GM Hybrid SUVs: NOW How Much Would You Pay?
In the second major case of a news organization delaying important information, The Detroit News reports today that GM inadvertently revealed prices for their new two-mode hybrid SUVs on October fifth. That's when a GM website listed the Chevy Tahoe two-wheel drive hybrid at $47,915; the four-wheel drive version at $50,720; and the GMC Yukon two-wheel drive hybrid at $48,370. That's big news. It's also wrong. "GM spokesman Terry Rhadigan said Monday the prices posted on the Web site 'were too low.' He declined to divulge what the pricing would be, saying only that it would be 'competitive.'" With what? Themselves! Rhadigan told the DTN that a loaded version of the same vehicle will cost more than its hybrid variant. Just in case potential consumers were planning on making an apples-to-apples comparison, GM won't be offering comparable hybrid and non-hybrid models. Sticking to the obfuscation theme, Marketing Maven Mark LaNeve told his hometown paper (last week) that hybrids will rack-up five to ten percent of total SUV sales. But "since we are in uncharted territory… we will adjust up or down to demand." The General may have to adjust DOWNWARDS from five percent of shrunken, sinking, full-size SUV sales? That doesn't sound good.
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Or you could get a G6 and never be able to tow anything more than a small utility trailer let alone your boat or a V8 Trailblazer which is smaller in every way and only gets 14/17. Or maybe those vehicles' deficiencies have nothing to do with this. At $50K you could buy a Tahoe and an Uplander for each purpose and I would bet average better MPG between them than just one of these hybrids. And you'll get way less than 20/20 with 7 more passengers. The additional benefits are just out of line with the additional cost.
My point was made for people trashing the concept of a Tahoe hybrid. The Tahoe serves my needs well, and I might consider the Hybrid version. When the actual price comes out I'll make the decision. And good luck buying a new Tahoe AND a new Uplander for $50K. Maybe if you can find leftover 2007 2wd strippers at a desperate dealer. I doubt it though.
GM could probably sell all 10,000 target 2Mode SUVs right here in the Los Angeles/Orange County/San Diego metro. If fullsize SUV sales are slumping nationwide, it's a difficult trend to discern here. New no-plate Navigators, Escalades, Suburbans and Tahoes keep pouring onto the roads every week. And I haven't even mentioned Lexus, Toyo Land Cruisers, Audi and those knuckleheaded uranium-dense Porsches. With the exodus of boaters, campers, surfers, dirt-bikers, campers, and hikers rolling out of town every weekend in all directions, it's not too surprising. But even the valet lines at restaurants on Saturday nights are still pretty thick with new big iron. In our routinely congested traffic, now virtually an all-day condition, going from 12 to 20 mpg in the 405 tap-and-go is going to be attractive to a lot of people who can easily bite down on the $50+Large. And then there's the Green guilt crowd on the West Side, wishing to reconcile its gluttony with its conscience. The real issue is going to be making the right market aware of 2Mode Hybrid trucks. Can GM effectively communicate 2Mode for mass comprehension? Will they even try? A lot of big SUVs are going to continue to be bought in the US. The vehicle type is just too convenient for an entrenched lifestyle and psyche. So we ought to be glad to see this technology come to market ASAP, and offered in a variety of products. I'll consider it when it's in a pickup. Forget about CO2. Burning less fuel at idle will improve local air quality. In the late 1990s, GM and Ford took the position that improving fuel economy incrementally on the volume categories of SUVs and Pickups would have greater and more rapid environmental impact than selling a limited volume hybrid or electric car. They're right, of course, but they didn't factor in the marketing leverage to be had by an icon like Prius. But really, at a time when even the General's 6.2L eight is nudging up in efficiency with more power to boot, increasing the mix of powertrain options in volume vehicles can make GM environmentally friendlier than Toyota in real world impact, even if the emotional cachet remains elusive. Yup, make those 2Mode Hybrid logos big, bright and green. Phil
This stillborn concept is dead on arrival. GM, what were you thinking?