Harley-Davidson hires ex-General Motors exec

Harley-Davidson has hired former General Motors engineer Jim Federico, who oversaw GM’s internal investigation into defective ignition switches.

Federico, 56, retired from GM on Monday. He begins his post as vice president of engineering at Harley on June 2, reported the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Harley-Davidson spokeswoman Maripat Blankenheim told the newspaper that Harley had been talking to Federico “for some time” before the announcement was made. GM had reported Monday that Federico made his own decision to retire from the automaker. Federico was named the “champion” of GM’s airbag failure probe, which led to engineers finding defective ignition switches in about 2.6 million vehicles.

To read more from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, click here.