Chevrolet introduces the VOLT concept car at the 2007 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan, January 7, 2007. General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz is in the passenger seat (L). (Gary Cameron/Reuters)
Posted on 01/07/2007 7:31:02 PM PST by NormsRevenge
DETROIT (Reuters) - They're going electric in the Motor City -- well, maybe not just yet.
But it made for a nice "buzz" as the world auto industry gathered on Sunday at one of its premier events, the North American International Auto Show, with gas-electric hybrids and even "plug-in" electric cars all the rage.
It was almost enough to make one think, in the age of global warming worries and $60 per barrel oil, that the gasoline combustion engine was on the way out.
Japanese auto giant Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T), the leader in hybrids, said it expects to sell up to 300,000 of the environmentally friendly cars this year in the United States, up from 191,000 in 2006.
The models, mainly the wildly popular Prius but also now a few Camrys -- the top-selling car in America nine of the last 10 years -- have only added to Toyota's luster with American consumers as the source of quality and innovation.
The reputation reached a new high at the end of 2006, with Toyota's U.S vehicle sales passing Chrysler for the first time and knocking it out of the long-time Big Three -- General Motors (NYSE:GM - news), Ford (NYSE:F - news) and DaimlerChrysler's (DCXGn.DE)Chrysler Group.
Toyota now expects to pass Ford in the U.S. sales this year and also General Motors in global sales, ending GM's reign of more than 80 years as the world's top carmaker.
But GM may not be dead yet -- if electric shock treatments have anything to do with it.
At the Detroit show, GM revived its once-failed idea of a mass-market electric car, unveiling a new "concept" car called the Volt designed to use little or no gasoline.
GM had killed an earlier model, the EV1, in 2003, drawing the ire of "greens" and brickbats in a 2006 film, "Who Killed the Electric Car?"
But on Sunday GM executives said the Chevrolet Volt will draw power exclusively from a next-generation battery pack recharged by a small onboard engine -- if the technology is ready in two or three years.
"We have a thoroughly studied concept," said Jon Lauckner, a GM vice president for product development.
"It will create a buzz," said Mike Jackson, Chief Executive of AutoNation Inc. (NYSE:AN - news), the largest public auto dealership group. "A thing like Volt shocks people who say 'I really didn't expect this from General Motors."'
Jackson said a product like Volt would also make consumers take a second look at other vehicles in GM's line-up.
GM product chief Bob Lutz said critics would have to revise their thinking about GM's commitment to environmental concerns and U.S. dependence on oil imports after seeing the Volt.
"An electric vehicle coming from General Motors, I am shocked, truly shocked," Lutz told reporters at the show.
"The GM electric vehicle is an inconvenient truth," Lutz quipped, an allusion to former U.S. Vice President Al Gore's crusading film against global warming.
"This is not a PR exercise or a pure show car," Lutz told reporters at the auto show. "This is a real program with real money behind it that is heading for production."
REALITY CHECK
Such optimism abounded at embattled GM on the first day of the show after a year when it survived daunting threats of bankruptcy, sliding market share, soaring costs and sharp outside pressure from a big-money shareholder.
GM got an extra boost on Sunday when it swept the 2007 North American Car and Truck of the Year awards on Sunday, with top honors going to the new Aura produced by its Saturn division and the redesigned Chevrolet Silverado pickup.
The Aura beat out the other two finalists for the car award, the Honda Fit and the Toyota Camry. The Silverado bested the Ford Edge and the Mazda CX-7.
The sweep represents the first time in the award's 14-year history that a single U.S. automaker has won both awards. Last year, Japan's Honda Motors (7267.T) won both.
But if hope springs eternal, reality awaits.
"Domestic manufacturers continue to close the quality gap, although consumer perception has lagged this process," bond rating agency Fitch said in its 2007 autos outlook last month.
"Outside of pickups, Ford, GM and Chrysler will continue to suffer from product mix imbalances as they remain overexposed to the mid-size and large SUV markets," Fitch said. "Demand in these segments continues to decline."
Chevrolet introduces the VOLT concept car at the 2007 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan, January 7, 2007. General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz is in the passenger seat (L). (Gary Cameron/Reuters)
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Jaguar Director of Design Ian Callum appears with the Jaguar C-XF concept car at the 2007 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan, January 7, 2007. REUTERS/Gary Cameron (UNITED STATES)
Finally - an electric car that you can drive and not look like one of the cast from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. I'm in.
The BMW 335i Convertible is seen on the display floor at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Sunday, Jan. 7, 2007. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
Toyota Executive Vice President Jim Lentz stands with the new Toyota Tundra Crewmax full-size V-8 pick-up truck, during the press days at the North American International Auto Show at Cobo Hall in Detroit, Michigan. US auto giants General Motors and Ford used the 100th edition of Detroit's world-famous auto show to vow to fight back against an invasion by determined Asian rivals.(AFP/Jeff Haynes)
GM is the one member of the "Detroit Three" that seems capable of a comeback.
I've always wondered why car manufacturers did not do this. A small diesel generator can provide enough electricity to run a house, so a small compat diedel motor could easily provide enough electricity to run car.
As it's not actually driving the car, it would need very little torque, all it needs to do is turn a dynamo.
J Mays, group vice president, design and chief creative officer, Ford Motor Company is silhouetted against video of the Ford Airstream concept vehicle at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Sunday, Jan. 7, 2007. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Nissan introduces the Bevel concept vehicle at the 2007 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan, January 7, 2007. REUTERS/Gary Cameron (UNITED STATES)
Ford Motor Company Executive Director of Design, the Americas, Peter Horbury introduces the Lincoln MKR concept car at the 2007 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan January 7, 2007. REUTERS/Gary Cameron (UNITED STATES)
Alan Mullaly, President and Chief Executive Officer, Ford Motor Company talks on stage with Bill Gates, Chairman, Microsoft Corp. on video link at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Sunday, Jan. 7, 2007. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Model Petra Nemcova and the Saab Aero X concept vehicle appear at the GM Style Event in Detroit, Michigan, January 6, 2007. REUTERS/Gary Cameron (UNITED STATES)
Build the Volt. Do it now. Stop the waiting game.
It's about time. We should have had these years ago.
no kidding! Like 5 years ago!
I agree. Build it. But I won't buy one.
Being the first of its kind, on the leading edge of technology, it will be tempermental, overweight, and 'WAY out of my price range.
OTOH, the day GM announces the start of production, OPEC will panic and cut the price of oil to keep people from buying them. Even if I can't own one, I still win.
And who knows, maybe the second or third generation of EV's will be affordable.
BTW, the Volt looks like it was stolen directly off of Cadillac's assembly line, doesn't it?
What the public does not realize is that the price of oil is carefully managed to prevent the viability of these technologies.
Ironically, the obsession with using oil as a weapon against the US to try and destroy our economy has unleased a dangerous alternative to the lifeblood of Islamic tyrannies.
By pressing their case to far in driving up oil prices they have created viable markets for brining electric cars to market. It was always nuts to think that US automakers were blocking the electric car. OPEC wants to nurse along the oil addiction by keeping the price just below market alternatives.
Bush hatred has gotten the better of them and the clever game.
1. Every time they repainted the lines on the road, you'd have to buy a new car.
2. Occasionally your car would just die on the motorway for no reason, and you'd have to restart it. For some strange reason, you'd just accept this, restart and drive on.
3. Occasionally, executing a manoeuvre would cause your car to stop and fail to restart and you'd have to re-install the engine. For some strange reason, you'd just accept this too.
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