GM's CEO Hits Back at Critics over Volt

(MarketWatch) - The head of General Motors Co. on Wednesday told lawmakers he believes that politics played a role in a federal government investigation of battery fires in Chevrolet Volts, and emphasized the safety of the electric vehicle.

Dan Akerson, GM's chairman and CEO, said in testimony prepared for delivery at a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing that the Volt became "perhaps unfairly" a surrogate for criticism of President Barack Obama's policies. The US government owns a minority stake in GM due to its 2008 bailout of the auto company.

"The Volt seems, perhaps unfairly, to have become a surrogate for some to offer broader commentary on General Motors' business prospects and administration policy," Akerson said in his written testimony.

"These factors should not be discounted as to why federal regulators opened an investigation into the Volt's battery safety after a severe crash test in a laboratory and the intense interest among media that followed," he said.

The Oversight and Government Reform Committee, chaired by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), is looking into the response of both GM and US regulators to a battery fire during a crash test last June.

A report released by Republican members of Issa's committee questions whether the government's partial ownership of GM is behind a delay in publicizing the fire.

The report says the administration and automakers that got bailout money have an "unnatural relationship." President Barack Obama on Tuesday night hailed the prospects of GM and Chrysler, as well as Ford Motor Co., during his State of the Union speech. Only Ford didn't receive a direct bailout from the government.

Volt failed to meet GM's target of 10,000 sales in 2011, the car's first year, by about 2,300.

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