stats about the recalls from GM

According to TheDetroitBureau.com, via  http://www.autoblog.com/2014/07/01/yearly-auto-recall-record-demolished-in-6-months/   the US recall total has hit 39.85-million vehicles to surpass the previous record of 33.01 million in 2004.

Perhaps more surprising, with over 26 million repairs pending, it's still quite possibly that GM could recall more vehicles by the end of the year than the 27.96-million unit total of the entire US auto industry last year.

For a full look at GM vehicles recalled: http://www.autoblog.com/2014/06/30/gm-recalling-8-million-cars-ignition-problems-official/

7,610,862 vehicles in North America being recalled for unintended ignition key rotation. 6,805,679 are in the United States.

1997-2005 Chevrolet Malibu
1998-2002 Oldsmobile Intrigue
1999-2004 Oldsmobile Alero
1999-2005 Pontiac Grand Am
2000-2005 Chevrolet Impala
2000-2005 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
2004-2008 Pontiac Grand Prix

A second group of vehicles* are being recalled for a slightly different ignition key rotation issue (more details below). 616,179 of these vehicles are in North America, with 554,328 found in the United States.

2004-2006 Cadillac SRX
2003-2014 Cadillac CTS

Additionally 20,134 North American vehicles are being recalled because "insulation on the engine block heater power cord (if equipped) may become damaged during very cold conditions." 2,990 of these vehicles are in the United States.

2011-2014 Chevrolet Cruze
2012-2014 Chevrolet Sonic
2013-2014 Chevrolet Trax
2013-2014 Buick Encore
2013-2014 Buick Verano

117 vehicles in North America "may not have had a 'Superhold' joint fastener torqued to specification at the assembly plant." 106 of these vehicles are in the US.

2014 Chevrolet Camaro
2014 Chevrolet Impala
2014 Buick Regal
2014 Cadillac XTS

12,002 vehicles in North America are being recalled because "an overload in the feed may cause the underhood fusible link to melt due to electrical overload, resulting in potential smoke or flames that could damage the electrical center cover and/or the nearby wiring harness conduit." 9,371 of the affected vehicles are in the US.

2007-2011 Chevrolet Silverado HD (with auxiliary battery)
2007-2011 GMC Sierra HD (with auxiliary battery)

Finally, 188,705 SUVs in North America are being recalled due to "a possible electrical short in the driver's door module that could disable the power door lock and window switches and, in rare cases, overheat the module." Here, 181,984 of these vehicles are in the US.

2005-2007 Buick Ranier
2005-2007 Chevrolet TrailBlazer
2005-2007 GMC Envoy
2005-2007 Isuzu Ascender
2005-2007 Saab 9-7X
2006 Chevrolet TrailBlazer EXT
2006 GMC Envoy XL

GM decides to recall Camaros for an ignition issue... maybe they actually learned their lesson!

The latest recall includes the current edition of the Chevy Camaro, one of the company’s more storied brands and a paragon of what Detroit has always excelled at: delivering a lot of horsepower per dollar. And it’s a pretty big batch of affected cars, too. GM is telling customers to bring in all Camaros made between 2010 and 2014—almost 512,000 cars in all.

 Finally—and most importantly—the newest recalls once again stem from defective ignitions, but this time around the problems are in no way related to the ignition switches that sparked the recall crisis in the first place. The crummy Camaro parts meet all GM engineering requirements, yet they still have a tendency to shut the car off mid-drive given the slightest bump.

photo from http://stunningpicture.tumblr.com/  info from http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-06-13/gms-latest-recall-wreck-the-camaro

Newsflash... GM fires 15 people for failing the customers, well, killing 13 customers to be exact. 5 more disciplined, none arrested for manslaughter? WTF US Attorney General? WTF DOJ!

The delayed recall by General Motors that led to the deaths of at least 13 people was due to both the misconduct of about 20 employees, as well as “a pattern of incompetence and neglect” throughout the company, according to an internal probe of the recall released Thursday.

GM CEO Mary Barra announced that 15 employees have been dismissed from the company and five more have been disciplined in the wake of the three-month probe by former federal prosecutor Anton Valukas. Barra said some were dismissed due to misconduct or incompetence, while others simply did not do enough to fix the problem.

