A $35 million fine is peanuts for GM
That’s not much of a deterrent for them
They probably think it’s easier to keep screwing up, and paying fines as they go
Unfortunately, they may be correct
Very sad . . .
I believe it was the maximum allowed and all things considered, I think it was mainly the Administration trying to cover themselves for their part in it.
Agreed it’s peanuts. But they will be burned badly by the hundreds of product liability lawsuits, and they have already taken a very bad PR hit. They have accelerated the pace of recalls relating to other defects and have recalled more cars this year than at any comparable time span in their history. Plus they have added 35 new internal safety investigators. So they are already behaving differently.
“So they are already behaving differently.”
I think they’re too big to make any meaningful changes
GM will make that 35 million up easily by raising the price of parts, revising (defined as cutting) standard labor times on warranty operations, raising franchise fees, and so on. Pocket change.
GM is too big to change course
It’s like trying to make a U-turn with a super tanker . . . while you’re in port
On one hand I want to see them pay, on the other how many glaring omissions are outstanding in cars today? I mean it was probably the 60’s that we got padded dash instead of structural steel, Sure I think backup cameras are a great idea, but why do we not have crossover seatbelts like racecars . rant why can I get a ticket for not wearing a seat belt while a barefoot guy in shorts and no helmet is legal on a motorcycle? Not looking to increase patrol, but decrease offenses under the law
First, I think the fine was to show that someone is at least doing something about the problem.
Barkydog said: “…Rant: Why can I get a ticket for not wearing a seat belt while a barefoot guy in shorts and no helmet is legal on a motorcycle?..”
I have always puzzled over the way motorcyclists get all worked up over “freedom” issues. I suspect this has a lot to do with the personality of non-conformity and their ability to focus on these types of issues.
In consistent? Sure, but there are many things that are inconsistent in government.
Back in the 40’s GM (Along with several companies conspired to monopolize the mass transit system in 45 different cities. They bought the cities trolly systems and converted them to bus routes. This single act was considered by many to be the demise of many towns public transit system. The Feds took them to court and were found guilty of a lesser crime…and find $200,000. Even back in the 40’s that was pocket change to GM.
More amusement from GM:
"The investigation found “deeply disturbing” evidence over how G.M. treated safety concerns, said David Friedman, who works under Mr. Foxx as the head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
"Mr. Friedman cited an internal presentation from 2008 that was used to train employees to obscure some problems.
"Workers writing reports were encouraged to avoid using certain words and phrases with negative overtones, including “apocalyptic,” “dangerous,” “death trap, “potentially disfiguring,” “rolling sarcophagus,” and “Corvair-like,” as well as more benign phrases like “safety” and “safety related.” "
Good to know that GM employees won’t call their cars “rolling sarcophagi” or “deathtraps.” That makes me much more likely to buy one. 
Several years before the government bailed out GM, we had a guest lecturer come to my department who had been employed in the management side of GM. This lecturer stated that GM was really a financial holding company rather than an automobile manufacturer. Maybe he was right. The GMAC made a lot of money for GM. Unfortunately, GMAC didn’t make money when GM wasn’t selling cars.
Even Lutz said he finally figured out that they were in the parts business not the car business. I think Sloan figured they were in the car business and secondarily in the manufacturing business. They seem to have lost their way so back to basics now hopefully.
Not to continue to harp but, I have to go back to the people the business schools have been turning out for the past 30 years as a prime issue. All the buzz words, political correctness that would include using the popular terminology. Team work, consensus, buy outs, as nauseum. The business culture changed folks from independent thinkers and risk takers in for the long haul to group consensus builders with no imagination looking for short term results. Things will not be resolved until the business schools are over-hauled and the old profs are fired or retired. Reading about Target’s latest group culture issue I guess set me off.
More management heads may roll:
"Despite its agreement on Friday to pay a $35 million penalty imposed by federal regulators, the automaker faces several investigations, including from the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission, intently focused on whether G.M.’s top officers deliberately ignored the need to fix faulty ignition switches in some of its vehicles.
