General Motors may have increased its US sales in August by 10 percent compared to the same month in 2011, but last Wednesday it notified its dealers to stop deliveries of some of its most popular models.
The reason is a software glitch on the OnStar communication system that affects the 2013 Chevrolet Cruze, Equinox and Volt, the Cadillac ATS, SRX and XTS, the Buick Verano plus the GMC Terrain.
GM spokesman Alan Adler said that the issue has been identified as the system failing to alert the OnStar call center in an accident that the vehicle’s airbags are not deployed, like a rear-end collision.
He added that OnStar does not prevent airbag deployment in any way. It also alerts the call center in case the airbags are triggered and its emergency button still works like advertised.
Adler estimates that 60,000 models on dealer lots won’t be delivered to their owners before the problem is fixed; which, as he told Automotive News, shouldn’t take too long: “This should be wrapped up in days, maybe into next week”.
GM engineers identified the problem during a series of crash tests in late August and, even though the company is not aware of any customer cars being affected, it immediately notified its dealers and started fixing the software.
The timing is quite bad for GM as the issue occurred during the launch of the much-advertised ATS premium saloon, the first units of which arrived at dealers this week. It also comes after the June launch of Cadillac’s other brand-new model, the XTS.
Chevrolet sales managers will not be happy either that they have to halt deliveries of the Cruze, which is the brand’s second best-selling model and the Equinox, GM’s top-selling crossover in the US.
By Andrew Tsaousis
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