GM will learn from our Cobalt failure

We’re responsible, and we’re acting now

Growing up as the daughter of a tool-and-die maker at General Motors, cars got into my blood early. Cars put food on our table and put me through college. This industry gave me a career and has provided countless families with tremendous opportunities.

I love making cars, and I’m proud of the cars we make. So, when something goes wrong with any of our vehicles, I take it personally. Our duty is to accept responsibility, fix the problem and make the changes needed to ensure it does not happen again.

Everyone at GM regrets that it took so long to confirm the problem with the Cobalt and similar models and issue a recall. We are deeply sorry for the lives lost and the lives it has affected.

This issue goes back 10 years to vehicles we no longer make, but I am responsible for resolving it.

This is an extraordinary situation, and so we are taking extraordinary steps.

We are working overtime with our supplier, doubling the capacity to make replacement ignition switches that are to begin arriving by April 7. Our goal is to repair every car.

We are reaching out to customers by mail, phone and through social and news media. We have beefed up customer service centers to handle the influx of calls.

In addition to repairing their vehicles, we have empowered our dealers to support our customers, whether they need alternative transportation or additional help in purchasing another car.

Lots of people want to know what happened. That’s why I ordered a top-to-bottom review of how this happened and why. I have entrusted that review to a respected lawyer and former U.S. attorney. He will bring us the facts, and we will take any appropriate action as the facts demand.

We will determine what went wrong and, more important, what we can do to ensure that our customers do not go through this again. But we aren’t waiting for the final results to act.

This week, I established a new global vehicle safety position to be led by a vice president, a first for GM. In this role, Jeff Boyer will set a new standard for customer and vehicle safety. His first order of business is to help prevent this from happening again.

He will look across the organization, identify and analyze the data, connect them and give GM the most accurate, real-time safety performance picture of any of our vehicles around the globe.

In his 40-year career, Jeff has distinguished himself as a safety zealot. Jeff will have open access to me and our board as well as the authority to remove obstacles in his way. If he needs more resources, he will get them.

As I’ve reminded our employees, GM will be judged by how we respond to this problem. We are cooperating fully with the government investigation.

Three values guide us — the customer is our compass, relationships matter and individual excellence is crucial.

Today’s General Motors is truly committed to ensuring the safety, satisfaction and peace of mind of our customers.