The toll on management is expected to grow in coming weeks, as a former United States attorney, Anton R. Valukas, concludes an internal investigation that is being closely watched by lawmakers, federal regulators and Justice Department investigators."
"Mr. Federico, an executive engineer who supervised hundreds of employees in G.M.’s small cars program, was scheduled to be deposed on Aug. 23. His testimony, it became clear, had the potential to crack G.M.’s wall of secrecy on the switches.
For more than a year, Mr. Federico was in charge of an internal investigation into the troubled switch and had sought recommendations from staffers on how to fix it. He was also a top lieutenant to Mary T. Barra, G.M.’s chief executive who, at the time, served at its global product development chief.
Then, the day before Mr. Federico was to be deposed by Mr. Cooper, the lawyer representing the Melton family, G.M.’s legal department stopped his testimony in its tracks.
After fighting the lawsuit for more than two years, G.M. lawyers made a surprise offer to mediate and settle the case. After first rejecting a settlement figure proposed by the Melton family, a G.M. official, Trish Jankowski, turned around and accepted the deal."
"By the time a senior safety committee met in mid-December, employees in several G.M. departments — including engineering and regulatory affairs as well as product investigations and legal — had some knowledge of the switch problems.
Still, it was not until Jan. 31 that, by Ms. Barra’s account, she and other top managers learned of the defective switch. That day, the committee finally ordered the recall."
GM fires 15 people as a result of the ignition switch issue:
“GM’s CEO Mary Barra in a employees’ town-hall meeting today announced that 15 employees have been fired and five others disciplined over the handling of the faulty ignition switches. An internal audit, which Barra called “extremely thorough, brutally tough, and deeply troubling,” found incompetence and neglect at the automaker, but no coverup.”
And a more detailed report:
"“Repeatedly, individuals failed to disclose critical pieces of information that could have fundamentally changed the lives of those impacted by a faulty ignition switch,” she said. “If this information had been disclosed, I believe in my heart the company would have dealt with this matter appropriately.”
She did not say who the discharged employees were, nor which departments they worked in. She said only that “more than 50 percent” were executives, and that two who had been suspended were dismissed. In April, two midlevel engineers, Raymond DeGiorgio and his supervisor, Gary Altman, were placed on paid leave."
That 15 is the tip of the iceberg, along with being sacrificial lambs, and there’s no way ever in this universe or a thousand lifetimes that Ms. Barra was unaware of rumblings over those switches.
I wonder what kind of golden parachute after signing a confidentiality agreement those 15 were given to insure they don’t run their mouths off about this…
That 15 is the tip of the iceberg, along with being sacrificial lambs, and there's no way ever in this universe or a thousand lifetimes that Ms. Barra was unaware of rumblings over those switches.
I agree…that upper management (including Ms Barra) had to know something was going on.
The bright side of this…is MAYBE GM will actually start to turn things around and start building reliable vehicles that people want. I’ve been waiting for 30 years (last time I bought a GM).
Maybe GM will find a way to build reliable vehicles AND cover up their mistakes
Come on folks. Reliable? My Pontiac just rolled over 100K with nary a problem. Its a wonderful little car. My Rivera at 530K, my other Riv at 350K, my Olds at 200K. I understand there needs to be some changes made at GM, but really. Now styling and forcing everyone into a Chevy, old man Buick, or flashy Caddie, might do me in, but not reliability.
My Rivera at 530K, my other Riv at 350K, my Olds at 200K.
That’s like saying…See smoking doesn’t cause cancer…I’ve been smoking for 40 years and never got cancer.
You need to look at the trend…NOT one or 3 vehicles. GM vehicles on a whole have many more problems then Toyota over the past 30+ years. There are endless surveys and stats to support this.
Reliability is outstanding from almost all auto vendors these days. There has been tremendous improvement in this area, and I believe it is due to huge market inroads by Honda and Toyota. But today, the worst cars and trucks in Consumer Reports reliability surveys have 4% failure rates. For a system with thousands of parts, that is quite good. Except for a few exceptions, you can buy just about anything and get reliable service as long as you maintain it well.