General Motors admitted that their malfunctioning ignition switches led to 47 crashes but did not increase the number of deaths due to this faulty mechanism.
On Feb.25, the car manufacturer stated that their faulty ignition switches caused 31 frontal crashes. Soon after, GM started recalling 2.59 million units of Saturn Ions, Chevrolet Cobalts, and other cars. The faulty ignition switch was found out to kill the engine suddenly and affect the function of the airbags. GM admitted to the US regulators that the company was aware of this problem as early as 2001.
"We have done a thorough analysis of all the information available to us and at this time, based on everything we know, there have been 13 fatalities associated with the ignition switch," company spokesman Jim Cain told Businessweek in a telephone interview.
GM was required to respond to the statement made by Acting Chief of U.S Highway Traffic Safety Administration, David Friedman, saying that the number of casualties due to the malfunctioning ignition switch may increase.
In a statement, Friedman expressed that the final death toll may increase after they have investigated the matter further.
Last week, the car company agreed to pay a fine worth $35 million to the U.S Transportation Department. The department imposed the fine after finding out that the company violated some steps on the implementation of the recall. According to a report by CNN Money, the Justice Department is also thinking of filing criminal suit against GM.
GM, on the other hand, stated that it may cost them $1.7 billion to cover the repair costs of the recalled cars. This figure, according to the car manufacturer, will offset all the profit made by the company during the first quarter of 2014. It also made changes within the company including an overhaul of its legal department to prevent delays on recall announcements in the future.
