"In one deposition, Mr. Cooper confronted Raymond DeGiorgio, the head switch engineer on the Cobalt, with the differences between the original switch and the replacement. While Mr. DeGiorgio said he saw the differences, he could not explain why the part had been changed without a corresponding change in its identification number."
Since the part was changed on the later models (post '06-'07) without changing the part number, that means there is no way to tell the new ones from the old defective ones. This goes against commonsense, why was this done?
Others have speculated it was done for liability reasons, that's IMO the most likely explanation. The beauty of civil litigation is there's an easily accessible paper trail. It would be interesting to see whether or not GM has a habit of changing designs without changing part numbers.
However, frequently designs get changed by "marketing" without a part number change, even in situations without possible liability. E.g. wireless routers are sometimes totally revised while retaining the same part number. Apple also likes to implement stealth changes.
Most engineers understand "commonsense", most marketing pukes don't.
Almost certainly because they knew about their own enormous liability. They settled with a family for this issue in February of 2006, and not long after did the engineering change, albeit leaving the defect out there on millions of cars (insert Fight Club quote).
I suspect this issue is going to continue to grow until someone is charged with criminal negligence causing death.
> I suspect this issue is going to continue to grow until someone is charged with criminal negligence causing death.
Which is worth noting won't happen; not under this administration with Holter behind DOJ's steers. Keep in mind, GM was bailed out and saved from bankruptcy by taxpayers money, despite their uproar. Clearly, GM is in bed with administration.
Since the part was changed on the later models (post '06-'07) without changing the part number, that means there is no way to tell the new ones from the old defective ones. This goes against commonsense, why was this done?