Will GM's Future Be Decided by Success, or Failure, Of Chevy Volt?
By John O'Dell May 24, 2010Is the Car More Important Than the Technology it Will Showcase?
We've not been bashful in our assessment of General Motors Corp.'s E-Flex extended-range plug-in hybrid technology, going so far as to call its use in the upcoming Chevrolet Volt - the first car that will feature the system - a game changer that has the ability to set the U.S. auto industry on a new course.
But will the fate of this one model decide the fate of General Motors Corp?
A news piece published Sunday by the Associated Press says yes.
Upon the Volt, writes AP National Writer Sharon Cohen, hangs "the fate of GM and its workers. The future of a beleaguered state. And, maybe, in some larger sense, the image of all U.S. autoworkers, eager to prove they have what it takes to compete on the global stage."
The piece underscores its message with a quote from GM worker Steve Prucnell, a member of the Volt test-model manufacturing team:
"If this doesn't fly, what's left for GM? Wall Street is going to say, 'We knew they couldn't dig themselves out of the hole.'"
We certainly hope the Volt is successful, but we think the AP might be saddling the Volt with a bit too much responsibility.
This is a new technology in a new car with a pre-incentive pricetag now estimated at $35,000 (GM hasn't revealed real pricing yet) and being released as the nation continues to struggle with economic malaise.
Certainly there would be no bouncing back from failure of the E-Flex system - an electric drive that will deliver up to 40 miles (at low speeds) of all-electric range from a rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack and then keep going on longer trips with juice provided by a small on-board engine-generator that burns gasoline a rate of about 50 miles per gallon.
But if the system works while the Volt itself is less than a mega-hit, we don't think GM, Michigan or the entire U.S. auto industry will crumple (although questions certainly could be asked about GM's wisdom in pricing a four-seat car so high in a weak economy).
Asking the Volt to carry all that weight with gasoline prices still at or below the $3-per-gallon mark and the national economy remaining sluggish with high unemployment is asking more than is reasonable.
In a competitive marketplace, sales to consumers are, indeed, the final measure of a car's success. But in this case its the technology, not the car, we should be watching.
If GM can use the Volt to demonstrate that its extended-range plug-in hybrid system delivers the goods that have been promised, then GM, Michigan and the U.S. auto industry will have scored a victory.
If the economy works against making the Volt itself an unqualified success, well, it's just the messenger and GM's got more models on the drawing board that can continue delivering the E-Flex message.
We think, though, the the Volt will sell well - certainly well enough to meet GM's goal of 50,000 in the first year - and that it and the E-Flex technology will fulfill a game-changing role.
But hey, read the AP piece and judge for yourself. Click here for the version posted Sunday on the ABC News site and let us know what you think.
John O'Dell, Senior Editor
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There are those of us who doubt GM really wants the Volt to succeed. How sincere can they be when they plan to produce 900 the first year and 1600 the second. Maybe they doubt the technology, maybe they would rather sell the giant gas guzzlers they always have. In my opinion, Detroit in general, suffers from the fact that the motor heads that typically became automobile engineers really like powerful internal combustion engines. They're loud and fast and provide them with something they are missing. I'll let you speculate on what that shortcoming might be.
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