General Motors has officially linked 13 fatalities to its faulty ignition switches, but a new report suggests that number is much higher.

Reuters reports that at least 74 deaths can be linked to crashes that happened in General Motors vehicles under the ignition switch recall where the air bags didn’t deploy.

The news agency came to this conclusion after searching the Fatality Analysis Reporting System, a national database that catalogs crash data from local law enforcement, for instances of single-car frontal collisions where the air bags didn’t deploy and the driver, front-seat passenger, or both died. Statistics for the Saturn Ion, Chevy Cobalt, Ford Focus, Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla were compared to try and identify a trend.

Both the GM cars registered the most fatal crashes per 100,000 cars sold, with the Ion leading the way at 5.9. The Cobalt registered 4.1 fatal crashes per 100,000 cars sold, while the Focus had 2.9, the Civic sits at 1.6 and finally the Corolla at 1.0.

Trouble is, the crashes can’t specifically be linked to the ignition switch because crash reports don’t include that data. Acting NHTSA administrator David Strickland said previously that “the final death toll associated with this safety defect is not known to NHTSA, but we believe it’s likely that more than 13 lives were lost.”

At least in theory, the past four months should have been trying ones for General Motors.

The company admitted it knew key details about a deadly defect in its cars for more than a decade, and that flaw was responsible for killing at least 13 motorists and probably more. In the ensuing fallout, the company has issued more than two dozen recalls that affect 15.8 million cars in North America.

Those recalls have dented profits, but they haven't dampened America's enthusiasm for GM-made vehicles.

Consumers either haven't noticed or haven't cared about the avalanche of safety hazards associated with GM's cars. Sales at the Detroit-based automaker have increased three percent in 2014, and as details of the crisis have steadily emerged, they've only gotten stronger.

In May, GM enjoyed its best month of sales since August 2008, the month before the start of the economic downturn in the United States. The company sold 284,694 vehicles, according to our latest By The Numbers report, a 12.6-percent improvement over May 2013.

GM announced 13 separate recalls in May, but that was a mere footnote for consumers.

"I think they're doing a really good job handing a really bad situation," said Greg Smith, chief creative officer at The VIA Agency, an advertising agency that manages brand reputations. "They've created this internal safety review board, which sounds good, at least on paper, and I think that's another reason why people are willing to believe that this is a new GM. They're behaving like a contemporary company and not trying to obfuscate."

It's the second consecutive month of sales momentum in the face of ongoing recalls for GM. The company issued six recalls in April, and CEO Mary Barra was called to testify before two Congressional committees. Yet overall sales increased 6.9 percent in April.

Smith said one component of General Motors' success in weathering the crisis is that while company executives have caught the brunt of the criticism, the brands – Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC – have gone relatively unscathed.

"Consumers aren't buying GM," he said. "They're buying the Impala or GMC trucks, and those products have gotten very good reviews at a variety of places. The consumer is going out there and seeing value in that."

Chevrolet, with its brand-name Cobalt at the heart of the ignition-switch crisis, has been particularly resistant to sales problems. Sales are up across all of GM's brands in May, but Chevrolet showed the most robust growth, with a 14-percent year-over-year gain.

It helps Chevrolet that the Cobalt, like other cars at the center of the ignition-switch recall, is no longer for sale. Still, some experts are surprised at both the growth of auto-industry sales in general and GM sales in particular as consumer confidence in the US plateaued over the past two months.

"Auto sales for the month of May seemed almost to defy logic," said Jack R. Nerad, senior analyst for Kelley Blue Book. "... General Motors' sales results epitomized that trend of defying logic."

Demand surged by 11.4 percent across the industry, year over year, and industry experts project that automakers could sell as many as 16.7 million new vehicles in North America this year, which would be the most in six years. Ford, which had its own recall of 1.4 million cars in late May, saw no diminished enthusiasm for sales. On the contrary, it enjoyed its best month of May sales in a decade.

Paul Nadjarian, CEO and founder of MojoMotors.com, said his website has culled more than 35,000 leads to auto dealers over the past two years, and only two of those customers had inquired about recalls.

