News: Live Updates on G.M. 1nternal Recall 1nvestigation

Steve Fecht for General MotorsGeneral Motors chief executive Mary Barra spoke to employees about the ignition switch recall investigation on Thursday in Warren, Mich.

As my colleague, Bill Vlasic reports, executives from General Motors discussed the findings of an internal investigation into why it took the company more than a decade to recall about 2.6 million small cars with defective ignition switches. The auto company says the problem has caused at least 13 deaths, but lawyers bringing suits against G.M. say the toll is at least 60.

Mary T. Barra, recently appointed chief executive officer of the auto company, told employees at a worldwide meeting on Thursday morning "this never should have happened."

Auto-Refresh: ON Turn ON Refresh Now Feed 10:24 A.M. U.S. Senator Says Remaining Questions Will Be Addressed

Senator Claire McCaskill, the Democrat from Missouri who chaired the April Senate committee hearing on G.M.'s recall failures, said that she is going to reserve judgment on the company's report until she has seen it personally.

"I'm looking forward to getting a full briefing from Mr. Valukas," Senator McCaskill said in a statement. "I won't be letting G.M. leadership, or federal regulators, escape accountability for these tragedies."

The senator said she is going to hold a follow-up hearing later this summer to address unanswered questions.

"The families of those affected deserve no less," she said.

10:23 G.M. Vows to Find Victims of Defective Ignition

Ms. Barra and other executives said they would look for victims who were injured or killed in the crashes because of the faulty ignition switch. However, they said they were not in the position to speculate whether there were more than 13 fatalities tied to the ignition defect.

Officials said Kenneth Feinberg, who is overseeing the G.M. compensation fund, may determine different criteria that could lead to a rise in the number of deaths tied to the problem.

Ms. Barra stressed that the company wants to compensate "everyone who lost a loved one or was seriously injured as a result of the ignition switch."

But, under questioning, company officials repeatedly refused to indicate whether they would alter the criteria they have used to determine who died as a result of the defect. The company has said 13 deaths were linked to the problem but it only counts those who died in front-impact crashes as a result of airbags not deploying.

In at least one case, the company has counted the death of one passenger, a front-seat rider, but not the person who died in the back seat.

— Hilary Stout and Danielle Ivory

10:22 A.M. G.M. on Wall Street The company's stock activity over the last six months.

Even before General Motors announced the first recall over the ignition-switch flaw in February, its stock was already falling, and it is down almost 10 percent over the last six months. As for today, it opened trading with a gain just after Ms. Barra's address to employees, then fell back in the course of the morning.

10:07 A.M. Questions Remain on Airbag Issue

Asked by reporters why G.M. engineers were unable to diagnose the ignition switch defect based on nondeployment of airbags upon front impact, Ms. Barra replied: "I wish could" answer the question.

Mark Reuss, G.M.'s executive vice president for product development, said the airbag nondeployment had been categorized internally as a "customer satisfaction activity."

Mr. Reuss declined to comment beyond that, saying he would let the Valukas report speak to the question.

10:04 A.M. Barra Did Not Say How Many G.M. Employees Were Fired

Ms. Barra was asked how many of the people that were "removed" from the company were fired and how many were allowed to retire. Ms. Barra declined to answer the question.

— Danielle Ivory

9:59 A.M. Lawyer for Victim in California Reacts to G.M. Report

Brian Chase, a lawyer who represented the family of Shara Lynn Towne — a mother of five killed in a 2004 Saturn Ion whose death G.M. counts among the 13 dead as a result of its faulty switch — tuned in to Ms. Barra's remarks from California.

"She didn't answer any questions. She just toed the party line," said Mr. Chase. "She says there was no evidence of putting profit over people, but 15 people got removed. Why? She didn't give any details other than incompetence or 'didn't do enough'. That's not enough."

Mr. Chase brought the first known litigation regarding the defect against the automaker in 2006. Ms. Towne's death on July 4, 2004, is the earliest of the deaths that G.M. links to its defect.

Mr. Chase said he did not believe the Valukas investigation could have been impartial. "If G.M.'s paying this guy, how are you going to have an objective analysis?" he asked. "It's like the fox guarding the hen house."

— Rebecca R. Ruiz

9:44 A.M. Questions Remain Over Faulty Ignition Part

Journalists asked Ms. Barra why no one took action when the defective ignition part was changed in 2006. While Ms. Barra said the internal investigation found a "pattern of incompetence," she said that she still did not know why "the part number was not documented", and why it was not communicated.

She said that the company's longstanding practice is "you do not change a part" without changing the part number.

9:36 A.M. Executives Answer Questions From Reporters

After Ms. Barra discussed the findings of the report with employees, she answered questions from reporters. When she was asked about the people who are no longer working at G.M. because of their role in the delay of the recall, she described them as representing multiple departments from across the company. She said that more than half of the employees were in "senior roles or executive roles."

9:35 A.M. Full Transcript of Barra's Remarks to G.M. Employees

Ms. Barra's prepared statement.

9:26 A.M. Fifteen G.M. Employees No Longer With Company

In her remarks, Ms. Barra said that 15 people who worked for the company and were deemed to have acted "inappropriately" are no longer with G.M., adding that action has also been taken against five other employees.

9:21 A.M. "This Should Never Have Happened," Barra says

"This should never have happened," Ms. Barra told G.M. employees as she presented findings of the internal investigation.

9:18 A.M. Employees Did Not Take Responsibility

Ms. Barra said that the report found that numerous individuals did not "take the responsibility" to identify and resolve the problem.

9:17 A.M. Report Found "Pattern of Incompetence"

Ms. Barra said the report found "a pattern of incompetence and neglect."

9:13 A.M. Barra Vows To "Do the Right Thing"

"We will do the right thing to those who were harmed," Ms. Barra said. "We will accept responsibility for our mistakes and do everything within our power to make sure this never happens again."

9:07 A.M. CEO Mary T. Barra Offers Sympathy to Victims

Mary T. Barra, the chief executive officer for G.M., began her discussion about the findings of the report by offering her sympathy to the victims. "Again, my deepest sympathy to the families who lost loved ones and to those who were injured. There are no words of mine who can ease their grief or their pain. "

8:47 A.M. Former U.S. Attorney Conducted Investigation

As Danielle Ivory reports, the internal investigation was conducted by Anton R. Valukas, a former United States attorney. The report is expected to name the people and departments within General Motors that he believes were responsible for the long delay leading up to the recall. Mr. Valukas may also recommend personnel changes or other corporate measures.

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