GM hires crisis expert for recall response team
US firm seeks to repair reputation amid probe into cars with ignition flaws tied to 13 deaths
General Motors has retained crisis communications expert Jeff Eller as it builds a team to help respond to the recall of small cars with faulty ignition switches tied to 13 deaths.
Greg Martin, a spokesman for the Detroit-based company, confirmed that Eller would join the team guiding the carmaker's response to the recall. Eller had been director of media affairs in the Clinton White House, according to his LinkedIn page.
They’ve brought in very clean, independentminded outsiders
GM is adding experts with a history of managing crisis situations as it seeks to repair its reputation. This week, the company hired Kenneth Feinberg, the lawyer who managed funds for victims of 9/11 terrorist attacks, to consider whether to compensate crash victims.
Jenner & Block chairman Anton Valukas, who prepared the report on the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, recently joined GM to co-lead the internal probe of who knew what and when about the ignition flaws.
"As we have from the start, we are drawing upon those who have deep experience and expertise in these matters," Martin said.
Chief executive Mary Barra fielded pointed questions and accusations this week from US senators during a panel holding a hearing into why it took the company so long to recall 2.59 million small cars with potentially faulty parts. One senator said GM had a "culture of cover-up" and another predicted it might face criminal liability.