“It represents a fundamental failure to meet the basic needs of these customers,” she said about the findings of the report. “We simply didn’t do our jobs. We failed these customers,”

Barra’s said the report found that “GM personnel’s inability to address the ignition switch problem, which persisted for more than 11 years, represents a history of failures.”

“While everybody who was engaged on the ignition switch issue had the responsibility to fix it, nobody took responsibility,” she said. “Throughout the entire 11-year history, there was no demonstrated sense of urgency, right to the very end.”

The recall has prompted a change in GM’s process for deciding when to order recalls and has prompted nearly 16 million recalls worldwide this year — a record for the company. GM has said it will cost about $1.7 billion to make the repairs on all those recalls.

Found on http://fox5sandiego.com/2014/06/05/gm-axes-15-over-botched-recall/#axzz33nNltEBR

What could have happened if GM had went under... Center for Automotive Research gives this answer

84,000 people out of a paycheck and with no income.
factor in manufacturing jobs that supply GM and now the number is 238,000
impacts to spinoff industries and non-auto jobs would have caused 1.2 million people to lose their jobs
personal income in the USA would have suffered a 79.5 billion dollars of loss
income tax and social security would have seen a drop of 17 billion

Thats just in 2009

In 2010 another 674,000 jobs would have vanished, and the country would  have missed another 50 billion in income

If when Chrysler also died, it would have meant about 4 million jobs in 2 years.

The cost to tax payers for the GM bailout? 11 billionish

Compare that to a Air Force debacle... they have a plane that costs a lot of money. It is an older design, and our national congressmen kept it from getting axed, and the money saved would have then went to a new plane contract.

6000 jobs were on the line. Mostly Air National Guard. It works out to about 620,000 per job to keep the old plane funded.

Keeping GM alive cost about 125,000 per job. Or if you take the 238,000 jobs in manufacturing supply for GM, it would have cost 44,000 per job.

Or if you look at the spinoff and non auto jobs, it cost about 9,000 per job.
Not bad in comparison. 

Reaction to the GM recall on Chevy Cobalts and other GM cars with the ignition switch.. this is awesome. An owner is going to make a statement piece on his car

Six is inviting San Diego area artists to collaborate and paint a protest on his Chevy Cobalt. “This is a warning to people driving alongside this car. To shame General Motors into doing something about this car. And really, to draw attention to the matter.”

The Death Trap Art Car began life as a 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt, with a faulty ignition switch. It was sold to a family who returned it and resold to someone who was shocked to learn that he'd been driving a deathtrap since 2010.

 The news came in the form of a recall letter from General Motors. The letter from General Motors said that the car would be fixed. But not yet. While automobile owners wait for parts, cars with the same faulty ignition were responsible for 13 deaths (said General Motors, but others in the automobile business put that number at closer to 300).

A not-so-proud owner of a 2007 Chevy Cobalt, Six says that before he takes his car in to have it fixed, he's inviting artists to help him paint the outside of the vehicle with messages and imagery meant to communicate their disappointment in the slow and slimy way he says General Motors handled the recall.

Because the car is worthless -- and already Caution Tape Yellow -- it is the perfect venue for sternly worded, though poignantly beautiful, messages to General Motors about their responsibility to faultless owners, passengers and commuters.

Thus far, he has commitments from two artists. One painter is planning on doing an Arnold Schwarzenegger ‘Total Recall’ motif. “The other… She is a calligrapher and she said, you know, ‘Nothing says screw you like screw you written out really pretty.’” He is looking for others to join them.

Six is wary of driving the vehicle. He still needs to get to work or auditions. Since his model has a stick shift, he thinks he can downshift and pull over if something goes wrong.

Since he has to travel the California freeways, the painted protest will send a message of warning to residents in San Diego and Los Angeles Counties.

“I don’t want the car, even if they replace the ignition,” Six laughs. “Because I don’t trust them. For 10 years they knew this problem existed and kept making the cars and kept selling the cars while people were dying.”

Come see the DeathTrapArtCar at OnTheEdgeArtGallery this Saturday, April 26th, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. This is an opportunity for the curious to see the car and hear our plans for it -- and for artists to claim their panels. Lead Artist Michael Arata will be there and calligrapher Justine Hince will be working right on the car! There are a finite number of panels so reserve yours soon!