That applies to both new and used cars. Even as General Motors has sought to draw a line between the "old" pre-bankruptcy company that focused on sales volume and the "new" GM that is more responsive to potential safety hazards, used-car buyers are paying little mind to the potential pitfalls in GM vehicles.

Nadjarian said used-car prices for GM models have shown no significant fluctuations or discernible trends in recent months. The average price on a 2010 Cobalt LT has dropped by about $100 since February, according to MojoMotors data. On the other hand, the price of a 2012 Chevy Malibu, a recently recalled model, is up nearly five percent.

"The bottom line is consumers like the new GM products and big, aggressive sales incentives," Nadjarian said. "Recalls are just not a hot topic for the average consumer."

The results from an internal investigation looking into the untimely recall of General Motors vehicles with faulty ignition switches will be released Thursday according to the company.

GM CEO Mary Barra will lead a town-hall style meeting with employees at 9 a.m. tomorrow morning, followed by a press conference with the media. GM says that this will be an “update” on the ignition switch recall, but it is believed that Barra will share the findings from former U.S. Attorney Anton Valukas, the man hired to conduct the internal review.

An “untarnished” report on exactly why it took GM about a decade to recall defective cars that have been linked with at least 13 deaths has been promised by the American automaker.

About 2.6 million cars were affected by the ignition switch recall, which caused an internal review of GM’s safety practices, resulting in the recalling of about 15.8 million vehicles worldwide so far in 2014.

A US Senator said General Motors' much-anticipated internal report on the circumstances that led to a deadly flaw going unfixed for more than a decade, amounts to a whitewashing of the problem.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), one of the most vocal critics of the company over its handling of an ignition-switch malfunction that has killed at least 13 motorists, said the internal report, compiled by former US Attorney Anton Valukas, failed to answer key questions and didn't identify how victims will be compensated.

The report, "amounts to circling the wagons to marshal a legal defense," Blumenthal said during a conference call with reporters. "It's the best report that money can buy. It absolves upper management and limits culpability. This report leaves really critical questions unanswered. It's a failure to come clean and acknowledge full responsibility."

Earlier Thursday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released a partially redacted copy of the 325-page report, which found no evidence of a conspiracy to cover up the ignition-switch failure that GM had known about for at least 11 years before issuing a recall in February.

GM CEO Mary Barra (pictured above with Dan Ammann and Mark Reuss) had called the report an unflinching look at the company's shortcomings, which she found "extremely tough, brutally tough and deeply troubling."
But during a press conference held before the release of the report, members of her executive team wouldn't say the company would waive any protections offered by its 2009 bankruptcy to potential litigation – a key point in how the company might address financial responsibilities resulting from legal claims. Barra deferred answering many questions about the contents of the report to Valukas, and deferred questions about the compensation fund to Kenneth Feinberg, an independent consultant who will administer the claims. Neither Valukas nor Feinberg were available to answer questions.

Many questions remain unresolved.

Who qualifies as a victim? GM has acknowledged 13 deaths related to the defect, though many, including NHTSA administrator David Friedman expect that number to rise. The report does not offer details on who qualifies as a victim of the defect, and the company does not acknowledge many ongoing claims.

"Clearly, the number is more than 13," Blumenthal said. "As much as compensation is important, public acknowledgement of those victims is also critical."

Why did GM's engineers fail to establish a link between ignition-switches moving to the accessory position and airbag non-deployments that contributed to the fatalities?

Why were cars that suddenly shut off while driving treated as customer-convenience problems, and not safety hazards?

"You would think the investigation would help to shape the fund in determining how many victims there were, how many should be compensated and how many injuries and others who were harmed, but there are none of those relevant results from this investigation," Blumenthal said.

He said he would continue to press for federal legislation that would compel automakers to be more transparent when their cars have dangerous problems. If enacted, the law would require them to provide more information on fatal crashes to the Early Warning Reporting database, and it would also require NHTSA to upgrade its online databases to improve search capabilities.

