Safety Agency Asks GM to Recall A-Cars
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said today it has asked General Motors Corp. to recall more than 1.7 million A-cars because of “significant safety problems” involving rear brake lockups.
The agency, part of the Transportation Department, urged the auto maker to take “responsible corporate action” and fix the brakes of 1982-84 vehicles.
The front-wheel-drive cars, which number at least 1.75 million, are Chevrolet Celebrity, Buick Century, Olds Cutlass Ciera and Pontiac 6000. They are among GM’s top-selling lines.
Philip Davis, director of the agency’s defects investigation, cited 448 complaints, 69 accidents and 23 injuries in a Jan. 3 letter to GM, which gave the nation’s No. 1 auto maker five working days to reply.
Safety Group Gets Letter
The letter was obtained by the Center for Auto Safety, a private consumer group, which distributed it to reporters. The NHTSA confirmed today that it has asked GM to recall the vehicles.
Davis told GM that unless the auto maker undertakes corrective action he will recommend that a formal defect investigation be opened.
“GM does not believe such action is warranted,” said J. David Hudgens, consumer relations and recall spokesman for the auto maker.
Hudgens said that “only an extremely small number of complaints have been received” on a large number of cars and that “GM is reviewing the matter carefully” and will respond to the agency within the next few weeks.
The safety agency also said it is looking at 1982-84 GM J-cars to determine whether similar problems exist.
The A-car is, to some extent, a derivative of GM’s X-car. The auto maker is fighting in federal court a government request that it recall 1.1 million 1980 X-cars because of faulty brakes.
