Business

Lengel: We Can't Trust Auto Giants, Domestic or Foreign

July 26, 2015, 11:22 PM by  Allan Lengel

Can we trust the auto giants, both foreign and domestic?

I think after looking at the past couple years alone, the answer is a big NO!!!

The corporate culture has proved deadly.

The latest:  Bill Vlasic of the New York Times reports that federal regulators on Sunday levied a penalty of $105 million against Fiat Chrysler Automobiles for failing to complete 23 safety recalls covering more than 11 million vehicles.

In January,  Honda Motor Co. agreed to pay a $70 million fine for failing to disclose more than 1,700 reports of deaths, injuries and other "early warning" information to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration over more than a decade.

In May, General Motors was fined $35 million for defective ignitions switches, not to mention that it will pay out tens of millions to families who had members die as a result of driving cars with faulty ignition switches.

In 2014,  the Justice Department imposed a $1.2 billion criminal penalty against Toyota following a  four-year investigation which found that Toyota concealed information about defects from consumers and government officials and put lives in danger. ng lives at risk because of faulty parts

Auto companies build cars many people around the country, and the world, rely on to get around.  Particularly in Detroit, with our sorry public transportation, the car is king. We rely on it. We depend on the auto giants having some integrity. We put our lives in their hands.

But it’s clear that the corporate culture in the auto industry has been to hide and minimize defects  and recalls for some cars that have proven deadly. Much like other institutions, like the Catholic church, it seems far more important for workers at the auto giants to protect their jobs and the institution rather than protect the people it serves.

We need to do more to monitor these companies. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Justice Department are falling short. 

We can’t allow these companies that produce essential products to continue getting away with murder.



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