Only days after GM was forced to pay $35 million in fines over its failure to respond to safety concerns in a timely manner, the company announced a new round of recalls that could further damage the car manufacturer's reputation. It comes on the heels of millions of other recalls after at least 13 deaths were linked to faulty ignitions.
A total of 13.5 million vehicles have been recalled this year alone, surpassing any previous record for the company now stuck in a public perception crisis. GM has finally begun admitting to reacting slowly to the problems, but says they have taken all necessary safety precautions in dealing with the faulty ignitions.
The recalls are more than four times the amount of vehicles GM sells in a given year in the United States and highlights growing concerns that the automaker is not doing enough to prevent similar situations from arising.
Some 250 million vehicles are registered in the U.S.
"They are doing damage control and reacting to the outrage over their history of concealing safety issues," Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, told media.
GM CEO Mary T. Barra said earlier this year when questioned by Congress that she believed GM could move quickly on the problem and transcend current perception to be among the best in terms of safety worldwide.
"All of our G.M. employees and I are determined to set a new standard," Barra said at the time.
Becoming mainstays atop news headlines has not been for the right reasons. But in recent days, the recalls have forced GM to look internally and admit to their shortcomings on the matter.
Earlier in May, the Department of Transportation slapped a $35 million fine on the company over its lax investigations into the problems and the slowness of recalls as well as what the DOT said was a poor internal look at how matters like this are dealt with regularly.
In the fine, GM did admit that it failed to, in a timely manner, divulge information to the DOT on its knowledge of the faulty ignitions and other issues related to the massive recalls. It also has agreed to send to the DOT's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration "full access to the results of GM's internal investigation into this recall."
