Mary Barra said today that her first year as CEO of General Motors contained both disappointment and progress, as the company recalled a record number of cars and trucks but also improved its handling of safety problems.
Barra, who became the first woman to lead a major automaker last January, almost immediately faced a crisis over defective ignition switches that are now linked to at least 42 deaths.
In an hour-long meeting with reporters, Barra said the crisis forced GM to quickly acknowledge its shortcomings and address them. She appointed a new safety chief, swept out 15 employees and changed the company's product development process to focus more on quality and safety.
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During the year, GM issued 84 recalls covering more than 30 million vehicles. That included 2.6 million small cars recalled for ignition switches that could shut off engines without warning. The problem also disables power steering and brakes, as well as the air bags.
GM was forced to admit it knew about the problem for more than a decade before recalling the cars. It was fined USD 35 million by the government for concealing the problem and is under investigation for possible criminal charges.
Barra says GM will support a national database of vehicle identification numbers so automakers can quickly find owners of recalled cars. But she wouldn't say if GM will back legislation calling for stiffer fines or criminal penalties for executives who hide safety defects.
Barra has maintained that she didn't know about the switch problems until late December of 2013, even though as head of product development she was in charge of safety for the company.
