A memo released Sunday by government officials outlines that General Motors Co. and the government’s vehicle safety watchdog failed to address faulty ignition switches in millions of cars that have now been linked to more than a dozen fatal accidents.
DETROIT, MI - A memo released Sunday by government officials outlines that General Motors Co. and federal government officials repeatedly failed to address faulty ignition switches in millions of cars that have now been linked to more than a dozen fatal accidents.
In the 12-page document, the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce panel, which is set to question GM CEO Mary Barra and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration head David Friedman on Tuesday, outlines how officials with the Detroit-based automaker and NHTSA knew the problem existed as early as 2001, but did not act to recall the vehicles until last month.
The memo is a result of numerous recent government briefings and GM and NHTSA submitting more than 235,000 pages regarding the faulty ignition switches, which have now been linked to at least 13 deaths in 31 crashes.
“Although we have had the documents for less than a week, they paint an unsettling picture," said Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Tim Murphy. "Hearing directly from GM CEO Mary Barra and NHTSA's David Friedman on Tuesday is an important step as we work to keep Americans safe behind the wheel."
2004 Saturn ION Quad CoupeThe faulty ignition switches can move out of the “run” position to the “accessory” or “off” positions, leading to a loss of power. The risk may be increased if the key ring is carrying added weight or if the vehicle goes off road or experiences some jarring event, including rough roads. If the key turns to one of those positions, officials say the front air bags may not work if there's a crash.
The 2.6 million vehicles, including 2.2 million in the U.S., affected by the ignition switch recall include 2003-2007 Saturn Ions, 2007-2010 Saturn Skys, 2005-2011 Chevrolet HHRs, 2006-2010 Pontiac Solstices, and 2005-10 Chevrolet Cobalt and Pontiac G5 models.
Auto supplier: GM knew
Officials with the auto supplier that provided the faulty ignition switches say GM knew the parts did not meet its own specifications before production of the first now-recalled vehicles started.
According to the memo, officials with the Troy-based auto supplier told the committee that GM approved the faulty ignition switch in 2002 “even though sample testing of the ignition switch torque was below the original specifications set by GM.”
Officials say GM knew about the faulty ignition switches as early as 2001, but didn’t act until five years later. However, even in 2006, GM again approved ignition switches that didn’t meet its specifications, officials say.
The modified ignitions began to appear in 2007 model year vehicles for all models affected by the recall. In its chronology submitted to NHTSA on Feb. 24, 2014, GM acknowledged the new ignition switch, but did not outline why it was changed without a change in part number.
NHTSA, GM both at fault?
According to the documents submitted to the committee, GM opened numerous internal investigations into the now-recalled vehicles since the early-2000s, but did not recall the vehicles due to a number of reasons, including "tooling cost" and piece price being "too high."
NHTSA, according to the memo, also declined to investigate into the faulty ignition switches in 2007 and 2010.
U.S. Rep Fred Upton speaks at the dedication ceremony at the new Utility Line Worker Academy training facility at Kalamazoo Valley Community College M-TEC, located at the Groves Campus, on Friday, April 13.
Gazette/Katie Selden“We now know the problems persisted over a decade, the red flags were many, and yet those responsible failed to connect the dots,” said U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., the committee’s chairman.
Those “dots,” according to a timeline put together by investigators, first started in a 2001 pre-production report for the 2003 Saturn Ion that “identified issues with the ignition switch.”
That was followed by GM approving the parts that didn’t meet its own specifications in 2002 and engineers investigating a complaint about how a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt “can be keyed off with knee while driving.”
In February 2005, engineers, according to documents, considered increasing or changing the ignition switch “torque effort,” but were advised by the ignition switch engineer that it is “close to impossible to modify the present ignition switch” as the switch is “very fragile and doing any further changes will lead to mechanical and/or electrical problems.”
In the end, engineers did investigate a fix. But a month later, officials decided to take “no action.” The main reasons cited for the decision were “lead-time for all solutions is too long,” “tooling cost and piece price are too high,” and none of the solutions seems to fully countermeasure the possibility of the key being turned during driving.
A number of accidents from 2005-2007 in Chevrolet Cobalts where the ignition switch was switched from “run” prompted NHTSA and GM to discuss the issue in 2007.
A PowerPoint presentation prepared by NHTSA in November 2007 said its review was prompted by 29 complaints, 4 fatal crashes, and 14 field reports.
FILE - In this Tuesday, June 15, 2010, photo, workers at General Motors' Lordstown Assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio put the final touches on Chevy Cobalts. U.S. safety regulators are demanding that General Motors turn over documents detailing what the company knew when about a dangerous ignition problem that has been linked to 13 car-crash deaths. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan, File)During a briefing with committee staff, NHTSA officials explained the panel did "not identify any discernible trend and decided not to pursue a more formal investigation."
In 2005, NHTSA started investigating a fatal crash in a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt in which the frontal airbag system did not deploy. During a briefing with government officials, NHTSA officials explained that the panel did not identify any “discernible trend and decided not to pursue a more formal investigation.”
Even though NHTSA declined to issue a recall, GM opened another investigation into the ignition resulting in a redesign of the ignition key for model year 2010 Cobalt in April 2006.
Following at least one other reported accident in 2009, GM and NHTSA continued to investigate the Cobalt and other vehicles that may have had the ignition switches installed.
In 2010, NHTSA once again declined to open an official investigation following a 2009 crash in which a 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt accident where the airbags failed to deploy.
GM continued to investigate the ignition switches through January 2014.
2014 recall
On Feb. 13 2014, GM announced a recall of 2005-2007 model year Chevrolet Cobalt and Pontiac G5 vehicles to address a fault with the ignition switch that may permit the key to inadvertently turn to the “off” or “accessory” position, resulting in a loss of power to the engine and many electrical components in the vehicle.
New CEO of General Motors Mary Barra speaks during a press conference at the Opel car factory in Ruesselsheim, Germany, Monday, Jan. 27, 2014. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)Two weeks later, GM expanded the recall to include additional 2003-2007 model year vehicles. These include the MY 2003-2007 Saturn Ion, MY 2006-2007 Chevrolet HHR and Pontiac Solstice, and MY 2007 Saturn Sky. As a result of this expansion, the total number of vehicles subject to the recall rose to approximately 1.6 million worldwide, including more than 1.3 million in the United States.
And on Friday, GM again expanded the ignition switch recall to cover all model years of the Chevrolet Cobalt and HHR, the Pontiac G5 and Solstice, and the Saturn Ion and Sky in the United States. This second expansion of the ignition switch recall covers an additional 824,000 vehicles in the U.S., bringing the number of recalled vehicles to about 2.6 million globally, including 2.2 million in the U.S.
GM currently faces NHTSA, two congressional committees and reportedly the Justice Department investigating its actions in recalling the older-model vehicles for faulty ignition switches.
On Tuesday, members of the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee are expected to discuss a number of issues with Barra and Friedman, including why it took GM so long to recall the vehicles and why safety officials failed to open investigations in 2007 and 2010.
Since the recall and investigations were announced, numerous families of those killed in the now-recalled vehicles have spoken with media and even filed lawsuits.
GM has continued to say it will assist government officials as much as possible with their investigations.