After reports of engine fires, General Motors(GM) Company is calling back all its 475,000 Chevrolet Cruze compacts, from 2009 through May 31. It’s a reversal for the Detroit automaker looking to raise sales of fuel-efficient compact cars.
The recall includes 413,418 vehicles in 2011-12 Cruz’s in the United States, 61,299 in Canada, and 701 in Israel. Detroit-based GM wanted to change the engine shield, which will prevents liquids from being cornered in the engine compartment, where a fire could begin and spread.
GM spokesperson Alan Adler also said that the reason for call backing is complaints of fires in their Cruze models. The spread of fire in their vehicles is linked to improper oil changes and other fluids that were jammed in the engine. And also their automakers received 31 fire complaints on their models. However, there were no injuries, crashes or deaths have been reported in connection with the fires.
The Cruze is a primal vehicle for General Motors because it was the Detroit automaker’s best-selling car in 2011 and the second best-selling compact car in the U.S. last year. However, sales of GM slowed down when Japanese automakers have returned to the market.
According to manager of product analysis for Auto Pacific Inc., the call back is not a big issue for GM, as long as fixtures are done in a timely manner.
For NHTSA, vehicle fires are a big issue it says because, in recent years there were 184,500 vehicle fires, resulting in 285 deaths and 1,440 injuries in the U.S. in 2010. They caused about $1 billion in damage.
Like this if fire spreads in Cruz’s then sales will be down for that company. So, that’s why this company is deciding to alter of the parts in the engine which can result in a fuel-efficiency Cruz’s.