Stories of GM’s Australia-bound Volt hybrid catching fire just don’t seem to be going away.
After three Volts caught fire following recent side-impact testing by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in the US, and subsequent reports that the company was making a buy-back offer to assuage leery customers, GM has issued a statement aimed at clarifying what seemed to be developing into a potentially sticky situation.
The company says there was never a buy-back offer. In its statement, GM chairman and CEO Dan Akerson reiterated an announcement earlier this week of a “Volt owner satisfaction programme” in which Volt owners “concerned about safety” were offered a free exchange vehicle on loan until “resolution of the issue”.
The statement says Akerson “did not announce any new initiatives,” clearly referring to the Associated Press report that the company was prepared to actually purchase Volts from customers concerned about safety.
The Volt programme for Australia, according to Holden spokesperson Emily Perry, remains on track “Volt sales are continuing in the US and launch plans for all other markets like Australia have not changed.
“The Australian Volt will go on sale late next year and specification, pricing and other customer programs information will be announced closer to launch.
“Of course if there are any changes to the Volt program in the US they will naturally be adopted for our RHD version as well.
“GM’s senior engineers are developing changes to batteries to eliminate concern of potential post-crash electrical fires and are working with industry to ensure appropriate protocols are in place.”
At this stage, GM is not issuing a formal recall for the 6000 or so Volts now on US roads but, according to the Associated Press report on December 1, is prepared to do so “if necessary.”
In the meantime, GM says the cars are safe, and that the fires occurred only in extreme conditions. “We are not dealing with a failure on the road” the company says. “The question is how to deal with the battery in the days after an extreme crash. GM has been working with NHTSA cooperatively for several months and will continue to do so.
“The Volt is safe. No one, including NHTSA believes otherwise. NHTSA scored Volt a five-star NCAP for overall vehicle safety and it recently came out on top in the US Consumer Reports survey on owner satisfaction.”
The AP article said only a handful of people have taken up the loan car offer, with only two vehicles taken at the time of the report.
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