DETROIT/WASHINGTON — The 2003 Saturn Ion was supposed to be a pivotal car for General Motors Co. Instead, it came to represent the compromises and corner cutting that almost destroyed GM and now find the company in a global recall of some of its most popular models. The Ion debuted two years before the Chevy Cobalt, the model most associated with the current recall of 2.6 million vehicles, and it was the first car with the defective ignition switch linked to at least 13 deaths, when engines turned off, disabling airbags. Priced from $12,000, it was the automaker's answer to the class-leading Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic, a small car that could finally be built at a profit to GM, which at the time was losing up to $2,000 on every compact it sold. The all-new Ion was to be a standard bearer for GM's import-fighting Saturn brand, as well as the advance guard for a new family of compacts, code-named “Delta,” that eventually would include the 2005 Cobalt. Instead, the Ion, and the safety of its ignition switch, were compromised by GM's determination to cut its bloated costs, fractious relations with parts maker Delphi Automotive, and pressure to stick to a schedule, a close look at GM documents released to Congress and interviews with former GM executives show. In many ways the problems with all of the cars affected by the recall are reflected in the Ion's troubled start. Delphi alerted GM that the switch did not meet the automaker's standards by early 2002, the parts maker told Congress. The switch cost less than $1 to produce. But changing it just before the start of production would have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in factory retooling and caused an expensive and embarrassing delay in the Ion's introduction, former GM officials told Reuters. GM decided to proceed with the sub-par switch in February 2002, only five months before the first Ions were expected to roll out of a Tennessee factory, Delphi told Congress. The decision would have far-reaching consequences over the next 12 years. GM, which is pursuing its own investigation of the recall, said it would not comment on specifics “until our internal review is complete.” Delphi declined to comment. The Ion was one of the first products developed under the watch of industry veteran Bob Lutz, who rejoined GM in September 2001 as vice chairman in charge of product development and was sometimes compared by insiders with the tough-talking judge who is the title character in Elmore Leonard's novel, Maximum Bob. Then-Chairman Rick Wagoner had lured Lutz to the automaker to revitalize its tired vehicles, as well as its product development organization. There is no evidence that Lutz played any role in the switch decision or knew about its problems. But Twelve years ago, corporate pressure to keep the 2003 Ion on schedule was intense, former GM executives told Reuters. “Would you want to be the guy who told ‘Maximum Bob' that his baby was going to be late?” asked a retired GM purchasing manager familiar with the small-car program. Lutz declined to comment. The lead designer for the Ion ignition switch was Ray DeGiorgio, a GM engineer who testified in a deposition last year that he developed the project jointly with a small team of Delphi engineers. The Ion switch was DeGiorgio's first project as a lead designer, he testified. DeGiorgio was one of two GM engineers on Thursday who were placed on paid leave for undisclosed reasons as part of GM's ongoing investigation of the switch-related recall. It is not clear what role, if any, he played in the 2002 decision not to change the switch, and Reuters attempts to reach him were unsuccessful. — Reuters
