General Motors Co (GM.N) ordered half a million replacement ignition switches almost two months before it alerted federal safety regulators of the issues that prompted a recall of millions of vehicles, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing email exchanges between the automaker and its supplier Delphi Automotive Plc (DLPH.N). The email exchanges, which took place in mid-December 2013 between a GM contract worker and Delphi, indicate GM placed an “urgent” order for 500,000 replacement switches on Dec. 18, a day after a meeting of senior executives, the newspaper said.