Blumenthal has co-sponsored the pending legislation, the "Early Warning Reporting System Improvement Act of 2014," with Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.). On Thursday, Markey was critical of the Valukas report.

"We need more than an accounting of past mistakes," he said. "We need to ensure accountability and that permanent measures are put in place to prevent future deaths. An internal investigation alone is not nearly enough to ensure that a decade-long tragedy like this never happens again. Until we end the 'don't ask, don't tell' culture that enabled these tragedies, we risk the potential that auto manufacturers will again keep deadly secrets."

Blumenthal said he's still troubled that GM won't issue a directive that would implore drivers to park their cars until they're fixed. Currently, GM says it has made fixes to about 113,000 vehicles of the more than 2.5 million vehicles recalled because of the defective-ignition switches. The company says it is on track to have all the vehicles fixed by October.

He also said that if GM is intent on truly being accountable, it should ensure that legal records from lawsuits involving the defective switches are open to the public. Instead, he charged that GM has arranged confidential settlements with victims that seal records which could have otherwise helped warn the public about the safety hazards.

He said GM needs to stop shifting responsibility for answering questions to Feinberg and Valukas.

"Which is made all the more important by the incomplete nature of this report," Blumenthal said. "Clearly, this one is not independent or completely objective."

GM Receives Extremely 'Thorough,' 'Brutally Tough' and 'Deeply Troubling' Valukas Report
Company will act on all recommendations
15 GM employees no longer with company
Five other GM employees disciplined
Report reveals no conspiracy or cover-up
Feinberg to administer compensation fund
DETROIT – General Motors CEO Mary Barra said today that GM has received the findings of an investigation by former U.S. Attorney Anton Valukas into the Cobalt ignition switch recall and plans to act on all of its recommendations.

She again expressed deep sympathy for the victims of accidents related to the ignition switch defect and their families. In addition, Barra announced that Kenneth Feinberg will administer a compensation program for those who have lost loved ones or who have suffered serious physical injuries as the result of an ignition switch failure in recently recalled vehicles.

Barra described the Valukas findings as "extremely thorough, brutally tough, and deeply troubling."
"Overall the report found that, from start to finish, the Cobalt saga was riddled with failures which led to tragic results for many," Barra said, noting that the report revealed no conspiracy by the company to cover up the facts and no evidence that any employee made a trade-off between safety and cost.
Barra said 15 individuals who were determined to have acted inappropriately are no longer with the company. Disciplinary actions have been taken against five other employees.

GM Chairman Tim Solso said the Board of Directors has been working closely with the management team to get the facts on the ignition switch issue and to see that changes are made to prevent such a tragedy from ever happening again.

"The Board engaged Anton Valukas to investigate and determine what went wrong while already working with GM's leadership to make necessary changes," Solso said. "We have received and reviewed Valukas' very thorough report and are continuing to work with management to oversee the implementation of the recommendations contained in the report.

"In addition, the Board also retained independent counsel to advise us with respect to this situation and governance and risk management issues. We will establish a stand-alone risk committee to assist in overseeing these efforts." Solso said. "The Board, like management, is committed to changing the company's culture and processes to ensure that the problems described in the Valukas report never happen again.

"The Valukas report confirmed that Mary Barra, Mike Millikin and Mark Reuss did not learn about the ignition switch safety issues and the delay in addressing them until after the decision to issue a recall was made on Jan. 31, 2014," Solso said.

Barra emphasized to employees that the company has adopted and will continue to adopt sweeping changes in the way it handles safety issues. The actions to date include:


Appointing Jeff Boyer as Vice President of Global Vehicle Safety, elevating and integrating GM's safety processes under a single leader
Adding 35 product safety investigators that will allow GM to identify and address issues much more quickly
Instituting the Speak up for Safety program encouraging employees to report potential safety issues quickly and forcefully
Creating a new Global Product Integrity organization to enhance overall safety and quality performance, and
Restructuring the recall decision making process to raise it to the highest levels of the company.
In her remarks to employees, Barra said she is committed to leading "in a way that brings honor and respect to this company.
"Together, we have to understand that the attitudes and practices that allowed this failure to occur will not be tolerated," she said. "Also, if we think that cleaning up this problem and making a few process changes will be enough, we are badly mistaken. Our job is not just to fix the problem. Our job must be to set a new industry standard for safety, quality, and excellence."

