Automotive News yesterday reported that General Motors is preparing for future gas price spikes by introducing compact cars for all of its brands. Within about two years, expect a new breed of G.M. small cars: the Chevy Spark minicar, Buick Verano compact, GMC Granite small truck, and a Cadillac ATS.
One day after the US government rejected GM’s turnaround plan, Mark LaNeve, the company’s vice president of sales, service, and marketing for North America, spoke with Eddie Alterman, editor-in-chief of Car and Driver magazine. For most of the discussion, LaNeve and Alterman talked about restoring consumer confidence and the future of GM brands. But finally LaNeve said that GM needs to turn away from high-performance and toward fuel-efficiency to send "a better message" to key stakeholders."
If you need a full-size pickup truck, but want to use as little gasoline as possible, GM has built what may be the roughest, toughest hybrid this side of a transit bus. As long as the tax credits last, the payback period’s not bad, and if you’re OK with a crew-cab body, you won’t have to compromise any truck functionality.
GMC is introducing the 2009 Sierra Two-Mode Hybrid pickup truck at the Chicago Motor Show this week. The Sierra Hybrid is due out in late 2008. In addition, GMC will unveil a hybrid pickup concept called the Denali XT, which can run on E85 ethanol.
