With over 20 million vehicles recalled, multiple reports indicate that General Motors told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in a notice that Chinese company Dalian Alps Electronics Company LTD manufactured the ignition parts responsible for the recall of 3.4 million of its cars, including the Chevrolet Impala.
The company is already in hot water regarding the delayed recall of its compact cars with faulty ignition switches, and is facing more scrutiny for its failure to recall Chevrolet Impalas and other large GM sedans with faulty ignition switches.
The Detroit News writes that GM has promised to deliver a timeline of the events that led to the current crop of recalls by July 3, which will hopefully better explain Alps Electronics Company LTD’s role in the production and application of faulty ignition switches in General Motors’ products.
Comments
It doesn’t matter where the part was made. GM’s QA either missed the problem during testing or management/ marketing chose to ignore it. I am a 25 year QA engineer/manger and I know for a fact this happens
The defect is a result of one of two things (or one or more of the two): (A) bad design; (B) bad manufacturing. If only (A), it’s totally GM’s fault, regardless if it’s built in the US, Germany, China, or by some guy named Biff in a back alley in Alabama. If only (B), it’s totally the Chinese’s fault (in this case). If it’s both, then there’s potentially shared culpability.
However, to release the information GM did without releasing why the part failed (design and/or manufacturing) is just sad — trying to get people to shift blame in their minds to China (and I’m not a fan of Chinese manufacturing in general). Sigh. GM, I expect . . . more . . . honesty.