GM CEO Mary Barra's Remarks to Employees on Valukas Report Findings

Thank you and welcome to our Global Town Hall meeting. I have a lot to cover today, so let's get started.

On Monday, former U.S. Attorney Anton Valukas presented the findings of his investigation into our ignition switch recall to the Board of Directors. As promised, we have shared the report with the appropriate government officials. This morning, I want to discuss it with you. I also want to update you on the company's commitment to create a compensation program for victims.

Before addressing the Valukas report, I first want to take this opportunity to again express my deepest sympathies to the families that lost loved ones and to those who were injured.

I realize there are no words of mine that can ease their grief and pain. But as I lead GM through this crisis, I want everyone to know that I am guided by two clear principles: First, that we do the right thing for those who were harmed; and, second, that we accept responsibility for our mistakes and commit to doing everything within our power to prevent this problem from ever happening again.

With respect to the Valukas report, you should know that he and his team had complete independence in their activities. The investigation covered more than 350 interviews with over 230 individuals and more than 41 million documents.

Mr. Valukas has confirmed that he and his investigators were provided with unlimited access to interview any GM employee and every request for an interview of a GM employee was granted. A number of former GM employees and third parties were also interviewed as part of the investigation.

I will share my perspective and announce some actions in response to the report. My understanding is NHTSA, our regulator, will post the full report on their website, which is available for anyone to review.

I can tell you the report is extremely thorough, brutally tough and deeply troubling. For those of us who have dedicated our lives to this company, it is enormously painful to have our shortcomings laid out so vividly. I was deeply saddened and disturbed as I read the report.

But this isn't about our feelings or our egos. This is about our responsibility to act with integrity, honor and a commitment to excellence.

With all of our colleagues around the world watching today, I want it known that this recall issue isn't merely an engineering or manufacturing or legal problem, it represents a fundamental failure to meet the basic needs of these customers.

Our job is clear: To build high quality, safe vehicles. In this case with these vehicles, we didn't do our job. We failed these customers. We must face up to it and learn from it. To that end, on behalf of GM, we pledge that we will use the findings and recommendations from this report as a template for strengthening our company.

What the Valukas investigation uncovered – in this situation – is a pattern of incompetence and neglect.



Repeatedly, individuals failed to disclose critical pieces of information that could have fundamentally changed the lives of those impacted by a faulty ignition switch. If this information had been disclosed, I believe in my heart the company would have dealt with this matter appropriately.

Furthermore, numerous individuals did not accept any responsibility to drive our organization to understand what was truly happening. The report highlights a company that operated in silos, with a number of individuals seemingly looking for reasons not to act, instead of finding ways to protect our customers.

Let me be clear: This should never have happened. It is unacceptable. Our customers have to know they can count on our cars, our trucks and our word. Because of the actions of a few people, and the willingness of others in the company to condone bureaucratic processes that avoided accountability, we let these customers down.

To give you a sense of the thoroughness and forcefulness of the investigation, I want to paraphrase a few of the key conclusions:

GM personnel's inability to address the ignition switch problem, which persisted for more than 11 years, represents a history of failures.
While everybody who was engaged on the ignition switch issue had the responsibility to fix it, nobody took responsibility.
Throughout the entire 11-year history, there was no demonstrated sense of urgency, right to the very end.
The ignition switch issue was touched by numerous parties at GM – engineers, investigators, lawyers – but nobody raised the problem to the highest levels of the company.
Overall, the report concludes that from start to finish the Cobalt saga was riddled with failures, which led to tragic results for many.
I hate sharing this with you as much as you hate hearing it. But I want you to hear it. In fact, I never want you to forget it. This is not just another business crisis for GM. We aren't simply going to fix this and move on. We are going to fix the failures in our system – that I promise. In fact, many are already fixed. And we are going to do the right thing for the affected parties.

