# Car buyers still want gas guzzlers - GM



## lottos (Jun 22, 2008)

US consumers still want to buy big "gas-guzzler" cars and General Motors has to respond to the demand, GM vice-chairman Bob Lutz says in an interview.

Mr Lutz told the Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger that the ailing US auto giant had decided this week to ramp up production of big pick-up trucks and sports utility vehicles in the US because stocks had nearly run bare. 

"It remains a fact that the American public buys big, high-consumption cars," he said. 

"It is completely wrong to hope that Americans will massively rush to economical vehicles. 

"The mass movement towards 'green cars' is only taking place in the media," he added, pointing to "poor" sales of hybrid vehicles, other than the one offered by Japanese rival Toyota, and their small share of market. 

GM's challenge was to "meet the tougher emissions standards by 2015 and deliver the whole range of cars that the public wants," Mr Lutz said.

Much of the recovery plan for the US auto industry and government support for cash-strapped GM is based on a shift towards more environmentally-friendly and fuel-efficient vehicles. 

The Obama administration has set up tougher new fuel consumption targets, while a government-funded "Cash for Clunkers" program that pays consumers up to $US4500 ($A5356) to trade in a gasoline-guzzler for a more fuel efficient vehicle has spurred sales. 

But an attempt to renew the trade-in scheme has hit resistance in the Senate, prompting an effort to push through the additional funding needed to keep it going before legislators break for their summer holidays on Friday. 

Mr Lutz, who was born in Switzerland, said GM had worked closely with the Obama administration in setting up the fuel efficiency targets. 

But buyers would change only if there was a durable rise in gasoline prices, he underlined. 

"The Government faces a dilemma. It wants on the one hand to bring pump prices closer to European levels and therefore introduce more economical cars. 

"On the other hand the economy is so fragile that a renewed sudden surge in gasoline prices would have a devastating impact," he said.

From:
http://www.news.com.au/business/story/0,27753,25893495-462,00.html


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## Drew (Jul 26, 2009)

It never fails to amaze me how stupid American car company directors are. These guys have run the company into the ground, begged for cash off their government and are now talking about (reading between the lines) maintaining their sales of the products that they have to put the least development money into because they're the most agricultural part of the market.

I guess that plus the Detroit Auto Unions should have the American car companies either nationalised or killed off within the next 2-5 years.


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## Tesseract (Sep 27, 2008)

Drew said:


> It never fails to amaze me how stupid American car company directors are. These guys have run the company into the ground, begged for cash off their government and are now talking about (reading between the lines) maintaining their sales of the products that they have to put the least development money into because they're the most agricultural part of the market.
> 
> I guess that plus the Detroit Auto Unions should have the American car companies either nationalised or killed off within the next 2-5 years.


Not really trying to defend GM here, but it is worth noting that few businesses - especially large, capital-intensive ones like an auto manufacturer - can survive a nearly 40% drop in sales over the course of a single year (16 million to 10 million units). Bankruptcy is usually the result (e.g. - Chrysler and GM; Ford got lucky by selling lots of redundant assets near the top of the market).


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## david85 (Nov 12, 2007)

Looks like the chevy volt served it's purpose......

talk about bait and switch.

Obama wants to drive gas prices up??? Did Bob just say that??


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## Drew (Jul 26, 2009)

Tesseract said:


> Not really trying to defend GM here, but it is worth noting that few businesses - especially large, capital-intensive ones like an auto manufacturer - can survive a nearly 40% drop in sales over the course of a single year (16 million to 10 million units). Bankruptcy is usually the result (e.g. - Chrysler and GM; Ford got lucky by selling lots of redundant assets near the top of the market).


They've gone from blue chip shares to junk bonds over the last 20 or so years, unfortunately its a lot larger problem than the last year or two. 

I don't know why it seems intrinsic to the American car industry, apart from similar outlook, but the big three American brands have been going down the tubes for a fair while now.


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