GM to Double Number of Crossover Entries to 14 by 2009

DETROIT - General Motors will double its number of entries in the rapidly growing crossover vehicle segment to 14 during the next four years, Bob Lutz, vice chairman of product development, said today.

Crossovers, which combine the best features of cars and sport utility vehicles, have become increasingly popular with owners of all types of cars and trucks as fuel prices have increased. GM estimates that crossovers will account for more than 2.5 million sales in the United States this year, and could grow to 3.5 million units by 2010.

"GM is in the midst of an aggressive rollout of new cars, and we are starting the introduction of a whole new lineup of more refined, more fuel-efficient full-size trucks," Lutz said. "But we also see great opportunity in strengthening and expanding our family of crossover vehicles."

GM today offers seven crossover vehicles in the United States and Canada: The Chevy Equinox and HHR, Pontiac Torrent and Vibe, Buick Rendezvous, Cadillac SRX and Saturn VUE. GM led the industry in crossover sales in the United States last month, and is contending for industry crossover sales leadership for 2005.

Growth in the crossover market in the United States and Canada opens up opportunities for other GM brands as well. At the premium end of the market, GM is developing crossovers that will compete in the emerging compact luxury segment.

As crossovers become increasingly popular in Asia and Europe, GM also will use its global vehicle development capability to develop a new family of small crossovers that will compete in most of the world's major markets.

These will be in addition to compact crossovers already under development for Chevrolet and Opel, which have been shown publicly in concept versions as the Opel Antara GTC and Chevrolet S3X.

"GM's strength has always been the breadth of its portfolio," Lutz said. "We expect our growing family of crossovers will help us remain a leader as this market continues to expand."