Most GM cars with at-risk switch not recalled

General Motors' recall of the Chevy Cobalt and Pontiac G5 covers fewer than half the GM cars on U.S. roads that it years ago told dealers might have the ignition switch problem linked to at least six deaths.

The car company continues to decline to explain publicly why it believes some vehicles with the apparently identical ignition switches are at risk for shutting off unexpectedly and others are not.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2014/02/23/gm-recall-ignition-switch-fatalities-nhtsa/5704149

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If a new car built by my company leaves Chicago traveling west at 60 miles per hour, and the rear differential locks up, and the car crashes and burns with everyone trapped inside, does my company initiate a recall?

You take the population of vehicles in the field (A) and multiply it by the probable rate of failure (B), then multiply the result by the average cost of an out-of-court settlement (C).

A times B times C equals X. This is what it will cost if we don't initiate a recall.

If X is greater than the cost of a recall, we recall the cars and no one gets hurt.

If X is less than the cost of a recall, then we don't recall.

- "FIGHT CLUB" by Chuck Palahniuk