General Motors is running behind on Chief Executive Mary Barra's plan to begin shipping replacement ignition switches in its massive recall, dealerships and the company said Tuesday.
The automaker, which recalled 2.6 million vehicles including the Chevrolet Cobalt, Saturn Ion and other models, said no parts had been shipped to dealerships as of late Tuesday afternoon.
Barra had said in an online video that GM aimed to get the parts out by the beginning of this week.
"Our plan is to have parts at the dealers on April 7th," Barra said in a video about the recall, which will last several months.
Spokesman Greg Martin said GM still expects to begin shipping parts sometime this week but confirmed none had been shipped yet. "What Mary should have said is the week of April 7th," Martin said.
GM dealerships for weeks have been fielding calls from customers who are anxious to get their vehicles fixed.
"(The phone) just keeps ringing," said Ed Brunton, service director of Bryner Chevrolet in suburban Philadelphia. "We're staying pretty busy with it."
GM recalled the vehicles because ignition switches can unexpectedly turn off engines during operation and leave airbags, power steering and power brakes inoperable. The company has linked 13 deaths to the defect.
