Early last week, General Motors was beating the bushes to track down the leak or sabotage that put photos of the Chevrolet Volt on a Web site accessible to journalists.
But late last week, Chevrolet spokesman Terry Rhadigan said it was just a case of "human error" inside GM -- photos being sent where they weren't supposed to go.
The photos were online for no more than five minutes, but they spread around the globe on the Internet faster than the latest Nigerian fee scam. And GM officials were said to be fuming.
The pictures show the Volt has morphed from a cool, futuristic muscle car into more of a normal sedan, although styled very slickly. GM is expected to release the official photos this week as part of its 100th anniversary celebration.
It was the second time this month that Rhadigan chased Volt photos on the Internet. A few days earlier, a vehicle thought to be the Volt hybrid was filmed on the set of the movie Transformers 2.
GM says that in neither case did it release the photos on purpose. In any event, it's good -- and free -- publicity for the Volt, which is scheduled to go on sale late in 2010.
(Source: Automotive News)