GM chief: Hearings 'tough but fair'
April 02, 2014, 05:00 pm
By Keith Laing
After being grilled this week by
lawmakers in a pair of contentious hearings, General Motors CEO Mary Barra said the questions she received about
her company's recall of 1.6 million cars were "tough but fair."
Barra, who is in her first year at
the helm of GM, was hit with sharp criticism from lawmakers in both chambers
and parties this week as Congress investigated whether the auto company
purposely delayed recalling cars that had faulty ignition switches to save on
repair costs.
The recall, issued in February,
covers cars that are as old as 2004 models.
Barra said in a statement
Wednesday, after appearing before the Senate committee that handles
transportation issues, that she was not offended by the criticism she received.
“The issues raised in the hearing
were tough but fair," the GM chief said. "I appreciate the intense
interest by the senators to fully understand what happened and why. I am going
to accomplish exactly that, and we will keep Congress informed. Meanwhile, we
will continue doing all we can to repair our customers' vehicles and rebuild
their trust in GM.”
Various lawmakers took turns
grilling Barra during her high-profile appearances between the House and
Senate, which were her first trips to testify before Congress.
"You're new at your job, but
you've been GM for how many years?" Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) asked
Barra, who is a second-generation General Motors employee.
Barra made headlines in December
when she became the first woman to be placed in charge of a major U.S. automaker,
and the largest female CEO of a Fortune 500 company. She took office as GM CEO
in January, but lawmakers pointed out this week that she has worked for the
company for 33 years.
"You're a really important
person to this company," Boxer said after reading various positions Barra
has held at GM. "Something is very strange that such a top employee would
know nothing."
Boxer added at another point in
Wednesday's hearing that she was disappointed in Barra "as a woman."
"As a woman to woman, I am
very disappointed, because the culture that you are representing here today is
a culture of the status quo," Boxer said in an exasperated tone.
The reception Barra received in
the House on Tuesday was not any more hospitable.
"GM knew about this problem
in 2001,” said Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.). “They were warned again and again
over the next decade, but they did nothing.”
DeGette held up an ignition switch
with keys hanging from it to illustrate how easily the ignition in the recalled
vehicles could be cut.
Barra appeared to take the
criticism in stride, saying repeatedly that she would do all she can now that
she's in charge at GM to fix the problem.
"As soon as I learned about
the problem, we acted without hesitation," Barra said. "We told the
world we had a problem that needed to be fixed. We did so because whatever
mistakes were made in the past, we will not shirk from our responsibilities now
and in the future."
Mary Barra
Mary
T. Barra is the CEO for General
Motors (GM), and a director at the General
Dynamics Corporation.
Note: Robert S. Osborne
was a group VP for General Motors, and
is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Commercial Club of Chicago,
Members Directory A-Z (Past Research)
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
William A. Osborn
is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago,
and a director at the General Dynamics
Corporation.
J. Christopher
Reyes is a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago, and was a director at the General Dynamics Corporation.
James S.
Crown is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, a director at
the General Dynamics Corporation,
and a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank).
Lester Crown
is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, was a director at the General Dynamics Corporation, and a
lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank).
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Aspen Institute (think
tank).
George Soros
was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.
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