Ignition Switch In Deadly Recalls Was Secretly Designed In House Because GM Felt They Could Do A Better Job

Stung by rising warranty costs, General Motors decided in the mid-1990s to pull design work for ignition and turn-signal switches from suppliers and put its own employees in charge. One of the first projects for the in-house team was the ignition switch for the Saturn Ion and Chevrolet Cobalt.

"We wanted to have control over the design," Ray DeGiorgio, the lead design engineer for the Ion and Cobalt ignition switch, said in an April 2013 deposition obtained by Automotive News. "So we brought them in-house."

That part has now been linked to at least 34 crashes and 12 deaths over the past decade. It's also at the center of a deepening mystery in the wake of GM's recall of 1.6 million 2003-07 vehicles fitted with the defective ignition switch:
 

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t_bone - 3/24/2014 10:40:22 AM

+1 Boost

Could have been worse than disabling airbags...I've always had the nightmare of what would happen if the steering column lock would engage while driving. Never heard of that happening, thank goodness.

Agent009 - 3/24/2014 11:39:29 AM

+1 Boost

The bad thing its they can't blame this one on a supplier. It is all in house. They bear the full responsibility on this one.

7msynthetic - 3/24/2014 4:49:51 PM

+1 Boost

Toyota's issues pale in comparison to this....smoking guns everywhere