GM CEO Issues Statement of Apology, Meets with Victims’ Families
Published at | Updated at
Steve Fecht for General Motors(WASHINGTON) — Ahead of her appearance before Congress Tuesday afternoon, General Motors CEO Mary Barra released an opening statement that apologizes profusely for the automaker’s delay in recalling over 2.5 million cars with faulty ignition switches.
The defect has been linked to 13 deaths from air bags that failed to deploy after the vehicle’s power suddenly went off. Barra also met with family members of the deceased for two hours Monday night to express her personal condolences.
All this occurred on the same day that GM announced the additional recall of 1.3 million vehicles for problems relating to the electronic power steering assist. Since February, the automaker has recalled more than six million cars for a variety of problems.
In her statement to the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight to be delivered Tuesday, Barra offers “my sincere apologies to everyone who has been affected by this recall, especially to the families and friends of those who lost their lives or were injured. I am deeply sorry.”
Since lawmakers will want to get to the bottom of GM’s decision to only start the recall last month when the problem could be traced back as far as 2001, Barra says, “When we have answers, we will be fully transparent with you, with our regulators, and with our customers.”
A relative newcomer as head of the U.S. car giant, Barra seems to absolve herself of any blame in the statement, which says in part, “As soon as l learned about the problem, we acted without hesitation. We told the world we had a problem that needed to be fixed.”
Barra says that GM has hired former U.S. Attorney Anton Valukas “to conduct a thorough and unimpeded investigation of the actions of General Motors. He has free rein to go where the facts take him, regardless of the outcome.”
Just the same, lawmakers on the panel are expected to grill Barra unmercifully about why her company kept making cars with a known defect that could result in death.
Copyright 2014 ABC News Radio