Carmaker drops one hybrid small SUV, adds hybrid pickups

DETROIT, Nov 6, 2003; Michael Ellis writing for Reuters reported that General Motors Corp. has dropped plans to sell a hybrid gasoline-electric small sport utility vehicle, but will offer the fuel-saving technology on its large pickup trucks and SUVs, officials said on Thursday.

GM, the world's largest automaker, decided to cut the Chevrolet Equinox SUV from its hybrid program to devote funds to a hybrid version of its Saturn Vue SUV, which will be launched in 2006, said Tom Stephens, group vice president of powertrain. The hybrid Vue will get 12 percent to 15 percent improvement in fuel economy.

GM will offer a "strong" hybrid, which will boost fuel efficiency by 25 percent to 35 percent, on its Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon full-size SUVs in 2007 and its full-size pickup trucks in 2008.

Stephens told reporters at a news conference that the "strong" hybrid system for its large SUVs and pickup trucks, which it developed from a system it uses for city buses, can be used in a number of different vehicles of different sizes.

GM is in discussions with its joint venture partners, Suzuki Motor Corp. (Tokyo:7269.T - News), Isuzu Motors Ltd. (Tokyo:7202.T - News), Subaru parent Fuji Heavy Industries (Tokyo:7270.T - News) and Fiat SpA (Milan:FIA.MI - News) about using the hybrid system on their vehicles.

"There is quite a bit of discussion in working with our alliance partners," Stephens said. "It could be used in commercial applications, it could be used in military applications. We would be very happy to enter into co-development activities with other manufacturers for the development and production of these kinds of vehicles."

GM has developed three different hybrid systems that improve fuel economy between 10 percent and as much as 35 percent. A "mild" hybrid system boosting fuel economy by 10 percent to 15 percent will be offered on the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra full-size pickup trucks next year. A different system that boosts fuel economy by nearly 15 percent will be offered on the Chevrolet Malibu mid-size sedan in 2007.

GM had planned to offer a "strong" hybrid on its Saturn Vue in 2005, but Stephens said that system could not be used on other vehicles, so it made more business sense to offer a less fuel efficient "mild" hybrid instead.

David Friedman, an automotive analyst with the environmental group Union of Concerned Scientists, said the changes mean GM will not offer a full-fledged hybrid that will get a significant boost in fuel economy until in 2007, years behind Toyota Motor Corp. (Tokyo:7203.T - News), Honda Motor Co. (Tokyo:7267.T - News) and Ford Motor Co. .

"The big picture here is that GM's now two to three more years behind their competitors," Friedman said. "They're clearly approaching this that they need to trade off one for the other, whereas they need to do both."

But GM's Larry Burns, vice president of research, development and planning, likened picking winners and losers at this stage in the development of advanced vehicles to who scored the first run in the World Series.

"General Motors is not behind," Stephens said, citing plans announced last month to equip 235 city buses in the Seattle, Washington area with hybrid systems that will boost fuel economy by up to 60 percent.