The following article represents everything that is wrong about GM. Even GM Vice Chairman Lutz, who is supposed to be a "CAR GUY", an individual whom the press calls a maverick for innovation and design. However it seems that as much discussion that goes on about what it takes to bring a vehicle to market, GM, Ford and Chrysler could have had plenty of vehicles on the road now, that delivers high fuel economy and dare we say alternative fuels, hybrid or yes even electric vehicles.
Ok, maybe not the EV1, but hey it was a start, short on design, but an effort none the less, if we could inject some youth into the corporate landscape, then maybe just maybe, companies can realize who they should be targeting. And maybe if the design appealed to people, some would have even purchased an EV1 when they first came out, I had a friend of mine who always stated when selling a vehicle, "The Car is the Star", meaning if it has design appeal, it will sell.
However when it comes to what people desire clearly the manufacturers have a lot to learn, did anyone notice who was buying the Honda Element and that Scion boxy thing, it was a whole lot of middle aged men. Manufacturers miss the target market all the time, they believe that a segment is meant for a certain demographic, however I see older ladies in sports cars all the time, wake up Detroit. A well designed vehicle sells, even a hybrid or electric vehicle period.
I have said for years that for every focus group and for every discussion with the top 2% of the manufacturer's dealer body, there should be ongoing discussions with the general public and the middle tier dealer body, I believe that some real answers about what the public desires in a vehicle would be found in these discussions. The public has been saying for a few years now that it desires better fuel economy and that it wants innovative alternative fueled, hybrid or electric technologies, however these cries fall on deaf ears because the manufacturers have stock holders and with the high profits realized in the SUV and Truck market who needs small vehicles.
Well let's see... how about the American public, the demand is outpacing production on hybrids and more production means more vehicles being sold which means more profits. How many people are buying SUV's and Pick-ups now?
We all remember when the Chevy Chevette and Vega, the Ford Escort and Tempo and Chrysler and Dodge Omni ruled the day and the next thing you know the manufacturers are getting drunk on the profits of Minivans, SUV's and Trucks, who needs a small car. I did!... as a dealer and my customers did in my market as the small car was my bread and butter, I sold a lot more Tempo's and Escorts than Ford Explorers. I sold more Chevrolet Chevettes than Silverados, maybe in Texas the Ford or Chevy dealer sold more pick ups, however in a Midwestern City where people commuted to work the desire was a fuel efficient vehicle, even twenty years ago.
Detroit lost it's way, gave the small vehicle segment away and they are now clamoring to get it back. They better get it back soon (domestically) and stop talking about how long it takes to get a vehicle to market. They should have been refining the technologies years ago. It has been no secret to them that Cafe regulations/requirements were going up and that China and India would have an impact on crude oil and oil supply prices, they pay millions of dollars to analyst to forecast these things (I would get my money back if someone supplied them with misleading info, however I am inclined to believe that they paid for the services and ignored it or dismissed the reports). So what happened, someone at the top focused there energies and resources where they were making the most money as opposed to putting some resources toward the future where the market was headed. They lost sight of where the market was headed trying to push product that no one was buying, instead of having the product pulled because it is in demand.
In addition, these manufacturers act as if the technology has not been invented to tweek an engine to get better fuel economy. Uh, remember the Metro and Fiesta... Hello! Ford Motor Company implemented a strategy to use technology in there engines to improve fuel economy this model year (2008), technology that had been on the shelf for over 20 years. A basic search on the internet will reveal a plethora of info on regular gas engines that get high miles per gallon, with simple modifications. So the public is to believe with the resources, including the engineering talent that GM, Ford and Chrysler have, they cannot improve upon these technologies and make the technology work in mass production.
I sure hope that the domestic manufacturers invest some resources in these new technologies, so that they can right there sinking ships. Listen, Look and respond, the buying public is speaking loudly to you...
Enjoy Today!
Kevin Kimbrough
That Car Guy
When GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz speaks, controversy usually follows closely behind. Unlike many high ranking executives Lutz often wanders off the defined script such as when he recently commented on global warming being a crock of .... I sure wouldn't want to be one of the PR handlers having to spin his words. In his latest chat with Detroit News columnist Manny Lopez, the electrification of vehicles was obviously front and center as it often is these days at GM. The EV1, of course, comes up and the accuracy of Lutz's claims will certainly seem open to debate. As recounted by Lutz via Lopez, GM tried and tried to find buyers for the EV1 but no matter how much they dropped the price, only about 800 people were willing to step forward. That was the reason for leasing the vehicles, according to Lutz. That statement seems highly dubious if EV1 fans are to be believed. Certainly the market for the EV1 was extremely limited because of its practical limitations and the high cost, but it sure seems like more than 800 people were interested. Or maybe its a case of the hindsight that revealed there were actually 40 million people at Woodstock. Lopez and Lutz apparently also talked about how out of touch some (actually most, based on my own experience) people are with the realities of building a car. That's an area we try to address here on ABG regularly by discussing the technology that makes these modern machines go and what it takes to make it happen. One-off prototypes are easy to build but they aren't going to cut it when you have to meet modern customer and regulatory expectations. On a final note, Lutz revealed that the first Volt mule is now running with a lithium battery pack in it.
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