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Gm Communication Crisis Analysis

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In February of 2015, General Motors initiated a recall on 800,000 Chevrolet Cobalt and Pontiac G5 and 600,000 Chevrolet HHR, Pontiac Solstice, Saturn Ion and Saturn Sky vehicles. The controversy surrounding the recall at this time was why had GM chosen to recall the defective vehicles so long after the ignition switch problem had been discovered. They had been under investigation for just that. Recently inducted as GM’s CEO, Mary Barra was struggling to keep the GM name in tact through this recall nightmare. She is credited for maintaining her cool as she continued to defend how GM was handling the recall and pledging to conduct an internal review of the company stating that GM would, “hold [themselves] accountable and improve our processes so our customers do not experience this again (CNN)." To support this promise, she appointed legal firms to conduct an internal investigation of the events leading up to the recall. In March of that same year, GM expanded its ignition switch recall after admitting to this being the core cause of the recall. The recall was now to include cars sold between 2008 and 2011 in the US. The death toll reached a total of 13 confirmed cases. It is apparent that GM did not feel the need to acknowledge the ignition switch issue until these deaths came to light. Why else would it take GM 10 years to issue a recall? Barra was stuck in a tough situation. She hired Ken Feinberg, a well-known attorney experienced in determining victim compensation, to address the issue. This shows that she was actively making an effort to alleviate the losses.
To respond to the faulty vehicles, GM dealers began making repairs. GM advised customers to make appointments to repair their vehicles free of cost. In addition to the faulty ignition switch, GM found another ignition flaw with 2.6 million of the vehicles it had already recalled. Contrary to the delay in

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