The controversy surrounding Chevrolet Onix cars is escalating in Brazil, as reported by daily-motor.ru . General Motors may face a fine for selling over 1 million unsafe vehicles in the country between 2012 and 2018.
The Brazilian Federal Prosecutor's Office is demanding that General Motors be held accountable to car owners. If the court supports the lawsuit, victims may receive compensation of 500 million US dollars.
The main issue of the case is that Chevrolet sold Onix models intended for the Brazilian market without additional safety protection, while vehicles produced for export were equipped with extra protection plates.
According to crash test results conducted by the independent organization Latin-NCAP in 2017, the Chevrolet Onix received a score of zero in the side impact test. This led to a lawsuit against the company in 2020.
General Motors emphasizes that the Latin-NCAP organization is not a government-regulated body and its results do not represent official safety standards.
Other popular models in the Brazilian market also have similarly low safety ratings:
* Renault Sandero, Renault Logan, Hyundai HB20,
* Citroen C3, Citroen C3 Aircross, Ford Ka, Fiat Argo.
However, the prosecutor's office has specifically targeted Chevrolet, even though the company has stated that the Onix model met Brazil's official safety requirements at the time of its production.
Interestingly, after the controversy began, Chevrolet installed the additional safety protection available in export vehicles on the Onix models in the Brazilian market.
General Motors management declined to comment due to the ongoing legal proceedings.
