GM engineer who led 2012 ignition switch analysis retires

General Motors said yesterday that engineering executive Jim Federico has retired, the second high-level engineer to depart in recent weeks as GM shuffles its product development structure in the wake of its recall crisis.

According to Automotive News, Federico, 56, in recent years led the company's global small-car development and vehicle integration. He has worked with GM for 36 years.

Federico led a team of GM engineers in the fall of 2012 that analyzed a defective ignition switch, more than a year before GM recalled 2.6 million cars with the part. The faulty switch has been connected to at least 13 deaths since 2004, according to the report.

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