GM Ordered Replacement Ignition Switches Months Before Recall

General Motors placed an “urgent” order for half-a-million replacement ignition switches almost two months before GM told safety regulators about about the defect and before recalling millions of vehicles due to the ignition switch defect, according to reports from The Wall Street Journal and Reuters.

Emails to supplier Delphi Corp. showed an urgent order for replacement ignition switches due to a safety issue on December 18.  GM didn’t recall any vehicles until February 7.

This order suggests that GM knew about the safety problem months before informing safety official and months before informing the public and fixing the problem by recalling millions of vehicles.

GM found the problem before a single defect switch was ever installed, but failed to do so because of cost.  How much?  Just 57 cents according to one estimate.

GM Ignition Cases Filed in the City of St. Louis, Missouri

Langdon & Emison has filed a number of GM ignition switch cases in Missouri state court.  These cases have not been removed to federal court by General Motors and have not been consolidated with the federal court MDL.

These cases have been joined together in the City of St. Louis under Missouri’s permissive joinder rules.  Through the combined cases, our clients can benefit from a more efficient litigation process.  The permissive joinder rules allows for consolidation of both in-state and out-of-state claims involving GM ignition switch defects.

Landgon &  Emison continues to investigate GM ignition switch claims and we frequently work with referring lawyers across the country.  Contact us for a free evaluation of your case.

Read More:

• GM Ordered New Switches Long Ahead of Recall [Jeff Bennett at WSJ]
• General Motors ordered new switches months before recall – WSJ [Reuters]
• GM Ordered Switches Nearly 2 Months Before Recall [AP via Time Magazine]

© Copyright 2014 Brett A. Emison

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