GM fires staff and launches compo fund

General Motors Co suffered from "incompetence and neglect" in dealing with a long-running ignition-switch defect in vehicles linked to at least 13 deaths, CEO Mary Barra said yesterday, as she announced the creation of a fund to compensate victims.

Barra said 15 employees found to have “acted inappropriately” have been fired. She did not name individuals.

Speaking at the company’s technical centre in Warren, Michigan, Barra addressed an estimated crowd of nearly 1,000 employees as the largest US automaker unveiled the findings of an internal investigation into why it took more than a decade to finally recall vehicles with the safety defect.