On Thursday GM shocked the world [2]when it announced the latest 5 recalls in a seemingly endless series ever since it went under fire before Congress for hiding its unprecedented quality control problem earlier this year, in which it was revealed the bailed out company was willing to risk the lives of its customers just to avoid the cost of recalls, bringing the total number of recalls for 2014 alone to 24, resulting in some 12.8 million cars recalled globally. Putting this number in context:
- GM sold 9.7 million cars in all of 2013
- GM had less than 1 million recalls in 2013
- GM had 9 million recalls in the five year period from 2008 to 2013
- GM's domestic recalls so far in 2014 amount to11.1 million, just shy of its previous one year recall record of 11.8 attained in 2004
And here is the chart showing that there is never just one cockroach, especially not when Congress comes sniffing around:
[3]
As USA Today noted [4]:
A significant number are products of the "new GM" formed in the government-scripted bankruptcy reorganization in 2009. The new company was supposed to be freed from the financial stress and corner-cutting of "old GM."
"The volume and steady drip of recalls at GM are certainly taking their toll on the brand. In the eyes of many, the 'new GM' is looking like the old GM — poor quality," says Daniel Hill, president of Ervin-Hill Strategy, a public relations and government-affairs consultant.
And here is the table confirming that indeed new GM is about as bad as old GM, and worse when one considers the current "old" management team will hide the truth about its quality control. Or lack thereof.
[5]
Or, as Fight Club explained, AxB=X <> Cost of recall...