Less than a year after pulling its mild hybrids off the market, General Motors announced that it will bring back the less expensive hybrid technology. According to Larry Nitz, G.M.'s executive director of hybrid and electric powertrain engineering, the carmaker is prepared to roll out the next generation of its mild hybrid technology on at least one mid-sized sedan next year. Is General Motors once again misfiring with its hybrid strategy? Or could G.M.'s new and improved mild hybrids be the key to taking green to the mainstream?
General Motors announced today that it has canceled plans for a Buick plug-in hybrid crossover.
General Motors announced last week that it plans to produce the world’s first plug-in hybrid SUV, in the form of a new yet-to-be-named Buick crossover. The vehicle will be a mash-up of the Chevy Volt, GM's full-size SUV "two-mode" hybrids, and the Buick brand.
Auto industry publications are reporting that an upcoming Buick Crossover due out in 2011 will be the first application of GM’s two-mode plug-in hybrid system—technology that was originally intended for the Saturn Vue. “Those reports are pure speculation,” GM spokesperson, Dayna Hart, told Hybridcars.com.
When the economy was booming, car companies could offer a range of brands to satisfy the shopping whims of Americans looking for a new ride. This gave auto executives the option to assign one of their brands as the “green” choice. But times have changed, and the auto industry is shedding brands and dealerships as quickly as they can. In this era, and going forward, it’s no longer viable for companies to designate one of their brands as green; advanced fuel-efficient technology will become the mainstream.
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."
GM’s jet-flying, cigar-chomping product czar Bob Lutz announced last week that he will be retiring. Mr. Lutz Lutz bemoaned what he saw as a depressing new period of government oversight, one driven by the need for higher fuel economy and lower CO2 emissions. He said that his abilities no longer fit the times.
These days, auto safety recalls don’t get much attention, so the news that General Motors was recalling 9,000 of its 2007 Saturn mild hybrids to replace the high-voltage battery pack in each one was no more than a blip in the press. But behind the scenes, it was an expensive and annoying distraction for General Motors, and a huge blow to Cobasys, makers of the nickel-metal-hydride batteries. For six months now, GM has been forced to divert batteries it should have fitted to this year’s mild hybrids toward its dealers’ repair bays instead.
A General Motors spokesperson told Automotive News that the company planned to sell 27,000 mild hybrid vehicles this year, but is falling short because its supplier, Cobasys, provided faulty batteries. In an exclusive interview with HybridCars.com, a Cobasys executive—who asked not to be named—responded to GM statements and press reports, saying, “A lot of it is not correct," but declined to elaborate further.
Get ready for a wave of hybrid press releases coming from Detroit’s North American International Auto Show, running from January 13-27 January. The first two announcements to hit the wire are about “two-mode” hybrid SUVs from General Motors and BMW. GM will unveil the 2009 Saturn Vue Green Line and BMW will show the X6 ActiveHybrid Concept. Both vehicles will be available in the United States in late 2008.