The gallery is located at 7317 El Cajon Boulevard, La Mesa . Look for the bright yellow 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt in the parking lot.
 For more information, visit http://deathtrapartcar.com/ or http://bizcenterart.blogspot.com/ or e-mail us at: Car@DeathTrapArtCar.com

First panel seems odd... until you learn, that each fingerprint represents one of the people dead in Cobalts since GM knew of the problem, and hasn't acted, because of the lack of safety and focus at GM. 

inside the GM heritage collection

Thanks Mike!

SAFETY NEWSFLASH: 2.6 million GM vehicles have been recalled since February, 13 people known dead, in 32 crashes, due to a 1 dollar switch

At least 13 deaths in Saturn Ions, Chevrolet Cobalts and other models have been linked to the faulty ignition switches, which are prone to being bumped or jostled into accessory mode while cars are still moving. That can shut off engines and disable power steering, power brakes and airbags.

The company is facing numerous lawsuits over the vehicles, on behalf of individuals injured or killed in crashes or customers who say their cars lost value as a result of the recall.

 Plaintiffs in those cases have accused GM of knowing about the defect for at least a decade, but failing to recall cars until this year.

The case is Silvas v. General Motors, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, No. 14-89.

found on http://news.yahoo.com/u-judge-declines-order-park-now-notices-gm-165837959--sector.html

GM has reported several things that could cause the ignition switch to fail. If the car goes over a hard bump, or if the steering column or ignition switch is suddenly jilted or jarred, or if the weight of the key ring is significant and causes the ignition switch to loosen over time, then the engine may suddenly turn off and the airbags may become disabled.

Traffic deaths caused by such conditions began being reported many years ago, yet GM did not recall the affected vehicles to fix the problem. GM has admitted that it was tracking and following such cases with interest, but still did nothing.
above two paragraphs from http://www.pulaskimiddleman.com/practice-areas/products-liability/gm-recall-lawsuits/?gclid=CJjtj-Xw7L0CFRSPfgod33YAng

image from http://www.gmignitionupdate.com/?seo=goo_%7c_Awareness_%7c_1741%257C1755%257CIPUS%257CAU%257CG%257CA%257CBP%257CE%257C+GG-AWR-GM-Recall-SN-BP-Exact_%7c_GM_%7c_gm%2520recall%2520ignition%2520switch

GM acknowledges that the faulty ignition switch has been linked to 32 crashes and 13 deaths. 

The design GM ended up choosing to install in vehicles starting in 2003 did not meet GM’s own design specifications for torque, as shown by documents released last week.

 http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/gm-recall/did-gm-reject-safer-ignition-switch-design-2001-because-cost-n81526

Beginning in January, 2014, GM has recalled the following vehicles:
 Buick Enclave – 2008 to 2013 
Chevrolet Cobalt – 2005 to 2010 
Chevrolet HHM – 2006 to 2011 
Chevrolet Traverse – 2009 to 2013 
GMC Acadia – 2008 to 2013 
Opal GT – 2007 Pontiac G5 – 2007 to 2010 
Pontiac Solstice – 2006 to 2010 
Saturn Ion – 2003 to 2007 
Saturn Outlook – 2008 to 2010 

In the wake of further studies it is possible that GM may recall additional models soon. Additionally, it has been reported that the faulty ignition switches could have been repaired for less than $1 each.

“We now know, from Engineering Drawings and Documents submitted to the U.S. Congress by General Motors, the company created two competing designs for the ignition switch on the 2003 Saturn Ion and later models including the Chevrolet Cobalt and other recalled vehicles,” it says. “But GM chose to use the ignition switch that would fail as your customers were driving innocently on the highway.”

In an interview, Ditlow told NBC News that, based on his 40 years experience in the auto industry reading engineering and cost documents, he can reach no other conclusion other than that GM opted for the shorter part because of the price.

The new allegation against GM came Wednesday morning in a joint letter to GM CEO Mary Barra from Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, and Joan Claybrook, former administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and former executive director of Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization.

Kevin Six says that before he takes his car in to have it fixed, he's inviting artists to help him paint the outside of the vehicle with messages and imagery meant to communicate their disappointment in the slow and slimy way he says General Motors handled the recall.
http://deathtrapartcar.com/?utm_source=2007CobaltDeathtrapArtCar+E-Mail+List&utm_campaign=4d40606625-Open_Car_4_22_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_95470e913d-4d40606625-147363865