Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

GM ignition switch redesign rejected in 2005 due to $0.90 cost per vehicle...

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.

RubberToe

Supporting the greater good
Jun 28, 2012
3,567
9,910
El Lay
General Motors Co. in 2005 decided not to change an ignition switch eventually linked to the deaths of at least 13 people because it would have added about a dollar to the cost of each car, according to an internal GM document provided to U.S. congressional investigators.

GM avoided defective switch redesign in 2005 to save a dollar each - Yahoo Finance

My thoughts at the time of the GM bailout were that the government should have let them go belly up, and the company assets should have been sold off to the highest bidder capable of actually producing automobiles. These revelations only confirm my gut feeling at the time. Maybe next time things will be a little different.

I'll bet there aren't many ex-GM executives working for Tesla these days...
 
I'll bet there aren't many ex-GM executives working for Tesla these days...

Nah, the new fisker will be snatching all those up :tongue:

On topic, while I'm not at all defending GM, the title (as usual) doesn't tell the whole story:

The change would have cost an extra 90 cents per unit and additional tooling costs of $400,000, one email showed.

400k is nothing to save some lives, but it's not like they were just like "eh, 90 cents can get us all an extra bottle of water per car!"