DETROIT — It was a moment unlike any other at General Motors: the top executive stepping — personally and publicly — into the middle of one of the gravest safety problems in the company’s history.þþBut there was Mary T. Barra on Tuesday, barely two months into her job as chief executive, pledging to fix faulty ignition switches linked to 12 deaths and to explain why the automaker failed for 10 years to correct a problem it knew existed. þþIn a conference room at G.M. headquarters here overlooking the Detroit River, she methodically answered questions — her first such meeting with reporters since the 1.6 million cars were recalled last month. þþMs. Barra sought to restore some measure of confidence in the company’s new leadership, starting with herself.þþ“Our goal is to make sure that something like this never happens again,” she said.þþShe admitted that she learned in late December that internal safety committees were analyzing defects in the Chevrolet Cobalt, more than a month before the company decided to issue its recall and earlier than the company has said she was told.þþBut she said she did not know the serious nature of the defects until Jan. 31, when she was informed that two safety committees had concluded that a recall was necessary.þþHer performance was a marked departure from the norm in the auto industry, where corporate chiefs routinely avoid talking about recalls unless subpoenaed by Congress.þþFor Ms. Barra, the festering controversy is both an opportunity and a risk. þþ“She’s owning it,” said Daniel G. Hill, president of the public relations firm Ervin Hill Strategy. “She will not be able to distance herself from it. It’s now hers.”þþMs. Barra’s straightforward strategy will be severely tested in the weeks ahead, as federal regulators and other government officials press for details on why G.M. waited years to reveal that ignition switches in its small cars could, if bumped or weighed down by a heavy key ring, cut off engine power and disable air bags.þþShe still faces investigations from two congressional committees, federal safety regulators and the Justice Department — all paying keen attention to any public statements she makes.þþIn her short tenure, Ms. Barra has emerged as the face of G.M., in an unexpected way — apologizing for the company’s failings in a video to employees, naming a new top executive to oversee safety issues, and participating in Tuesday’s session with reporters to take responsibility for the company’s inexplicable delay in addressing a deadly flaw in its cars.þþG.M. officials said it was Ms. Barra’s decision to take center stage, just as Lee Iacocca did a generation ago when the Chrysler boss took the heat for his company’s poor quality.þþWhile she has brought in outside lawyers to conduct a thorough investigation of the recall mess, Ms. Barra has yet to dismiss or discipline employees who knew of the problems for years.þþThat investigation could take months, she said, and she will not act until all the facts are in.þþ“I know you want to know what happened,” she told reporters. “So do I.”þþBut even as she pleads for patience with the lengthy investigative process, Ms. Barra is wasting little time trying to express the emotions and sorrow of an entire company.þþIn her meeting with reporters, Ms. Barra began with another apology. “I want to start by saying how sorry personally and how sorry General Motors is for what has happened,” she said. “Clearly lives have been lost and families are affected, and that is very serious.”þþThroughout the hourlong session, she calmly answered questions directly and without notes.þþAt one point, she was asked a blunt question: Are the recalled cars safe to drive until repairs are made? “If you have just the ring with the key, it is safe to drive,” she said.þþShe added that she had confronted G.M.’s own safety engineers with another question.þþ“Would you let your wife drive this car?” she said. “And they said yes.”þþShe did not, however, reveal any plans to reach out directly to the families of victims — G.M. has not identified any details of the fatal crashes — or to compensate people for accidents that occurred before the company emerged from bankruptcy. Under the terms of its reorganization, G.M. is not liable for litigation filed before it went bankrupt.þþMs. Barra said she expected to be called to testify before congressional committees to answer similar questions next month. “If I’m called, I will,” she said. þþUntil then, she is holding daily meetings with senior executives charged with handling various aspects of the recall, which is expected to begin in April. She also plans to work closely with Jeff Boyer, a veteran G.M. engineer who on Tuesday was named the company’s first vice president in charge of global vehicle safety.þþUnlike some other corporations that have had public crises, G.M. has not gone outside for professional help from crisis management firms. þþInstead, Ms. Barra has relied on a small cadre of internal confidants like Mark Reuss, the company’s head of product development. That hands-on approach is reminiscent of how Mr. Iacocca took charge when Chrysler was in trouble.þþ“Lee Iacocca recognized that Chrysler was his company and that it was his job to defend it, promote it, and stand up for it,” said Arthur C. Liebler, who was Chrysler’s top communications executive during Mr. Iacocca’s heyday. “G.M. is Mary Barra’s company now, and she has to do the same thing.”þþHow she navigates the difficult weeks ahead could define Ms. Barra’s career. þþ“Ms. Barra and her team will be watched very closely now and will have to prove that they mean what they say,” Mr. Liebler said. “If they don’t deliver, there won’t be a second chance.”þþ
Source: NY Times
