IF GM Was Blindsided By Ignition Fiasco - Then Why Did They Place An Urgent Order For 500,000 Switches Months Before Recall?

General Motors Co ordered half a million replacement ignition switches almost two months before it alerted federal safety regulators of the issues that prompted a recall of millions of vehicles, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing email exchanges between the automaker and its supplier Delphi Automotive.

The email exchanges, which took place in mid-December 2013 between a GM contract worker and Delphi, indicate GM placed an "urgent" order for 500,000 replacement switches on Dec. 18, a day after a meeting of senior executives, the newspaper said. GM announced its recall in February 2014.

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nguyenvuminh - 11/10/2014 6:10:09 PM

+2 Boost

Good question 009 and I think the reason is clear, they were fully aware of the implication.

TheSteve - 11/11/2014 12:28:22 AM

+2 Boost

I'm not defending GM, but it's possible they didn't want to set up a really embarrassing scenario:
(1) Alert hundreds of thousands of owners that their ignition switch is defective and their car is being recalled.
(2) Don't have the ability to fix the problem due to a massive shortage of replacement switches.

Bad decision, but plausible.