Note to Mary Barra: GM's Recalls Aren't Just a PR Problem

Something didn’t feel right when General Motors Chief Executive Mary Barra posed for the cover of Time magazine last week before unveiling a bold plan to become “the most valued automotive company.” And the source of that unease became clear this past weekend when GM recalled another 60,000 vehicles, bringing this year’s tally of recalls to roughly 30 million vehicles—or more than triple what they sold worldwide in 2013.

While Barra may want GM cars to be “the safest in the industry,” as she told Time’s Rana Faroohar, it’s not yet clear how she hopes to achieve that. Investors certainly didn’t learn how the company is transforming GM to put safety first in the new strategic plan. Instead, Barra seems eager to put the past nine months behind her and, as she said last week, “really talk about the future of the company.” GM has outlined a future filled with smarter cars, streamlined production, higher profits, and more auto loans worldwide. Safety, it seems, will be a given.