GM stops sale of SUVS; mileage on window stickers was wrong

DETROIT -- General Motors Co. is telling dealers not to sell about 60,000 SUVs in the U.S. because the gas mileage listed on the window stickers was inadvertently overstated.

The company told dealers the Environmental Protection Agency-estimated mileage on the stickers is one to two miles per gallon too high. GM said it reported the mistake to the EPA as soon as it was discovered.

The problem affects all 2016 Chevrolet Traverse, GMC Acadia and Buick Enclave models, including ones that have been sold.

The Detroit company said it will contact owners to address the problem, but it would not say whether they will be compensated for the lower-than-advertised gas mileage.

The EPA confirmed GM reported the problem and said it will look into the matter.

"We have asked the company to provide all relevant information to the agency," spokeswoman Laura Allen said in a statement.

GM said in a notice to dealers it checked all other models and model years and didn't find other problems with stickers. It said the error was discovered by GM engineers as they worked on the 2017 model year label.

"They found that the 2016 model year label was calculated incorrectly," the notice said.

GM has printed correct stickers that began arriving at dealers Saturday.

Spokesman Tom Wilkinson said the error has no effect on the safety or operation of the SUVs.

He said he didn't know how many of the 2016s have been sold because they hit showrooms in August and September last year. So far this year, GM has sold 82,137 of the SUVs, according to Autodata Corp. Most of those likely would be 2016 models.

The stickers should say the front-wheel-drive versions of the SUVs get 15 mpg in the city, 22 mpg on the highway and 18 mpg combined. All-wheel-drive versions should say 15 mpg city, 22 mpg highway and 17 combined, according to the stop-sale notice to dealers obtained by The Associated Press.

All automakers do their own testing for mileage under EPA guidelines and submit figures to the agency, which does spot checks to verify the figures. In 2012, the agency found Hyundai and Kia had overstated mileage on 13 models from 2011 through 2013 that totaled about 1.2 million vehicles. Mileage on one vehicle was overstated by six mpg.

Company executives said the higher mileage figures were unintentional.

The automakers agreed to pay owners for the difference between window-sticker estimates and the correct estimated mileage.

The Korean automakers eventually were ordered to pay a $100 million civil penalty, ending a two year investigation into the overstated gas mileage on 1.2 million vehicles.

The GM sticker overstatement was reported Friday by the trade publication Automotive News.