GM SUV's and Pickups Add Features

Reuters reports: From power folding side mirrors to air bag sensors that measure a passenger's weight and seating position, General Motors Corp. will offer a bevy of improvements to its full-size pickups for the 2003 model year.

But the freshened versions of the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra that will roll into showrooms this fall will also cost the world's largest automaker less to build, giving it a chance to improve profits on some of its best-selling and most profitable vehicles.

"We can offer more features and more content for the same cost," said Terry Woychowski, chief engineer for GM's full-size pickups. "As an engineer, every time you touch a part, you take cost out."

In addition to the freshened pickups, GM unveiled three new models of sport utility vehicles, including one that can transform itself into a pickup-SUV hybrid, that will go on sale next year.

But it's the pickups that haul most of GM's profits these days. While GM struggles to hold onto 28 percent of the overall U.S. automotive market, it has 42 percent of the large pickup market and has increased its share of that market this year at the expense of rival Ford Motor Co.

The freshenings come four years after GM rolled out all-new versions of the pickups, and in the midst of what promises to be a heightened battle for market share among Detroit's Big Three. Last year, German-American automaker DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler arm unveiled new versions of its Ram pickup, while Ford Motor Co.will launch all-new versions of its F-150 pickup next year.

All three have been forced to offer rebates and other incentives to keep current owners and lure new ones, keeping actual selling prices flat or falling even on all-new vehicle versions. That makes cost-cutting the key to profits; No. 2 carmaker Ford has told analysts it's already looking for ways to cut costs on the F-150.

Woychowski said the 2003 model pickups will offer about 40 improvements over the current versions. Some of the changes are minor; heated seats come with three settings, passengers can control their air temperatures separately from drivers, and stereos get better sound.

But several models can also be equipped with four-wheel steering, which gives the pickups the turning radius of small cars. Passenger-side air bags are tied to sheets of sensors in the seats that measure passengers' weights and adjust the force of air bag deployment in crashes.

What customers won't see or feel, Woychowski says, is where GM cuts costs on the new models. The reworked dashboard is built in one piece instead of two. The restyled front-end headlamps and grille are less expensive to build. And the number of wires running from the door to the body have been cut from 40 to 16.

Such changes may add up to just a few dollars per vehicle, but GM can build 1.1 million full-size pickups a year.

The new SUV models include a Buick version of GM's mid-size SUVs called Rainier and a Cadillac version of the Chevrolet Suburban full-size SUV, both going on sale next year.

But the least derivative new model is the GMC Envoy XUV, which goes into production next summer. Behind the second row of seats is a collapsible wall and a plastic-coated cargo area. The rear roof panel slides forward, and the cargo area has drains built into the floor like a pickup bed.

GM executives declined to release estimated pricing on the new models.