GM Report Focuses On Single Engineer For Deadly Defect - Do You Believe It?

General Motors' investigation into its mishandling of a fatal defect spreads blame among dozens of employees at various levels, but it bluntly says the problem began -- and remained unfixed for years -- largely because of "a single engineer."

The report condemns GM's infamously slow-moving bureaucracy and lack of individual accountability, while also explaining how one relatively low-level employee can precipitate a crisis that now threatens to cost the automaker billions of dollars.

The engineer, Ray DeGiorgio, who has been fired, approved an ignition switch that he knew to be flimsy, secretly authorized changing it years later, then "misled" coworkers who were looking into crashes and customer complaints, the inquiry found. DeGiorgio, a 23-year GM veteran, is mentioned 207 times in the 325-page report by former federal prosecutor Anton Valukas, including in the very first sentence.

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randy3023 - 6/9/2014 11:54:05 AM

+1 Boost

Who hired DeGiorgio? What were is connections to GM before working there?

Cronyism and nepotism are going to be the end of GM.

Agent009 - 6/9/2014 1:09:43 PM

+1 Boost

Lack of accountability will be the death of GM.

TheSteve - 6/9/2014 4:18:53 PM

+2 Boost

I though people in general are too savvy to buy the "This huge problem can be blamed on... THAT GUY" scapegoating. It's just too silly to consider, especially in light of email audit trails that implicate GM managers and executives at all levels in knowing about the defect, choosing not to fix it, and actively participating in covering it up.

Wow. Just plain, wow :-( I'm starting to think that GM's bankruptcy might be related to widespread horrible business practices and terrible management, all the way to the executive level.

JDMUSMuscle - 6/9/2014 4:25:57 PM

-1 Boost

Well, practically that's how the U.S. companies function.

So, look at what happened to Lehman Brothers. What happened to millions of Americans because of them, you see?

JDMUSMuscle - 6/9/2014 4:24:24 PM

-1 Boost

What does America have?

Corruption. That is like the only thing there is in America now.

That shows why the rich Americans do not want to associate themselves with this trash country, the U.S.A., the land of junk with high unemployment rate.

And let's see why the European companies are doing so well nowadays, even expanding their influence all the way to the U.S., by installing more of their facilities, factories, stores, etc.

I mean, GM really wants to blame it just on one guy? Tsk Tsk. That's so "American". Tsk Tsk

TomM - 6/9/2014 9:23:07 PM

+1 Boost

The question was - Do you believe it?
A small part - costing a couple of dollars to make
I certainly would not expect any company to have such a part designed by a TEAM of engineers - just as I would not expect lots of other small parts to require only one - like maybe Hood latches.So yes - I would expect small parts to be designed by single engineers. I would expect a similar situation exists in most if not ALL auto manufacturers.

That the same engineer was the one who looked at it the second time was the problem. You could expect that to be a chance to cover up your own mistake. But then - just how many ignition lock engineers would you expect a manufacturer to have?

And while GM blamed the actual faulty switch on the engineer - which certainly cannot be faulted - they fired 15 people in the chain of command - so they did not just blame ONE guy either. Did other people know - maybe - but did they have responsibility in that area - or would they expect others to be looking into the situation since they engineer other parts?

If you expect that "Everyone" in the company was involved in the engineering of one small part of a car - or even knew about who does it - you are being naive. Remembering that it was just a spring in the assembly that was not strong enough - I even doubt it would have cost considerations - a stronger spring likely did not cost more - but the engineer said what was needed.

While certainly what happened AFTER they found out that the spring was not strong enough - should have resulted in an earlier recall - a bankruptcy and reorganization was also included in the issue. Lots of people came and went. That - plus a single engineer trying to cover up his mistake - could have happened in any company - large or small