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Ford,GM target SUV rollovers

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GM, Ford target SUV rollovers

They will address safety concerns by adding stability devices to 1.8 million vehicles in '05.

By Jeff Plungis and Eric Mayne The Detroit News

Stability control gains popularity

Over 1 million cars and light trucks sold in the U.S. last year came with some form of electronic stability control, or ESC. Many more vehicles will get the technology beginning in 2005. What major automakers offer:

General Motors
ESC will be standard on most full-size SUVs for 2005, and midsize models for 2006, including Chevrolet TrailBlazer and Suburban; Hummer H2 and H3; and GMC Envoy. It is standard on large vans, and luxury Cadillac and GMC SUVs, and standard or optional on 11 cars, and optional on GM's new minivans.

Ford
ESC will be standard on 2005 Ford Explorer, Mercury Mountaineer, Lincoln Aviator and Navigator SUVs. It's standard on the Volvo XC90 SUV and optional on the Ford Expedition. It is available on some luxury cars and will be offered on large vans for 2006.

Chrysler
ESC is standard on the Chrysler Crossfire and optional on the Chrysler 300, Dodge Magnum, and Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Honda
ESC will be standard on all Honda and Acura light trucks by the end of 2006, including the Acura MDX.

Toyota
ESC is standard on Toyota and Lexus SUVs, including the Toyota Rav4. .

Nissan
ESC is standard or optional on Nissan and Infiniti light trucks, including the Nissan Frontier.

WASHINGTON -- General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co., responding to growing concerns about the safety and stability of sport utility vehicles, said Thursday they will make anti-rollover technology standard equipment on 1.8 million SUVs next year.

General Motors Corp. said it would make electronic stability control systems standard on 1.3 million sport utility vehicles, including the popular Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon. The technology will be available immediately on full-size SUVs, and on midsize models for 2006.

Ford said more than 500,000 of its SUVs will be equipped with its anti-rollover system by the end of next year.

Ford pioneered the system on the Volvo XC90 SUV and recently made it standard equipment on the 2005 Explorer, Mercury Mountaineer, Lincoln Aviator and Navigator SUVs. Ford also plans to license its system to other automakers.

The moves by the nation's two largest automakers are the industry's most concerted effort yet to address safety questions dogging SUVs.

The rugged vehicles are a major source of profits for Ford and GM, but they have drawn fire from safety advocates and government regulators because of their high center of gravity and propensity to roll over.

The federal government estimates SUV rollover accidents killed 2,639 motorists in 2003.

Rollover accidents in all types of vehicles led to more than 10,000 highway deaths.

Last month, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety released a study that said stability control systems could save up to 7,000 lives each year if they were standard equipment on all vehicles.

"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," said Gary Cowger, GM North America president.

Developed in the mid-1990s, stability control systems use sensors on a vehicle's accelerator, brakes and steering wheel to calculate a driver's intended path. If the vehicle is veering off the road, a computer adjusts the speed of one or more wheels to help the driver regain control.

The Ford system helps avoid a rollover by activating when a vehicle starts to lean, automatically slowing the engine and applying the brakes.

Until now, the two automakers had offered stability control mostly as an option, often in a package of luxury equipment. As a result, automotive suppliers say, the spread of stability control in the United States has been much slower than in Europe or Japan.

Toyota Motor Co.p. made stability control equipment standard on all SUVs, including the entry-level RAV-4, more than a year ago.

Honda Motor Co. included stability control as part of a campaign to make key safety features standard on every vehicle it sells. The Japanese automaker pledged to have vehicle stability assist system standard on 84 percent of its U.S. model line by the end of this year, and on all vehicles by the end of 2006.

GM has offered stability control on a few SUVs, such as the Cadillac Escalade and the GMC Yukon Denali. It now will be standard on the Chevrolet Tahoe, Suburban and Avalanche, as well as the GMC Yukon. The Hummer H2 will get the feature for 2006.

For the 2006 model year, GM will offer stability control as a standard feature on mid-sized SUVs, including the Chevy TrailBlazer, GMC Envoy, Hummer H3, Saab 9-7X and Buick Rainier.

GM is convinced that consumers, learning about the dramatic benefits claimed in independent research, will demand the technology, especially on SUVs and vans.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated SUVs equipped with stability control were 67 percent less likely to be involved in single-vehicle crashes. The insurance institute said up to 800,000 crashes a year could be prevented if stability control were widely adopted.

"We believe this is the type of system that consumers are going to demand," said GM spokesman Chris Preuss.

About 25 percent of 2005 model cars and trucks will be equipped with stability control, more than double the number of 2004 models equipped with the safety feature.

GM began installing electronic stability control in passenger cars in 1997 and has 2 million ESC-equipped vehicles on the road today. It made stability control standard on its 15-passenger vans in 2003 and its 12-passenger vans earlier this year.

At Ford, roll stability control is now standard equipment on the Lincoln Aviator and Navigator and Ford Explorer SUVs. It is a $600 option on the Ford Expedition SUV, and it will become available on the 2006 Ford Econoline 15-passenger van.

Sue Cischke, Ford's top safety official, said the automaker is weighing a decision to make it available on the Ford Escape.

"It is a significant decision by the company to do this," she said. "This is not trivial by any means."

Ford is also licensing its anti-rollover technology to other automakers, but does not expect to make a lot of money off the move, Cischke said.

Making its anti-rollover technology freely available won't hurt Ford, even though its automotive operations are struggling to make money, said Burnham Securities analyst David Healy. But the decision could enhance Ford's standing as an innovator of safety technology. "I don't know how much, by licensing it, they could expect to change the overall earnings of the company," Healy said.

Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the Center for Automotive Safety, was encouraged by Ford's commitment to the technology, but said he's not convinced any one company has the leading anti-rollover technology.

"There's a wide range of products out there that are electronic stability control or similar," Ditlow said.

"We believe this is the type of system that consumers are going to demand."
 
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