GM "On Track" for Plug-In Crossover by 2011, Says Product Planning Chief
By John O'Dell July 8, 2009Sale of Saturn Brand, Which Was To Get the New Hybrid, Won't Delay Its Launch
Following up on last month's report
of a possible Buick dual-mode plug-in hybrid in 2011 to replace the Saturn plug-in that was dropped when GM sold the brand:
GM's product development chief has told Reuters news service that the company is on track to bring out a plug-in crossover SUV by 2011.
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This Buick mock-up could be the new GM plug-in hybrid.
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"I can tell you that I won't lose one day in terms of customers being able to walk into dealerships and actually purchase a plug-in," GM Vice Chairman Tom Stephens said in an interview with the news service.
Stephens also said GM isn't ignoring the idea of a battery-electric city car: "I think there's pent-up demand for the technology," he said of GM's work on electric-drive vehicles. "My job is to get it out there and get it right the first time but then get it cost-effective so that we can do a huge number."
Stephens has been head of GM product development since April, just in time for the Obama administration auto industry task force's examination of GM's business plan -- a review that wound up with the administration pushing GM into bankruptcy last month.
The company's turnaround plan -- submitted to secure operating loans from the federal government -- calls for GM to introduce at least 14 hybrid and other advanced technology vehicles in the next three years.
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