GM CEO Mary Barra testifies again

Despite internal investigations, litigation, delays and recalls, General Motors' sales are up. What is the future of GM?

June 18, 2014 10:31AM ET

by Inside Story Team @AJInsideStoryAM

Ray’s thoughts on General Motors

The information available so far is damning: millions of GM cars built with an ignition switch that could easily be flipped off when the car is in motion. Drivers were killed by this defect, and the company had known for years.

Would this terrible news derail what looked like a successful comeback?

Millions of recalls later, the answer is no: The company posted strong sales in recent months.

General Motors CEO Mary Barra returned to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to face more questions about the recall of millions of GM cars with faulty ignition switches. "This is not another business problem," she said. "This is a tragic problem that should have never happened — and should never happen again."

In her first testimony before a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee in April, Barra said she would know more after GM's internal investigation was complete. That report, by former U.S. Attorney Anton Valukas, is a scathing indictment of GM's corporate culture.

The Valukas report is thorough, brutally tough and deeply troubling. It paints a picture of an organization that failed to handle a complex safety issue in a responsible way. I was deeply saddened and disturbed as I read the report.

Mary Barra

General Motors CEO

As members of Congress drilled into the specifics about who knew what when, and the technical details of the switch problems that GM links to 13 deaths and 53 accidents, there were also questions about the millions of vehicles recalled. To date, only 177,000 have been repaired; that is 7 percent of the cars recalled. Barra said another parts production line is about to come online and that should help speed up the repair process.

Jeff Kowalsky/Bloomberg/Getty

To date, only 177,000 GM cars have been repaired. That is only 7 percent of the total recalled.

Lawmakers also asked about GM's pending litigations and settlements. Barra deferred details but said that the compensation process will begin by Aug. 1. The hearing coincided with a new recall announcement of 3.4 million cars.

Named CEO of General Motors in January, Barra is leading the company just five years after it emerged from bankruptcy. As she navigates the ignition switch recalls and attempts to change the culture of the company, the news from the production line is good.

General Motors sold more cars and trucks last month than in any May of the last seven years.

This isn’t the first set of recalls by the company. How does this keep happening?

Can we look at this with the understanding that GM has done its due diligence (admitted fault, recalled cars, fired staff)? Can we just say OK, this happens, and move on?

Despite the recalls, GM sales in May were up 13 percent from a year ago for its best month since August 2008. Why?

We consulted a panel of experts for the Inside Story.