But I never want to put this behind us. I want to keep this painful experience permanently in our collective memories. I don't want to forget what happened because I – and I know you -- never want this to happen again.

You should know that Mr. Valukas' report revealed no conspiracy by the corporation to cover up the facts. In addition, the investigators found no evidence that any employee made a trade-off between safety and cost.

The problem is this case is more complicated and more nuanced. What Valukas found was a pattern of management deficiencies and misjudgments – often based on incomplete data – that were passed off at the time as business as usual.

Unfortunately, the report found, these seemingly benign actions led to devastating consequences. In short, we misdiagnosed the problem from the beginning.

Experienced engineers, with responsibility for safety, didn't understand that the airbags would not deploy if the ignition switch changed position.

I know many of you are saying to yourselves that this problem isn't a fair reflection of the company as a whole. I know it's not. We are better than this. But we own this problem, and we have to have the courage to deal with it in the right way.

As we have learned more about this situation over the last few months, we have acted aggressively to uncover the facts, correct the problems and restructure the internal systems that allowed this problem to develop in the first place. I mentioned earlier that we are posting a summary of all our actions on the website, but I want to highlight five of the most critical steps we have undertaken:

1) We named Jeff Boyer Vice President of Safety for the company, elevating and integrating our safety processes under a single leader. Jeff reports directly to Mark Reuss, and Jeff and I meet regularly.

2) We added 35 safety investigators that will allow us to identify and address issues much more quickly. And we have already seen the positive results of their work.

3) We instituted our Speak Up for Safety program encouraging employees to report potential safety issues quickly. And we are going to recognize them for doing so.

4) We announced the creation of, and have implemented, a new Global Product Integrity organization that will enhance our overall safety and quality performance.

5) Finally – and this is an incredibly important one – we restructured the safety decision-making process to raise it to the highest levels of the company. Senior management is now going to be at the center of these issues.

The Valukas report makes a series of recommendations in eight major areas. I am committing the company to act on all of these recommendations. In each of the major areas, we have already taken action. There is much more to do, of course. But we are going to move forcefully to complete the recommendations on an expedited timetable.

Evidence of our work is already apparent. As I'm sure you know, we are taking an aggressive approach on recalls. And we are bringing greater rigor and discipline to our analysis and decision-making process regarding recalls and other potential safety-related matters. This is the new norm.

We are redoubling our efforts and believe they will be substantially completed by the end of the second quarter. In the near term, you might expect to see a few more recall announcements.

We have also made a number of personnel decisions. Some of these are tough calls, as you can well appreciate, and we held off making moves until this investigation was complete. But with the facts before us, we felt it was important to make a number of changes, and we have already done so.

Fifteen individuals, who we determined to have acted inappropriately, are no longer with the company. Some were removed because of what we consider misconduct or incompetence. Others have been relieved because they simply didn't do enough: They didn't take responsibility; didn't act with any sense of urgency.

Disciplinary actions have been taken against five additional people as well. With these moves, I feel we have addressed the personnel issues in this matter.

Consistent with our priority to do the right thing for those that were harmed, we will be implementing a compensation program for those who have lost loved ones or who have suffered serious physical injuries as a result of an ignition switch failure.

To that end, we engaged noted expert Ken Feinberg to review options and ultimately to administer the compensation program.

Again, with all the changes we have implemented and are now undertaking, the job of correcting our mistakes is only beginning. Strengthening our systems and adding resources are critically important steps in improving our company. But as positive as these steps are, they still aren't enough. To excel – to truly build the best auto company for customers – we have to change our behavior as well.

We have to personalize this challenge. Quality and safety aren't someone else's responsibilities. They are mine. They are yours. We all must feel a personal responsibility to see that this company excels at every level.

Together, we have to understand that the attitudes and practices that allowed this failure to occur will not be tolerated. Also, if we think that cleaning up this problem and making a few process changes will be enough, we are badly mistaken.

Our job is not just to fix the problem. Our job must be to set a new industry standard for safety, quality and excellence. To settle for anything less would be a profound error.

So if you are aware of a potential problem affecting safety or quality and you don't speak up, you are a part of the problem. And that is not acceptable. If you see a problem that you don't believe is being handled properly, bring it to the attention of your supervisor. If you still don't believe it's being handled properly, contact me directly.

I want an environment at GM where the customer is at the center of every action and every decision. After all, we exist to serve their needs, not the other way around. We jointly own our successes and our failures. We have to hold each other accountable.

Every day, 220,000 GM employees get up and go to work with a sincere commitment to do their best. You and I both know that the vast majority of our colleagues care deeply about safety and quality and have the highest integrity.

The simple truth is each one of us has the power to make GM a better, more customer-focused company. It's time we unleash the full power of this great company.

When I started at GM, I certainly never expected to be CEO. And I certainly didn't expect to be in a situation like this. But I'm here and you are here, and we have to be committed to lead in a way that brings honor and respect to this company.

Even on a day as tough as this I am proud and honored to work for General Motors. I know we have a dedicated and talented team of loyal, honest employees.

I know, because of your efforts, our current vehicles are winning in the marketplace on safety, quality and design. I know our dealers are proud to sell our vehicles, and they care deeply about providing excellent service to our customers. I know our suppliers work hard to provide the best components for our vehicles. And, most important of all, I know, as you do, that our products enhance the lives of millions of people all over the world every day.

As I prepared for today, I thought long and hard about the very tough message I would be delivering. I knew full well how difficult this experience would be for all of us. But I also knew the only course was to be direct and totally honest.

This is a test of our character and our values. In the end, I'm not afraid of the truth, and I know you aren't either. I want it known that we will face up to our mistakes and take them head on.

The fact is I believe in this company and I believe in you. I want GM to be the world's best automotive company – for customers. Whatever it takes to do that is what we are going to do.

Thank you.

GM CEO Mary Barra today announced that the company has received the findings of an investigation by former U.S. Attorney Anton Valukas regarding the Cobalt ignition switch recall. The executive described the report as “extremely thorough, brutally tough, and deeply troubling,” and said the company will act on all its recommendations.

“Overall the report found that, from start to finish, the Cobalt saga was riddled with failures which led to tragic results for many,” Barra said, adding that the report revealed no conspiracy by the company to cover up the facts and no evidence that any employee made a trade-off between safety and cost.

The CEO said 15 individuals who were determined to have acted inappropriately are no longer with the company, with disciplinary actions taken against five other employees.

The Valukas report also determined that Mary Barra, Mike Millikin and Mark Reuss did not learn about the ignition switch safety issues and the delay in addressing them until after the decision to issue a recall was made on January 31, 2014.

Barra expressed sympathy for the victims of accidents related to the ignition switch defect and their families and announced that Kenneth Feinberg will administer a compensation program for those who have lost loved ones or who have suffered serious physical injuries as the result of an ignition switch failure in recently recalled vehicles.

Mary Barra told GM employees that the company has adopted and will continue to adopt sweeping changes in the way it handles safety issues.

Actions to date include appointing Jeff Boyer as Vice President of Global Vehicle Safety, adding 35 product safety investigators that will allow GM to identify and address issues much more quickly and instituting the Speak up for Safety program encouraging employees to report potential safety issues quickly and forcefully.

GM is also creating a new Global Product Integrity organization to enhance overall safety and quality performance, and restructuring the recall decision-making process to raise it to the highest levels of the company.

And I'm still dubious that more senior executive did not know.

GM Will Rework or Replace Keys on 3.16 Million U.S. Cars

DETROIT – General Motors will rework or replace the ignition keys on about 3.16 million 2000 to 2014 model year cars in the U.S. because the ignition switch may inadvertently move out of the "run" position if the key is carrying extra weight and experiences some jarring event.

