GM exec tries to quell furor over deadly ignition defect

WASHINGTON – General Motors chief executive Mary Barra on Tuesday deflected a barrage of questions on Capitol Hill about the automaker's failure to fix a deadly ignition-switch flaw, telling lawmakers that she was unaware of the decade-old problem until early this year.

While she repeatedly apologized for a defect that GM has blamed for the deaths of at least 13 motorists, Barra also repeatedly ducked lawmakers' sometimes testy queries, saying she is awaiting the results of an internal investigation.

A GM lifer who became the company's top executive in mid-January, Barra took pains to make a distinction between the cost-conscious "old GM" — which, she admitted, missed a series of red flags and may have engineered a coverup — and the post-bankruptcy "new GM," which Barra said is focused on customer safety.

"I cannot tell you why it took years for a safety defect to be announced," Barra told a House Energy and Commerce Committee investigative panel. "I can tell you that we will find out."

Barra announced that Kenneth Feinberg, the lawyer who has helped mete out payments to victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and to victims of BP's Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010, had been hired by GM to "explore and evaluate options in its response to families of accident victims."

The move suggests that GM expects to face additional claims on behalf of people killed or injured in the recalled vehicles. Feinberg said Barra has asked him to examine options for compensating victims of the defect, which could include a broad settlement fund.

"Over the next 60 days, we hope to propose some objective claims-resolution approach that meets the needs of the victims, the company and the public interest," Feinberg said in an interview.

Barra's testimony seemed to do little to mollify lawmakers, many of whom appeared to have scoured the thousands of pages of documents the company submitted to congressional investigators. One after another, they grilled her about questionable company decisions, such as installing switches that did not meet GM's technical specifications and quietly approving a new switch design in 2006 without assigning a new part number or initiating a recall.

"Ms. Barra, I know this isn't the most enjoyable situation for you. But we're in a situation where we don't trust the company right now," said Rep. Gregg Harper, R-Miss.

The panel also heard from David Friedman, the acting head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which also failed for years to recognize the problem. Friedman pointed the finger at GM for not providing regulators with timely information that could have led federal regulators to order a recall.

"Our ability to find defects also requires automakers to act in good faith and on time," Friedman said.

Asked by Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., whether GM had acted in good faith, Friedman said the NHTSA has opened an investigation "to answer that exact question. And if we find they were not, we will hold them accountable."