Last autumn, Mr Millikin, 66, said he would retire early in 2015 after a successor had been found. His department had been heavily criticised in a 325-page report last year which looked at issues surrounding a faulty ignition switch that has been connected to 50 deaths when vehicles had stalled and their air bags had been disabled.

'Incredible high integrity'

GM fired or parted company with some 15 employees - including lawyers in Mr Millikin's team - after the events came to light. But chief executive Mary Barra defended him as a 'man of incredible high integrity'. It appears that he did not know about the issue although some of his subordinates did.The Detroit-based car giant attached a footnote to its latest quarterly report saying that Mr Millikin would now retire in July, then becoming available for consultancy until the year end. A successor has not yet been announced. Source: Channel News Asia