GM News: General Motors Ordered Replacement Ignition Switches Two Months Before Announcing Recall

[William Maley]

It seems with every new report concerning General Motors and the ignition switch recall, GM only looks worse off. Consider this piece from the Wall Street Journal today which reports that the automaker placed an order for 500,000 replacement ignition switches two months before announcing a recall.

Emails shown to the Wall Street Journal revealed that on December 18, a GM contract worker contacted supplier Delphi Automotive for a 'urgent' order of 500,000 switches. This comes a day after GM senior executives were called into a meeting to discuss the situation over the Chevrolet Cobalt was discussed. However, no records were kept about what was said at the meeting.

These emails come from Delphi which produced these and other documents as part of a discovery order connected to a case against GM in New York.

GM spokesman Alan Adler tells the Wall Street Journal said the company followed the procedure set by NHTSA by submitting a correct defect chronology, and wasn’t required to disclose details of a parts order.

"These emails are further confirmation that our system needed reform, and we have done so. We have reorganized our entire safety investigation and decision process and have more investigators, move issues more quickly and make decisions with better data," said GM in a statement.

It should be said that automakers will call on suppliers to check on availability of parts and place orders. However with this news, it only adds to fire that is currently sitting under GM at the moment.

Source: Wall Street Journal (Subscription Required)

William Maley is a staff writer for Cheers & Gears. He can be reached at [email protected] or you can follow him on twitter at @realmudmonster.

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[smk4565]

Transparency would go a long way to helping GM's cause.  They have always seemed to be so secretive and like they are making back room deals.

[ocnblu]

I don't see a problem, honestly, with the timing.  They were gearing up.  Can anyone imagine the shitstorm if the recall had been announced, and no plan was in place ahead of the announcement?  I have a feeling this is not an unusual practice for any automaker.

[William Maley]

I don't see a problem, honestly, with the timing.  They were gearing up.  Can anyone imagine the shitstorm if the recall had been announced, and no plan was in place ahead of the announcement?  I have a feeling this is not an unusual practice for any automaker.

 

It isn't as I pointed out towards the end of the story. But most will ignore that little detail I think.

[ZL-1]

The real story is how much did GM management know before the parts were sourced and the recall announced. This is non-news to me, as per ocnblu's post above.

[David]

Yawnnnnnn No News here, go back to sleep!

[Drew Dowdell]

I don't see a problem, honestly, with the timing.  They were gearing up.  Can anyone imagine the shitstorm if the recall had been announced, and no plan was in place ahead of the announcement?  I have a feeling this is not an unusual practice for any automaker.

 

Can you imagine if they announced the recall but said "We won't have any replacement parts for another 3 months"

[riviera74]

No, GM did the right thing here with ordering parts before the recall.  This is a classic case of looks bad vs. is bad.  Nobody can make replacement parts appear out of thin air in less than 24 hours.