General Motors Co. Chief Executive Mary Barra said the auto
giant is creating a new global product integrity organization
within its product development team that will include GM's new
safety unit.
Ms. Barra was one of several executives to headline the New York
International Auto Show hosted by J.D. Power and the National
Automobile Dealers Association. It marked her first public
appearance since two congressional hearings earlier this month,
where GM was criticized for the delayed recall of vehicles linked
to 13 deaths.
Ms. Barra has been shaking up the auto maker's leadership team
and last week suspended two engineers in the wake of internal and
external probes into why the company was slow to recall 1.6 million
vehicles for faulty ignition switches.
Since February, GM has recalled a total of 7 million vehicles
world-wide for a variety of issues, including faulty ignition
switches, brakes and other problems.
Last month, GM named engineering veteran Jeff Boyer to the newly
created position of vice president of global vehicle safety and
charged him with handling all safety-related issues including
recalls. The move came a day after Ms. Barra vowed in a video to
employees to institute new steps in how the company handles reports
of vehicle safety issues in the wake of its recall related to the
ignition switches.
Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com
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