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 Since early this year, GM has been embroiled in a scandal over why
it took more than a decade to begin recalling low-cost Chevrolet
Cobalts, Saturn Ions and other cars with the problems that were
causing the vehicles to stall during operation.
The sources said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara's office had
asked present and former GM employees to come for interviews.
In addition to Bharara's criminal investigation, at least 11 state
attorneys general are investigating GM over the ignition-switch
problem. The states are Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois,
Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Nevada, and New York,
representatives of those offices told Reuters.
GM recalled 511,528 Chevrolet Camaros on Friday for an ignition
switch problem similar to the defect in the Chevrolet Cobalts and
other models.
The automaker has turned over thousands of emails and other
documents to help in the probe, The Wall Street Journal reported
earlier on Friday, citing sources. (http://r.reuters.com/sec22w)
GM's 3.1 million switch-related recalls are a fraction of the record
16.5 million cars the automaker has recalled this year in 38
actions. That's about as many cars as the entire auto industry
expects to sell this year in the United States.
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U.S. safety regulators have received at least 18 consumer complaints
since 2009 about Camaros involving engines stalling or a sudden loss
of power, a Reuters review of a National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration database showed.
Last week the company dismissed 15 employees, including several
high-ranking executives, for their roles in matters relating to the
faulty switches in older GM cars.
(Additional reporting by Nate Raymond, Jessica Dye and Karen
Friefeld in New York, and Ankit Ajmera in Bangalore; Editing by
Savio D'Souza and Leslie Adler)
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