GM Announces Standard Electronic Stability Control for SUVs

Safety Technology Will Roll Out to 1.3 Million Utilities Beginning Immediately

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DETROIT - General Motors announced today that it will make electronic stability control standard on 1.3 million sport utility vehicles beginning immediately on light-duty full-size SUVs followed by midsize SUVs in 2005.

Recent studies by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) both indicated that the widespread application of electronic stability control to the vehicle fleet could result in a significant safety benefit.

"General Motors was the first automaker to offer electronic stability control, under the brand name, StabiliTrak, in full-size sport utilities," said GM North America President Gary Cowger.

"Except for the growing use of seat belts, we have rarely seen a technology that brings such a positive safety benefit to the driving public," Cowger said.

GM began installing electronic stability control in passenger cars in 1997 and currently has 2 million ESC-equipped vehicles on the road today.

Vehicles included in today's announcement: Chevrolet Tahoe, Suburban and Avalanche and GMC Yukon and Yukon XL. Hummer H2 will get ESC in 2006. The Cadillac Escalade, Escalade EXT and ESV and the GMC Yukon Denali and Yukon XL Denali already feature standard electronic stability control.

Midsize utilities that will get ESC beginning in 2005 include Chevrolet TrailBlazer, and TrailBlazer EXT; GMC Envoy, Envoy XL and Envoy XUV, Hummer H3 and Saab 9-7X and Buick Rainier.

In 2003, GM was the first automaker to make electronic stability control standard on full-size, extended vans (the 15-passenger GMC Savana and Chevrolet Express); and added the feature to the 12-passenger Savana and Express vans earlier this year.

Electronic stability control helps a driver maintain vehicle control during certain difficult driving conditions, such as ice, snow, gravel, wet pavement and uneven road surfaces, as well as in emergency lane changes or avoidance maneuvers.

ESC uses an accelerator pedal position sensor, a brake master cylinder pressure sensor and a steering wheel angle sensor as inputs to interpret the driver's desired path and whether to accelerate or decelerate the vehicle.

If the difference between the driver's desired path and the vehicle's actual path becomes great enough, ESC assists the driver with maintaining the desired path. If the vehicle begins to "snowplow," or understeer, ESC applies the inside rear brake to help turn the vehicle. If the vehicle begins to fishtail, or oversteer, ESC applies the outside front brake to straighten the vehicle. ESC is integrated with the traction control and anti-lock braking systems.

The benefits of ESC have been the subject of several recent third-party studies. NHTSA reported a 67 percent risk reduction in single vehicle crashes for SUVs. IIHS said that if stability control was standard on all vehicles sold in the U.S., as many as 800,000 of the 2 million single vehicle crashes that occur each year could be avoided.