despite the concerns, the u.s. army decided to proceed with buying the vehicles, countering that improvements had been made.
sonia taylor, spokeswoman for general motors defense, said the issues raised in the 2022 test report were specific to the harsh and extreme testing environment in yuma, ariz.. all those issues were addressed with the u.s. army and a new vehicle was produced for testing, she added in an email.
“there were no mission failures or system aborts from the last round of testing, and gm defense received a full-rate production decision from the (u.s.) army, validating our manufacturing and engineering processes,” taylor wrote.
national defence spokesperson frédérica dupuis told the ottawa citizen that the vehicle had a proven record with nato and that an off-the-shelf design was needed by canada to ensure quick delivery to soldiers.
“as with current and future vehicle fleets, dnd works very closely with manufacturers so that vehicles not only meet requirements, but also operate as intended and are safe for our members to use,” dupuis added in her email.
dupuis said the vehicles, which share 90 per cent commonality with the chevrolet colorado, were selected for their unique combination of high payload capacity and off-road mobility.