GM to Build Hybrid SUV’s With Enhanced Technology
Date: 02-Feb-06
Country: USA
Author: John Crawley
The trucks will be manufactured in Arlington, Texas, beginning in late 2007 while the transmissions, using a hybrid system to boost fuel performance, especially at highway speeds, will be designed and assembled at a transmission plant in Baltimore, GM said. The company plans to invest up to $118 million to upgrade the Allison plant in Maryland.
GM's announcement for expanded fuel efficiency came a day after President George W. Bush said in his State of the Union address that America was "addicted to oil" and should do more to develop alternative energy sources, like ethanol-blended gasoline and hydrogen fuel cells for cars.
Bush also plans to seek an increase in funding for clean-energy research in his 2007 budget, including money to help develop gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles, which combine a gasoline engine with an electric motor and batteries to boost fuel economy.
Rick Wagoner, GM's chairman and chief executive, told reporters at the company's Allison transmission plant in Baltimore that the auto giant is in step with Bush's message.
"I think there is something in this idea of trying to pull a range of levers rather than looking for a single silver bullet," Wagoner said.
"I think the president generally put forth an optimistic view of the industry, the issues we're addressing. We have to win with great products and that's what we're trying to do," Wagoner said.
GM shares closed up 44 cents, or 1.83 percent, to $24.50 while Ford shares climbed 8 cents, or just under 1 percent, to $8.66.
Last week, GM rival Ford Motor Co. unveiled a new hybrid research vehicle in a bid to show consumers and US policy makers that the company is serious about overhauling its business and embracing fuel-saving innovations.
Its Escape Hybrid E85 is the first hybrid capable of operating on blends of fuel containing up to 85 percent ethanol, a crop-based fuel, Ford said.
GM also introduced its Saturn Vue Green Line SUV hybrid last week and is trumpeting nine FlexFuel models.
Ford announced proposed plant closings and layoffs last week, and GM, which lost $4.8 billion in the fourth quarter, is also restructuring.
The Detroit-based automakers are launching marketing campaigns to win over consumers who have embraced foreign-made hybrids and other vehicles that are more fuel efficient than the products they currently manufacture.
Gasoline use is expected to account for about 44 percent of total US petroleum demand in 2006, according to the Energy Department.
Consumption has been driven higher in recent years by less fuel efficient but popular SUVs and pickups. Many big sellers have been produced by GM and Ford but high gas prices over the past six months - $2.36 per gallon in the last week - coupled with Mideast tumult have heightened interest in more fuel efficient products.
Dan Becker, director of the Sierra Club's Global Warming program and a frequent critic of Detroit's fuel efficiency record, welcomed plans by Ford and GM to invest more in hybrid technology.
But Becker says the auto giants could have an immediate impact on energy efficiency right now with available off-the-shelf designs and technology. "The biggest step the auto companies can do is make vehicles go further on a gallon of gas," Becker says.