With lawsuits mounting over recalled vehicles and faulty ignition switches that allegedly led to several deaths, General Motors CEO Mary Barra said Wednesday the company’s culture needs to change to have clearer accountability among the ranks.
“We have to do the right thing by customers by being transparent and then learning from it,” Barra said in relation to the accusations against the automotive giant. “We had issues where it was everyone’s responsibility and no one’s responsibility.”
Barra, speaking before Rotary Club of Atlanta’s 16th Atlanta Interfaith Business Prayer Breakfast, said she happily stepped up to the plate earlier this year to answer Congressional questions about the ignition switches, even though the problems occurred during the watch of her predecessor. Barra was named CEO in January.
“You have to take responsibility,” Barra said. “Mistakes were made and I am leader of the company so I have to represent the company.”
Documents related to the lawsuits showed that some GM employees had documented ignition switch issues on several of the company’s models as far back as 2001. The family of Georgia resident Brooke Melton sued GM after she was killed in 2010. Melton lost control of a 2005 Chevy Cobalt when the car’s ignition switch failed.
