召回事件致通用汽车利润缩水83%

    通用汽车（General Motors）上周四表示，由于多起召回事件产生的成本，以及为点火开关故障导致的至少13起死亡伤害建立赔偿基金预计的耗费，公司第二季度的利润缩水了83%。

    这家汽车制造商称其第二季度的净收益跌至2亿美元，而去年同期这一数值为12亿美元。

    通用汽车在这一季度计入了建立受害者赔偿基金的费用，公司表示为此要支付高达6亿美元。此外，维修今年以来召回的近3,000万辆汽车也耗费了通用汽车8.74亿美元。

    这一季度，通用汽车召回了大量产品，首席执行官玛丽•巴拉也多次在国会作证。公司已经支付了美国运输部（Department of Transportation）和美国国家公路运输安全局（National Highway Transportation Administration）开具的3,500万美元罚款。面对持续的点火开关故障丑闻，公司在未来可能还会收到司法部（Justice Department）更大的罚单。

    通用汽车本季度的收入与去年同期基本持平，为396亿美元，去年同期为391亿美元。

    上周三，通用汽车又宣布了召回六款汽车，范围不止于今年困扰公司的点火开关问题。这让通用汽车今年宣布的召回总数增加到了60次，涉及全球近3,000万辆汽车。

    今年以来，通用汽车持续遭遇着因点火开关故障引起的安全危机。这种存在于数百万辆旧车上的安全隐患已经导致多人丧生。（财富中文网）

    译者：严匡正

    General Motors said Thursday its second-quarter profit plunged 83% due to the cost of numerous recalls and the expected cost of a compensation fund for those killed or injured by a faulty ignition switch linked to at least 13 deaths.

    The automaker said its net income in the quarter fell to $200 million, compared with $1.2 billion in the same period a year earlier.

    The quarter included charges for the establishment of a victims’ compensation fund, which GM said could cost the company as much as $600 million, as well as an additional $874 million for the cost of repairing the nearly 30 million cars it has recalled so far this year.

    The automaker’s results come after a quarter in which GM has issued myriad recalls and seen CEO Mary Barra called to testify in front of Congress multiple times. The company took a $35 million fine from the Department of Transportation and National Highway Transportation Administration, and could still be looking at even bigger charges from the Justice Department for the ongoing faulty ignition switch scandal.

    GM’s revenue for the quarter was mostly flat from a year prior, with total money brought in sitting at $39.6 billion compared with $39.1 billion the year before.

    On Wednesday, GM announced six new vehicle recalls, expanding beyond the ignition switch defect that has dogged the automaker for much of this year, bringing its total recall number for the year to 60 involving almost 30 million vehicles worldwide.

    For much of the year, GM has been overwhelmed by a safety crisis set off by faulty ignition switches in millions of older cars that the automaker has linked to multiple deaths.