New Audit Announcements

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Since February 2014, General Motors Company (GM) has recalled 2.6 million vehicles manufactured between 2003 and 2011. The recalled vehicles have a defective ignition switch that can unintentionally move from the “run” or “on” position to the “accessory” or “off” position, shutting down the engine and disabling power steering, power brakes, and airbags. On March 21, 2014, the Secretary of Transportation requested that we undertake a review of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) safety functions and processes related to the GM recall. Accordingly, our objectives will be to (1) assess NHTSA’s procedures for collecting, analyzing, and managing information to identify safety-related vehicle defects, (2) determine if information on ignition switch issues or non-deploying airbags was available to NHTSA but not used in the GM defect analysis, and (3) determine whether NHTSA has completed actions to implement our 2011 recommendations to strengthen its processes for identifying and addressing vehicle safety defects.