GM SET TO CHALLENGE PICKUPS' SAFETY TESTS

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, February 8, 1993                   TAG: 9302080027
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A/9   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: DETROIT                                LENGTH: Medium
GM SET TO CHALLENGE PICKUPS' SAFETY TESTS
General Motors Corp. today plans to accuse critics of conducting flawed safety tests on its GM pickups, but the automaker denied a report that the announcement is part of a major public relations campaign.
GM scheduled a news conference at its headquarters, where it will try to show that NBC and several consumer groups rigged test results to make it appear that the design of the gasoline tanks on full-size GM pickups made from 1973 to 1987 were unsafe.
The Washington Post first reported the development, quoting unidentified company sources in its Sunday editions. The sources told the Post that the automaker will try to show that tests commissioned by the "Dateline NBC" program were rigged by the Institute for Safety Analysis to ensure that the truck would burst into flame on impact.
GM began legal action Jan. 20 against the institute and NBC, seeking access to the data compiled for the Nov. 17 television report.
NBC News spokeswoman Tory Beilinson said Sunday that the network stood by its story, which aired in November.
"This appears to be an attempt by General Motors to divert attention from this $100 million adverse jury verdict and possible recall," she said. Bruce Enz, an officer of the Indiana-based testing company, said he could not comment.
Last week, a jury returned a $105 million judgment against GM in the 1989 death of 17-year-old Shannon Moseley, who died when his pickup exploded in a crash with a drunken driver. GM has said it will appeal the award.
Critics contend that the automaker knowingly endangered lives by putting the gas tanks on the outside of the truck frame rather than inside, where the heavy metal channels of the frame would serve as a protective steel barrier.
GM changed the design and after 1987 put the tank inside the frame. Industry analysts say a recall would cost from $500 million to $1 billion.
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB