GM's Barra Unveils Further Plans to Improve Safety

By Tess Stynes 

General Motors Co. Chief Executive Mary Barra said the auto giant is creating a new global product integrity organization within its product development team that will include GM's new safety unit.

Ms. Barra was one of several executives to headline the New York International Auto Show hosted by J.D. Power and the National Automobile Dealers Association. It marked her first public appearance since two congressional hearings earlier this month, where GM was criticized for the delayed recall of vehicles linked to 13 deaths.

Ms. Barra has been shaking up the auto maker's leadership team and last week suspended two engineers in the wake of internal and external probes into why the company was slow to recall 1.6 million vehicles for faulty ignition switches.

Since February, GM has recalled a total of 7 million vehicles world-wide for a variety of issues, including faulty ignition switches, brakes and other problems.

Last month, GM named engineering veteran Jeff Boyer to the newly created position of vice president of global vehicle safety and charged him with handling all safety-related issues including recalls. The move came a day after Ms. Barra vowed in a video to employees to institute new steps in how the company handles reports of vehicle safety issues in the wake of its recall related to the ignition switches.

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