Die, Ford, die.
Die, GM, die.
Die, Chrysler, die.

What’s the point?

Oh, and where is that GOOD hybrid minivan from Toyota, where can I buy it?

No reason for GM to make and sell a 40mph hybrid CAR or WAGON now is there? Nobody would want to buy a GOOD hybrid minivan would they?

If I can buy an Escalade I won’t worry about it’s mpg. Actually if I can buy an Escalade, I’ll buy something like a BMW wagon or an Audi wagon and be happier.

Okay GM – read the news. Gas is $4+ now. Nobody wants your SUVs. Time to change your production lineup…

RF: You are selling our comments to GM right? I mean we’d make a GOOD focus group – alot better than the white bread, vanilla, suburban types that I imagine the big 2.8 hires…

And GM wants to tack on another $5,000-$8,000? For a Hybrid? yeah my friend is already crying at the pump! Like a Hybrid is going to help!

It’ll be a hit.

Of course if we are talking about those people who take a home equity loan to buy an Escalade and a heated swimming pool for their house…well, that’s a different story entirely.

Good mileage for a lousy mileage vehicle is not good enough.

Sorry, but I don’t get the point of this article. Are you saying that GM shouldn’t build this vehicle because its socially irresponsible/politically incorrect? If so, that’s a dangerous road to follow … But this editorial seems like social screeding to me.

You take the high road, and I’ll take the low road. Building an hybrid Escalade, at that price point and weight, at this point in time is just dumb – never mind whether it is “socially irresponsible/politically incorrect” whatever that means in this context.

Just as you don’t enter into any soaring championships with a metal plane these days (used to be you did), building cars with the wheelprints of the heavy SUVs is far from the best way of extracting profit from running an auto plant.

Big, topped-up SUVs are just lazy carmaking.

—

mellvar, I don’t know about the Escalade but someone reported 13 hybrid badges on the Yukahoe hybrid. One of them is a giant banner across the bottom of the door panels. Don’t worry, Cadillac will make sure everyone knows your gas hog is an ecologically sensitive gas hog.

… mpg ratings, nope.

$80k for a vehicle based on the GMT900 platform?

They would have been better off putting the hybrid system in the real pickup truck and using it for electric PTO options.

Rday:

General Motors Corp. Sales Conference Call – Final.(Conference notes)

Publication Date: 03-DEC-07

MIKE DIGIOVANNI, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, GLOBAL MARKETS, INDUSTRY ANALYSIS, GENERAL MOTORS CORP.

"So given those factors, housing prices, starting to decline, we feel the housing will start to, the glut will start to clear in the second half, net exports fueled by strong overseas growth remaining in place, and Fed having flexibility on lowering the funds rate, we think that '08 is going to come in in the low 16 million unit range, probably down slightly from 2007."

And then…

June 3, 2008

DETROIT (Reuters) – General Motors Corp expects U.S. total industry vehicle sales to be in the mid-to-high 15 million unit range in 2008, Chief Operating Officer Fritz Henderson said on Tuesday.

FYI I think they're off by another million. At least.

Unless the steel went up so much for a ton that GM can afford to flatten them as pancakes & send them China for Geelys.