KEY POINTS:
Holden is investigating whether to upgrade handbrakes on more than 2000 Vectra cars to match action being taken overseas after motorists complained of vehicles rolling away down hills.
The company, which is under pressure from Consumer New Zealand and the Dog and Lemon Guide to issue a safety
recall on 2010 Vectras imported between 2004 and 2007, says its Australian head office is investigating whether to follow General Motors Europe in offering a "customer satisfaction programme".
GM, which makes the cars in Europe under its Vauxhall brand, denies they are unsafe but has acknowledged "it is possible to manipulate the handbrake so as to cause it to release partially."
It is therefore offering a free modification to European owners of 250,000 Vectra and Signum cars which will involve adding springs to stop their hand-brakes slipping.
Holden NZ spokeswoman Brodie McClellan said the company was awaiting the results of an internal investigation in Australia into whether it should do likewise.
"We are going through the process within our organisation at the moment and once we've made a decision, which should be in the short to medium term, like weeks rather than months, we will do exactly the same thing."
She emphasised that GM Europe had identified a potential problem with the hand-brakes "as a customer satisfaction, not a safety, issue."
Asked about a report from Northern Ireland about an 8-week-old Vectra running down a hill and wrecking a neighbour's vehicle, one of many handbrake mishap claims on motoring and consumer websites, Ms McClellan said: "I don't know the specifics of that case and wouldn't properly be able to comment, and I'm not an engineer."
She said no such problems had been reported to Holden by any Vectra owner in New Zealand.
Irishwoman Caroline Pearce told British newspapers that she was careful to apply the handbrake on her Vectra because of the steepness of her driveway, but about 15 minutes later it disengaged and the car rolled away.
Dog and Lemon Guide editor Clive Matthew-Wilson said there might have been similar mishaps in this country which motorists blamed on themselves, not realising there was a design fault. He understood handbrakes on the Vectras were attached to their main disc brakes, but the connections were at risk of slackening as these cooled down and contracted, once the vehicles were at rest.
Mr Matthew-Wilson said he had urged Holden to recall the cars last year, but the company denied then that there was any problem.
"Now it's clear there is a problem and something must be done about it," he said.
"The Government has the power to force the recall of a vehicle with a known safety defect. If Holden does not take immediate action, then the Government must."
Consumer NZ testing manager Hamish Wilson agreed there was clear evidence of a problem and that "Holden needs to take action now, before someone is killed or injured".
"If Holden acts now, they will retain their credibility with motorists."
Land Transport NZ spokesman Andy Knackstedt said although there had been two occasions on which his agency had ordered vehicles off the road because of design safety defects, only the Ministry of Consumer Affairs had the power to require product recalls.
He said car companies were not slow to announce voluntary recalls if they found any safety defects, but he did not believe his agency had been contacted by Holden about the Vectras.
Mr Matthew-Wilson said it was outrageous that the Government had never challenged the motor industry by ordering a vehicle recall and he urged it do so in the Vectra case "before someone gets killed."
