04/06/08

GM: At the turning point of efficiency

The American automaker aims at compact models and greenlights the volt production

Farewell to the giant Suvs: the future of General Motors is made up of small and medium size cars. The news that four US plants will be closed coincides with an announcement from the executives’ board which greenlights the production of the Volt, the hybrid electric car that will mark a clear-cut watershed in the American giant’s policies. Yesterday the company’s chief executive officer, Rick Wagoner, illustrated the future strategic plans announcing that the Chevrolet brand will make a new compact car and design more efficient engines for the USA market and that the Hummer brand may undergo a complete review.

“Skyrocketing gasoline prices are changing consumer behaviour very rapidly and they are significantly affecting the U.S. auto industry sales mix" - explained Wagoner. To hit the new targets, related to the market and the environment, GM will aim at designing compact cars and will introduce the 1.4 l turbocharged engine, virtually a miniature engine for the US market accustomed to big sizes. But the most interesting news concerns a new model, a Chevrolet “global car” that will be produced at the Lordtown plant in Ohio, as from 2010, as well as the new generation Aveo available by the second half of 2010. Wagoner has laid great emphasis on how these two models will boost the efficiency of the brand and the whole GM group’s.

However, the Volt will be at the cutting edge of the new eco strategy: actually, the green light from the executives’ board stands for investments in the production, development and setting-up of the new technologies which use li-ion batteries on an industrial scale. “We believe that the Volt 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," said the GM Chairman.
News, not yet confirmed, instead, concerns the plant which will house its assembly lines, although the Hamtramck facility in Detroit is likely to be the most eligible one. Finally, the new GM strategy also includes a review of the Hummer brand: it might be a complete revamp of the product lineup or a partial or complete sale of the brand.