One of General Motors' defective ignition switches was made in China, where a part connected with another automaker's recall this year was also built.
This particular switch was used in the production of nearly 3.4 million vehicles that GM recalled earlier this month. The June 16 recall included the Buick Lacrosse from model years 2005-'09; Chevrolet Impala from 2006-'14; Cadillac Deville from 2000-'05; Cadillac DTS from 2004-'11; Buick Lucerne from 2006-'11; Buick Regal LS and RS from 2004-'05; and Chevrolet Monte Carlo from 2006-'08.
While they were equipped with a different switch, the vehicles in this recall were connected with similar problems that resulted in GM's recall of 2.6 million small cars earlier this year. The 2.6 million-vehicle recall was linked with at least 54 crashes and 13 deaths.
Both recalls involved defective switches that could turn the vehicle off while it was moving and simultaneously stop the airbags from deploying, and the two faulty components apparently came from the same GM engineer.
Another defective part was recently connected with China earlier this year when British automaker Aston Martin recalled almost all sport cars built by the company since 2007. The carmaker found that a Chinese sub-supplier had built a part using counterfeit plastic material, according to Reuters.
The second GM recall connected with ignition switches has been linked to eight crashes and two injuries.
In a recent congressional hearing, an email surfaced where GM employee Laura Andres said that her 2006 Chevrolet Impala stalled on a hectic interstate after hitting a bump. A problematic ignition switch was likely the problem, a GM engineer told Andres at the time.
"I think this is a serious safety problem ... I'm thinking big recall," Andres said in the email from nine years ago.
Her concerns were written off by GM engineer Ray DiGiorgio, who has since been fired for his connections with the recent recall of 2.6 million small cars including the Chevrolet Cobalt and the Saturn Ion.
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