The use of a key with a hole, rather than a slotted key, addresses the concern of unintended key rotation due to a jarring road event, such as striking a pothole or crossing railroad tracks.

Only one of the models included in the U.S. recall of 3,160,725 cars is still in production – the previous generation Chevrolet Impala, which is sold to daily rental fleets as the Impala Limited. The total North America population – U.S., Canada, Mexico and exports – is 3,360,555.

The safety recall follows a review of ignition issues following the recall in February of 2.6 million Chevrolet Cobalts and other small cars. GM is aware of eight crashes and six injuries related to this recall.

If the ignition switch moves out of the "run" position, there is an effect on power steering and power braking. In addition, the timing of the key movement out of the "run" position, relative to the activation of the sensing algorithm of the crash event, may result in the air bags not deploying.

The cars being recalled are the:

Buick Lacrosse MY 2005-2009

Chevrolet Impala MY 2006-2014

Cadillac Deville MY 2000–2005

Cadillac DTS MY 2004–2011

Buick Lucerne MY 2006–2011

Buick Regal LS & GS MY 2004–2005

Chevy Monte Carlo MY 2006–2008

In these vehicles, the ignition switch may be unable to handle extra weight hanging on a slotted key. GM will add an insert to the ignition keys of the recalled vehicles to close the slot and leave a 4x6-millimeter hole through which the key ring could be attached. In vehicles where the key cover has been worn, new keys with holes instead of slots will be provided free of charge.

Rework of the keys – adding key inserts – at GM dealerships is expected to begin in the next few weeks. Until the rework or replacement is completed, owners of the recalled cars are urged to remove additional weight from their key chains and drive with only the ignition key.

In addition to the ignition key recall, GM also announced U.S. recalls for 165,770 vehicles in these five actions:

68,887 model year 2013-14 Cadillac ATS and 21,863 model year 2014 Cadillac CTS sedans. In certain vehicles with automatic transmissions, the shift cable may not be fully secured to the shifter bracket or transmission bracket. If the shift cable comes out of the brackets, the driver may not be able to shift the transmission in or out of gear. GM is unaware of any crashes or injuries related to this condition.

57,192 2015 Chevrolet Silverado 2500/3500 HD and 2015 GMC Sierra 2500/3500 GMC Sierra HD to inspect for proper attachment of power steering hose clamps to the power steering pump. If the vehicle is driven with the clamp unattached, the hose may disconnect from the pump or gear, causing a rapid loss of power steering fluid. This will result in loss of power steering assist and Hydro Boost powered brakes without warning. The vehicle would revert to manual brakes and manual steering. GM knows of no crashes or injuries from the condition. Dealers are to inspect power steering hose clamps in two locations to ensure they are properly attached.

16,932 model year 2011 Cadillac CTS sedans with AWD. On some vehicles, a gasket leak where the constant velocity joint meets the rear propeller shaft may cause the rear propeller shaft to separate or become loose, making contact with the vehicle floor above and causing the rollover sensor to deploy the roof rail air bags. GM is aware of 15 unintended deployments, but injury data is unclear.

712 model year 2014 Chevrolet Corvettes with optional Competition Sport Seats, because an unbelted child and door trim may block the passenger seat side air bag vent in a deployment. Dealers will replace the current air bag with a redesigned version. GM is unaware of any crashes or injuries related to this condition, but advises customers to not allow small children in the front seat until the vehicle is serviced.

184 model year 2014-15 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra full-size pickups with vinyl floors and accessory all-weather floor mats purchased new with the vehicle. The mats can slip under the driver's feet because the vinyl floors have no attachments to secure them in place. Customers are advised take the floor mats to their dealer for a full refund. GM is unaware of any crashes or injuries related to the mats.

GM expects to take a charge of up to approximately $700 million in the second quarter for the cost of recall-related repairs announced in the quarter. This amount includes a previously disclosed $400 million charge for recalls announced May 15 and May 20.

A member of the US House of Representatives said Wednesday there may be as many as 100 deaths linked to General Motors' decade-long failure to recall millions of defective cars.

Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colorado) referenced the figure during her questioning of GM CEO Mary Barra and former US Attorney Anton Valukas in a hearing of the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, which has been probing the ignition-switch defect.

"We're hearing there may be up to 100 deaths linked to this," DeGette said during her remarks.

The number of deaths tied to the faulty ignition switches has been an elusive figure thus far amid several investigations. General Motors has acknowledged at least 13 deaths and 54 crashes that occurred when the switches inadvertently moved out of the "run" position and turned off engines, airbags and other electrical systems, like power steering.

But several families of people who died in accidents are angry that GM has not counted their family members as part of its number, and an earlier Reuters analysis found that as many as 74 people may have died in accidents related to the problem.

DeGette did not elaborate on her comments in her official remarks, but a spokesperson from her office said "safety advocates and others continue to look at crashes that contributed to fatalities beyond the 13 GM has acknowledged. ... While no counts are settled yet, we have heard numbers like the 100 my boss referenced from people who are closely tracking this."

Although the company knew about the defective switches for more than a decade, GM didn't recall any of the Chevrolet Cobalts, Saturn Ions or Pontiac G5s affected until February of this year. So far, GM has recalled 2.6 million cars related to that problem.

More broadly, General Motors has had to revamp the way it treats safety concerns within the company. In the wake of the fiasco, General Motors has issued 44 separate recalls in 2014 that cover more than 20 million vehicles worldwide – more than the number sold by GM the past five years combined.

In her testimony, Barra affirmed GM's 13 acknowledged deaths. Rep. Pete Olson (R-Texas) noted there were pictures of 15 victims in the back of the gallery and asked her to explain the discrepancy. Barra instead relayed details of a victim-compensation program that will be independently administered by Kenneth Feinberg, but as in previous appearances, the details of which remained unclear Wednesday.

Sidestepping a question about the deaths not acknowledged by GM, Barra said that all potential victims were "eligible to apply" for funds from the compensation fund, but she did not detail how GM might determine the eligibility requirements. She said that was a question that Feinberg would answer by the end of the month, and that he would begin accepting claims by August 1.

Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-Virginia) asked Barra, if she truly wants to make sure all victims are fairly compensated, why GM's lawyers are continuing to seek shield from liability provided by the company's 2009 bankruptcy filing.

"You feel it's the right thing for GM to continue to seek the shield of bankruptcy and not deal with these cases? And have Feinberg be the only solution," Griffith said. Barra noted that participation in Feinberg's program is voluntary and that, for those who don't participate, "people have the same rights they do today," she said.

In perhaps the most heated exchange of the testimony, Griffith responded, "But you're trying to block those rights, by not instructing your lawyers to back off. ... If GM truly wants to compensate victims fully and fairly, stop asking the bankruptcy court for protection."

Former US Attorney Anton Valukas, who authored the 325-page internal report on the GM response to the ignition-switch problem, sat beside Barra at the witness table and also took questions from lawmakers Wednesday. Among the biggest revelations: He said that Delphi, the supplier that made the ignition switches for GM, had been largely unresponsive to his requests for information. In multiple instances, he said Delphi either could not locate documents he asked for or did not produce them. In another instance, he said that Delphi did not grant him access to employees he wanted to interview.

In regard to the defective ignition switch, Valukas testified that "Delphi certainly knew this part was being approved."

Delphi has not yet responded to a request for comment.

Released two weeks ago, Valukas' internal report found no evidence of a company-wide cover-up and largely absolved GM's senior leadership of blame in the delayed ignition-switch recall. That explanation hasn't sat well with safety advocates who have called it a whitewash, and it didn't sit well with several skeptical members of the Congressional committee.

"In many ways, the facts surrounding what finally resulted in the GM recall are far more troubling," Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pennsylvania) said.

Noting that the company had known about the defective switches for at least a decade, met with members of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in 2007 to discuss problems with Chevy Cobalts and then learned in a deposition in April 2013 that the ignition switch had been replaced by an engineer without changing a part number, Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Georgia) said, "that smacks of a big cover-up to me."