicate in new and different ways to make sure those customers come in,” Barra told CNBC. At this point, only about 1 million owners have done so, she noted, adding, “I want every vehicle fixed.”

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Barra made a number of appearances over the weekend in connection with the annual Intelligent Transportation System, or ITS, conference in Detroit. During her keynote address, she outlined plans to introduce a new Cadillac model in 2017 that would permit hands-free driving on the highway. Along with this nearly autonomous vehicle, Caddy also plans to launch a version of its mid-range CTS sedan that will use so-called vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure technology, also known as V2V and V2I, to keep a motorist appraised of potential traffic and weather issues.

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The more advanced new Super Cruise system is expected to be introduced on an all-new flagship sedan Cadillac recently confirmed it is working on. That will be one of a number of new products to come as Caddy struggles to catch up to key German competitors, such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW, which have been flooding the market with a wide range of new offerings.

Expanding the line-up is expected to be a critical goal of new Cadillac global chief Johan de Nysschen, the South African-born industry veteran recently lured away from Infiniti headquarters in Hong King.

“We have a lot of work to do at Cadillac,” said Barra, adding that, “We’re rebuilding Cadillac and that is going to take some time.”

Among other products insiders have described to TheDetroitBureau.com, Cadillac is expected to add a new entry-lux model that would slot below the current ATS line and target the likes of the popular Mercedes CLA. A compact crossover is also in the works, and new coupe and convertible models are also under consideration.

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Barra was, however, tight-lipped when it came to reports about Cadillac’s plans to move a large portion of its sales, marketing and corporate intelligence operations from Detroit to the New York area. “I’m not going to steal any (thunder)” from “any of the announcements he is going to make,” the CEO said, in reference to de Nysschen.

A number of key sources have made it clear, however, that Cadillac’s new boss will relocate those operations once he gets formal approval from Barra.

(Joe Szczesny contributed to this report.)