GM engineer involved in ignition-switch controversy retires

General Motors chief engineer Jim Frederico has unexpectedly announced his retirement from the company, after documents revealed his role in the ignition-switch fiasco.

A GM ‘lifer’ like CEO Mary Barra, Frederico is credited with serving as Vehicle Line Executive for a number of vehicles, including the Opel Insignia, Mokka and Adam; Buick LaCrosse, Regal, Verano, Excelle and Encore; Cadillac CTS and XTS and the Chevrolet Spark, Beat, Sonic, Trax, Cruze and Impala.

Although GM’s announcement is vague and pointed to a voluntary departure, documents investigated by the Wall Street Journal indicate that the executive was involved in a 2012 investigation into stalling problems with the 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt and other models that were eventually recalled.

Federico’s team was attempting to determine why the problems mysteriously stopped in 2006, however the issue was not resolved until he was replaced by safety director Gay Kent. Under new leadership, the team discovered that a lower-level engineer, Ray DeGiorgio, had approved a design revision without assigning a new part number.

DeGiorgio and Chevrolet Cobalt chief engineer Gary Altman were recently placed on unpaid leave for their roles in the design switch, while the head of global engineering at the time, John Calabrese, was ousted late last month as part of a wider restructuring of the engineering operations.