GM Lifts Order Banning Delivery of Aveo
NEW YORK February 19, 2004; Sholnn Freeman writing for the WSJ reported that General Motors Corp. has lifted a week-old order banning the delivery of the Korean-built Aveo small car following an investigation of five crashes involving the vehicle.
"Those crashes, with a new vehicle, in a short period of time captured our attention and we wanted to investigate," said Jim Schell, a company spokesman.
There were no related fatalities, although Mr. Schell said there were injuries.
GM issued the rare stop-delivery order on Friday to take a closer look at the crash reports, he said. GM is now confident in the car's design, quality and performance.
"There is no cause for concern," Mr. Schell said.
The Aveo's troubles comes as a blow to ongoing marketing work by GM and other domestic auto makers who are trying to convince U.S. customers that Detroit's car quality is improving.
Earlier Thursday, it was reported that General Motors had notified Chevrolet dealers to stop selling the Aveo.