Press Release

Consumer Reports Publisher Responds to Isuzu Press Conference

09/16/96

Consumers Union Response to Isuzu News Conference September 12, 1996
Statement by R. David Pittle, Ph.D. Vice President and Technical
Director

YONKERS, N.Y., Sept. 12 -- The following statement was
issued today by R. David Pittle, Ph.D., Vice President and Technical
Director of Consumers Union:

The statements and documentation provided by Isuzu at its news
conference this morning were seriously flawed and just plain wrong. We
stand firmly behind our test and results.

We have more than 60 years experience as an independent tester of
consumer products. The emergency handling test, like all of our tests,
is scientific, reliable, and entirely appropriate for the performance
we are evaluating. The same basic test has been used by members of the
auto industry, auto researchers, and such prestigious organizations as
the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety. Isuzu and the auto industry
know that we have used this basic test for more than 20 years. To
date, the only auto manufacturers that have voiced criticism of this
test to us have been Suzuki and Isuzu.

A word about independence: Because we buy our test vehicles
anonymously on the open market with cash, because we do not take
advertising from any outside entity, and because we have absolutely no
business connection with any company whose products we test, we are
completely independent from sellers of consumer products. We have no
special interest in how any manufacturer's product does in our tests
-- we have no stake in the outcome of our evaluation. Therefore, there
is no reason for CU to have tested the Trooper any differently than
the others -- and in fact, the Trooper was tested under the same
conditions, by the same drivers as the other vehicles in the
group. The reason the Trooper performed poorly in our test is because
the Trooper has an inherent propensity for rollover in emergency
maneuvers. That is what the tests show.

A word about Isuzu's claims regarding steering inputs: The steering
inputs Isuzu and its industry consultant calculated from the video of
our tests of the Trooper are clearly wrong and virtually
impossible. They should have known this. Our test data for numerous
test runs clearly show that all four of the tested vehicles were
driven with essentially the same steering input, but in the case of
the Trooper, with dramatically different results.

A word about the 1988 NHTSA memo referred to by Isuzu: In denying the
Center for Auto Safety's 1988 petition to recall the Suzuki Samurai
because of its propensity for rollover, NHTSA made passing mention
that CU's test was "unscientific." This was an unsupported conclusion,
made without any basis whatsoever.  NHTSA had no firsthand
knowledge. It never visited our track to observe our tests. It never
asked us to submit any information. It never did its own
testing. Although Consumers Union did not participate in the
proceeding, Suzuki did, and, we believe misled NHTSA. It is entirely
likely that had Suzuki not withheld from NHTSA information vital to
the proper disposition of the petition -- such as the fact that
General Motors tested the Samurai equivalent in 1982 and refused to
market the vehicle in the U.S. because of a perceived rollover
tendency -- NHTSA may well have granted the petition and not had to
conjure up a list of reasons to justify the denial.

A word about meeting with Isuzu: On three occasions we have invited
Isuzu staff to visit our auto test track in Connecticut to inspect the
vehicles, inspect the track, question our engineers, discuss our test
protocols and test results, and anything else that would help them to
fully understand our testing experience. Those often have been
ignored. Instead, Isuzu proposed on September 10 that we meet with
them at the National Press Club on Friday, September 13. We regard the
meeting as an exchange of test information and a serious discussion of
auto safety issues -- and not a press event. We offered, instead, our
Yonkers headquarters or any other mutually agreeable site. Isuzu has
declined.