GM: Fleet airbags required
General Motors Co. will not allow fleet purchasers to skip buying side airbags on 2010 models, the company said Friday.
The automaker previously allowed fleet buyers to save $145 per vehicle by opting out of buying side airbags on tens of thousands of 2006-09 models that were typically billed as having "standard side airbags," a policy safety advocates questioned.
Many of those used vehicles have ended up for sale and have been erroneously marketed as having standard air bags. GM has vowed to take steps to try to prevent dealers and others from improperly advertising those vehicles.
Automakers in 2003 signed a voluntary agreement to improve vehicle compatibility in front- and side-impact crashes and make side curtain airbags standard in all retail sales starting in the 2010 model year for vehicles weighing 8,500 pounds or less.
Brian Latouf, director of GM's Global Structure & Safety Integration Center, said the company wouldn't allow the airbags to be deleted from the list of features available when they are bought by fleet buyers. He also said that vehicles without side airbags are clearly marked in the owner's manual.
But in an interview, he acknowledged that some GM-certified used vehicles without side airbags were being advertised as having the safety feature.
Enterprise Rent-A-Car alone bought 66,000 Impalas that didn't have side air bags and tens of thousands of others were purchased by other fleet users, said Sean Kane, president of Safety Research & Strategies, an auto safety group that often works with plaintiffs attorneys.
GM didn't have a precise tally of vehicles that were sold without airbags, but Kane said the total could be 200,000 or more.
The vehicles included the 2006-2008 Chevrolet Impala and 2008-2009 Cobalt vehicles.
Kane wrote to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and to GM President and CEO Fritz Henderson this week urging both to take more steps to disclose that many vehicles billed as having standard side airbags were sold without them.
Kane acknowledged that GM can't fix all issues. GM defended the practice of allowing fleet customers to delete features upon order, saying other similar vehicles from other manufacturers didn't have side airbags.
"GM allowed fleet customers to modify option availability or delete select standard retail vehicle options to be competitive with other manufacturer's offerings," Latouf said in a letter to Kane.
NHTSA spokesman Rae Tyson declined to comment on Kane's letter to the agency.
GM: Fleet airbags required | detnews.com | The Detroit News
The automaker previously allowed fleet buyers to save $145 per vehicle by opting out of buying side airbags on tens of thousands of 2006-09 models that were typically billed as having "standard side airbags," a policy safety advocates questioned.
Many of those used vehicles have ended up for sale and have been erroneously marketed as having standard air bags. GM has vowed to take steps to try to prevent dealers and others from improperly advertising those vehicles.
Automakers in 2003 signed a voluntary agreement to improve vehicle compatibility in front- and side-impact crashes and make side curtain airbags standard in all retail sales starting in the 2010 model year for vehicles weighing 8,500 pounds or less.
Brian Latouf, director of GM's Global Structure & Safety Integration Center, said the company wouldn't allow the airbags to be deleted from the list of features available when they are bought by fleet buyers. He also said that vehicles without side airbags are clearly marked in the owner's manual.
But in an interview, he acknowledged that some GM-certified used vehicles without side airbags were being advertised as having the safety feature.
Enterprise Rent-A-Car alone bought 66,000 Impalas that didn't have side air bags and tens of thousands of others were purchased by other fleet users, said Sean Kane, president of Safety Research & Strategies, an auto safety group that often works with plaintiffs attorneys.
GM didn't have a precise tally of vehicles that were sold without airbags, but Kane said the total could be 200,000 or more.
The vehicles included the 2006-2008 Chevrolet Impala and 2008-2009 Cobalt vehicles.
Kane wrote to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and to GM President and CEO Fritz Henderson this week urging both to take more steps to disclose that many vehicles billed as having standard side airbags were sold without them.
Kane acknowledged that GM can't fix all issues. GM defended the practice of allowing fleet customers to delete features upon order, saying other similar vehicles from other manufacturers didn't have side airbags.
"GM allowed fleet customers to modify option availability or delete select standard retail vehicle options to be competitive with other manufacturer's offerings," Latouf said in a letter to Kane.
NHTSA spokesman Rae Tyson declined to comment on Kane's letter to the agency.
GM: Fleet airbags required | detnews.com | The Detroit News
