GM CEO agrees to testify at Volt hearing in D.C.

General Motors Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson agreed Wednesday to testify next week before a House panel investigating the government's handling of an investigation into fire risks in the Chevrolet Volt.

A panel of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will hear testimony from Akerson and the government's top auto safety regulator, David Strickland, who heads the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

"Dan has agreed to testify at the hearing, and he looks forward to doing it," GM spokesman Greg Martin said.

The Volt has become a lightning rod for criticism from many Republicans and right-leaning blogs, even as the company says it has drawn thousands of new prospective buyers that haven't visited a GM dealership in years.

This will be Akerson's first testimony on Capitol Hill since taking the reins of the Detroit automaker in September 2010.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said in a letter sent to House members Monday that its subcommittee overseeing bailouts will hold a hearing Jan. 25.

The hearing is titled "Volt Vehicle Fire: What did NHTSA know and when did they know it?"

Strickland said last week the White House was informed in September of the June fire, but officials didn't ask the agency to keep the information secret. NHTSA didn't publicly disclose the fire until Nov. 12, when Bloomberg News first reported it occurred.

After an initial investigation concluded that damage to the Volt battery was the cause of the June fire that occurred three weeks after the government crash test, NHTSA briefed Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, according to letters Strickland sent to three House Republicans.

NHTSA opened a formal defect investigation Nov. 25, after a second Volt battery pack caught fire seven days after another government test.

GM, which received a $49.5 billion government bailout, is still 26 percent owned by the Treasury Department.

Republicans have asked GM and the Obama administration to answer detailed questions about why they didn't disclose the fire in a crash-tested Volt for several months, and whether politics was behind any decision to delay the disclosure.

A spokesman for Issa, Ali Ahmad, said Friday the committee would demand that NHTSA turn over records.

"NHTSA has stalled on responding to the committee's inquiry for six weeks and inexplicably refused to provide any documents. The committee expects full compliance with its request and will consider compulsory methods if NHTSA does not immediately change its position," Ahmad said.

Earlier this month, GM agreed to a safety fix, including strengthening the steel battery containment system and adding new sensors. NHTSA has pronounced itself satisfied with GM's fix, but hasn't yet closed its investigation. The agency could do so as early as later this week. It plans to release a report on its findings.

GM stopped short of issuing a formal safety recall to address the issue and is allowing dealers to sell unrepaired Volts. GM hopes to get parts to dealers in "the February time frame," the company said last week.

GM had its best-ever sales month for the Volt in December, selling 1,529, including nearly 1,000 to retail customers. But it fell short of its 2011 goal of 10,000 sales, selling 7,671 for the year.

GM hasn't restarted production at its Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly plant since its holiday shutdown in December. The company hasn't given a precise timetable on when it will start assembling Volts again.

dshepardson@detnews.com

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