General Motors on Monday announced a new slew of vehicle recalls and more than doubled its estimate of the costs of recalling faulty vehicles this quarter as Mary Barra, chief executive, prepared for a grilling from sceptical US legislators.
通用汽车(General Motors)周一宣布新召回一批汽车,此举令该公司本季度耗费在召回有问题汽车上的成本比原先估计的高了不止一倍。同时,通用汽车首席执行官玛丽•巴拉(Mary Barra)正准备就该公司汽车此前遇到的安全问题接受美国国会议员的质询。
The latest recall covers 1.3m older vehicles – the most recent from 2009-10 – that GM said could experience “a sudden loss of electric power steering assist.” The vehicles add to 2.2m compact cars that GM has recalled over potentially dangerous ignition switches and another 1.5m vehicles that it recalled over other issues in mid-March.
最近这次召回涉及130万辆较早车型(涉及的最新车型是2009-2010年款),通用表示这些车可能会“突然丧失电力转向装置的助动”。除了这次召回之外,通用汽车还曾因可能导致危险的点火开关召回220万辆汽车。另外,三月中旬该公司还曾因其他问题召回150万辆汽车。
GM said its expected charge this quarter for recalls had risen from the $300m it announced in mid-March to $750m.
通用表示召回产品所花费的费用已从3月中旬宣布的3亿美元增至7.5亿美元。
The latest news adds to the pressure on Ms Barra as she testifies on Tuesday before the House of Representatives’ energy and commerce committee about safety. The committee is investigating why it took GM until February to recall the vehicles with faulty ignition switches when GM knew of some problems with the components as long ago as 2001.
这一召回消息加大了巴拉在众议院能源和商务委员会(Energy and Commerce Committee)就安全问题做证的压力。该委员会正在调查为什么通用汽车早在2001年就知道点火开关存在问题,却直到今年2月才召回配备有缺陷点火开关的汽车。
The ignition switches could shift from “run” to “accessory” while the vehicles – all compact cars such as the Chevrolet Cobalt or Pontiac G5 – were being driven. The shift could cut power to the engine and prevent airbags from deploying in a crash.
该点火开关可能会在行车时从“运行”状态转换至“辅助”状态,从而切断供给引擎的电力,并导致发生事故时安全气囊无法弹出。这个问题涵盖包括雪佛兰Cobalt和庞蒂亚克G5车型在内的所有小汽车。至少12人在与该故障有关的车祸中丧生。
In prepared testimony before her appearance, Ms Barra apologises for the faults and the failure to report them earlier, while stressing that the new, restructured GM operates differently from the old company. GM underwent a government-managed bankruptcy in 2009.
在此次动力转向装置问题中召回的部分车型,已被包括在此前因点火开关召回的车型中。不过,还有些车型并未包括在此前的召回中,这些车型包括较早版本的雪佛兰迈锐宝(Chevrolet Malibu)。
“I would like this committee to know that all of our GM employees and I are determined to set a new standard,” she says in the prepared testimony.
最近这次召回以及由此导致成本增加的消息传出之际,通用汽车的股价下跌了0.89%,跌至每股34.42美元。