GM barges in late to hybrid party

[Analog]

After dismissing hybrid cars as a fad, General Motors Corp. is diving into the fast-growing business with plans to offer gas-electric vehicles for every taste and budget.

At the North American International Auto Show, GM will unveil two gas-electric sport utility vehicles, the Saturn Vue Green Line, which will retail for less than $23,000, making it the lowest-priced hybrid SUV on the market, and a Chevy Tahoe with a more sophisticated system that GM is developing with DaimlerChrysler AG and BMW AG.

When the Vue goes on sale in the summer, "people will be very surprised at the kind of price you get in a hybrid and that it will deliver very pleasing performance and 20 percent (better) fuel economy," GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner told The Detroit News.

GM plans to become a leading player, alongside Japan's front-runners and rival Ford Motor Co., by offering 12 hybrids -- including a Cadillac Escalade coming out next year -- in its lineup within four years. That's in addition to gas-electric buses it sells to city fleets.

"I'm going after the highest-consuming vehicles first, because that's where the big payback is," said Tom Stephens, GM group vice president in charge of powertrain.

GM's commitment to hybrids comes as industry experts predict that demand for gas-electric vehicles will surge even though they cost thousands more than similar cars powered only by gas engines.

Online auto research site Edmunds.com estimates hybrids could double their market share this year from 1.2 percent in 2005, and consulting firm J.D. Power and Associates forecasts a 4 percent share for the segment by 2012.

Toyota Motor Corp. leads the pack, accounting for more than half of the estimated 200,000 U.S. hybrid sales in 2005.http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060108/AUTO04/601080312

 

[Pocatello]

It's a fad, but as a producer, you have to give the consumers what they want.

 

[Vette73]

Well GM is actuallhy being smart about it. It cost way to much to be the first out and what it cost extra to go from non-hybrid to a hybrid you will take MANY years to break even from teh "savings".

GM can now come in use the tech that has been out a while and maybe make then cheap enough to really matter.

But unless the price does come down, or you can get a even larger tax break then now, it will be a fad when people learn basic math.

 

[tcsenter]

GM was an early pioneer in hybrid technology through its Allison division and developed several good prototypes in the 1990s through EPA/DOE co-sponsored research. It just had to make sure there was a market and bring the cost down. Its not as though GM's balance sheet looks like Toyota or Honda's.

 

[Fenixgoon]

this is for production cars. IIRC, GM is the first/only automaker to produce hybrid buses. (correct if wrong)

 

[sniperruff]

Originally posted by: Fenixgoon
this is for production cars. IIRC, GM is the first/only automaker to produce hybrid buses. (correct if wrong)

GM is the only company that i can think of who produces hybrid BUSES. for cars, i think honda was the first one who mass-produce hybrids. GM had a flop with the electric car way back then.

 

[sswingle]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
Well GM is actuallhy being smart about it. It cost way to much to be the first out and what it cost extra to go from non-hybrid to a hybrid you will take MANY years to break even from teh "savings".

GM can now come in use the tech that has been out a while and maybe make then cheap enough to really matter.

But unless the price does come down, or you can get a even larger tax break then now, it will be a fad when people learn basic math.

Well, starting in 06, when you buy a hybrid you get a tax credit, as opposed to getting a tax deduction in years past.

 

[Vette73]

^^

I don;t think the electric car was a flop. The problem with it, and even hybrid's, is the cost to own. The electric car worked but juts cost to much to make your money back from the "savings".
Trust me, if you can make a electric car that is cheap and can go at least 100miles on a charge they would sell.

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: ScottSwingleComputers

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
Well GM is actuallhy being smart about it. It cost way to much to be the first out and what it cost extra to go from non-hybrid to a hybrid you will take MANY years to break even from teh "savings".

GM can now come in use the tech that has been out a while and maybe make then cheap enough to really matter.

But unless the price does come down, or you can get a even larger tax break then now, it will be a fad when people learn basic math.

Well, starting in 06, when you buy a hybrid you get a tax credit, as opposed to getting a tax deduction in years past.

yea I have seen that. But it still does not make up for the FULL amount extra, but it is a start. If we gave more incentive's to buy cars and trucks that got better gas milage then the demand would grow and GM, toyota, etc... would be making a LOT more of them.