Green light GO, Chevy Volt production pockets the board
By Matt Jansen
GM continues to surge forward with its green initiatives and the Chevy Volt is at the forefront of that strategy, promising super-low gasoline bills at a time when the price at the pump is pushing $4 per gallon. It looks like a company once drunk on the riches gained by selling gas guzzling luxury vehicles is finally ready to aim for something else.
Almost as confirmation of that new direction, GM just announced several strategic projects that are meant to address rapidly rising fuel costs. At the top of that list, the Chevy Volt has received board approval for production by the end of 2010.
Rick Wagoner, CEO of GM says “the Chevy Volt is a go. We believe this is the biggest step yet in our industry’s move away from our historic, virtually complete reliance on petroleum to power vehicles. We intend to show a production version of the Chevy Volt publicly in the very near future, and we remain focused on our target of getting the Volt into Chevrolet showrooms by the end of 2010,” according to Auto Channel.
To help fund its green initiatives, GM also plans to close four truck and SUV plants in North America, which will save the company $1 billion every year.
GM also announced a willingness to sell part or all of the Hummer brand, which is an icon of GM’s previous wanton strategy. A comparison of the Hummer to the Chevy Volt is like comparing driving forward and in reverse.
Is it possible that American carmakers may embrace the paradigm shift and lead the way to a greener automobile industry?
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Entry was posted
on Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008 at 8:23 pm
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Read more entries by Matt Jansen.
Stumble It!
June 3rd, 2008
The automakers , like all companies that supply consumer products, will provide those products that the consumers show a willingness to buy.
Blaming automakers for not producing cars that would sit on the lots unsold, as was the case with small cars during most of the past 20 years,
strikes me as probably the stupidest argument
would could make. And, quite frankly, 10 years ago, there was no compelling reason for driving tiny cars in the first placee. Certainly I didn’t hear any complaints from the media – quite the contrary – they would swoon over those massive SUVs that defined the good life and luxury. The media is really good at never seeing any faulty logic if it involves their reputation.
June 4th, 2008
Cars are status symbols and a good indication of people’s vanity or stupidity. If you live in a large city, don’t own an item you need to frequently tow, don’t have a large family, owning a SUV is not practical. Financially, it is not a sound decision for a middle class or working class person, and it seems that it has taken a long time for people to realize this.
June 6th, 2008
The operative word is “sell”. We will see if GM sells the Volt or leases them like the EV1 so they could recall and crush them all. I hope consumers will tell GM to pound sand if they only offer leases.
And, let’s see if Chevron uses the battery technology it bought from GM and buried. (I’m not holding my breath.)