DETROIT — Mary Barra became one of America's best-known executives when she took the helm as the first female CEO of General Motors in 2014. But the recognition quickly turned to criticism over the automaker's deadly ignition switch recall scandal.

Less than three months after becoming the auto industry's most powerful woman, Barra became the face of the crisis as she testified before Congress about defective ignition switches in millions of vehicles. The faulty parts would eventually be found to have been responsible for 124 deaths and 275 injuries.

GM spent billions in recall costs and settlements to victims and their families, including a $900 million fine as part of an agreement with the Justice Department after the Detroit automaker was charged with concealing information from government officials and wire fraud.

GM's ignition switch scandal is one of many examples of how the global auto industry was held under a regulatory microscope in the 2010s for incidents its critics say failed the public as well as shareholders. Executives from Toyota, Volkswagen and Japanese auto supplier Takata were among the auto industry leaders to be called to Washington to answer for alleged corruption, misdeeds or safety issues in the 2010s.

"I just don't recall there was a decade like this one in terms of corruption," said Michelle Krebs, executive analyst at Cox Automotive. "I can't remember anything like the amount and kinds of things that we saw."

Recalls have surged this decade. According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, automakers issued about 323.4 million vehicle recalls from between 2010 and the third-quarter of 2019, an 81.8% jump from the previous decade. Data for recalls in the fourth-quarter was not available.

While some of the investigations are ongoing, they've all forced companies to reshape their operations as the industry enters the next decade. In the case of VW's 2015 diesel emissions scandal, also known as Dieselgate, the company has accelerated its plans for electric vehicles, and safety regulators have implemented more stringent testing on diesel engines. Some also have questioned if diesel passenger car sales will ever recover as a result of the scandal.

Regarding recalls, automakers more than ever are attempting to use new methods such as over-the-air updates and email instead of standard mail to address safety concerns as soon as possible.

But it's unclear what kind of long-term impact such moves will have. "One of the questions and things to watch in the next 10 years is were lessons learned or are manufacturers going to try and set the clock backwards?" said Jason Levine, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, a Washington-based nonprofit watchdog organization.

In the case of GM, although the cause of the problem started roughly 14 years prior to Barra's tenure, it was now her company. She faced harsh criticism and quickly became a CEO under fire for an automaker that was still attempting to reestablish itself following a government-backed bankruptcy bailout in 2009.

A detailed investigation, known as the Valukas Report, found that a pattern of "incompetence and neglect" at GM had led to the defect, which allowed keys in the ignition switch of the vehicle to move out of the drive position, making it harder to control the vehicle.

The culture that led to the crisis is something Barra has spent a majority of the past six years attempting to change. She has restructured safety operations, put additional safeguards in place and fired 15 people who were found to have failed to act on the problem.

"I never want to put this behind us. I want to keep this painful experience permanently in our collective memories," Barra told employees at a town hall meeting in 2014. "I don't want to forget what happened because I — and I know you — never want this to happen again."