GM, Ford to offer anti-rollover equipment on SUVs in 2005
Electronic anti-rollover systems will become standard equipment on 1.8 million sport utility vehicles from GM and Ford in 2005, the automakers announced Thursday.
General Motors Corp. said the vehicles include the Chevrolet Tahoe, Suburban, Avalanche and Trailblazer; GMC Envoy; Hummer H3l Saab 9-7X; and Buick Rainier. The Hummer H2 will get the system in 2006.
The Cadillac Escalade and GMC Yukon Denali already feature standard stability control.
Ford Motor Co. said more than 500,000 of its sport utility vehicles will be equipped with the company’s anti-rollover system by the end of 2005, and it plans to try to market its technology to other automakers.
Ford said this summer it would add the stability control system as standard equipment to the 2005 Ford Explorer, Mercury Mountaineer, Lincoln Aviator and Lincoln Navigator, but it didn’t provide estimates on quantities until Thursday.
Ford began offering the stability control system in 2003 on the Volvo XC90 and expanded it the next year to the Lincoln SUVs.
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. The findings mirrored those of an earlier federal study.