5. Chevrolet Corvair
In the late `50s, Chevrolet presented the Corvair, a revolutionary compact car with a rear-mounted, air-cooled, flat-six engine. This was a big step for Chevrolet since the Corvairsat opposite of other cars from the company and featured different concepts, technology, and design. However, for a couple of years, it looked like everything is OK with the Corvair and sales were good until a book called “Unsafe at any speed” hit the book stores across the country and caused big problems for GM. The engine in the back of the car caused Corvair to have problems handling and Chevrolet was aware of that but didn`t want to invest money in additional stabilizer bars and suspension modifications.
Soon, the book gained publicity and the public demanded the answers while more and more people reported crashes with the Corvair. Chevrolet was even involved in government hearings admitting that its executives knew something about the matter, paying a settlement and promising to invest money in safety research. In the end, Corvair sales were slashed and the model was discontinued in 1969.