Greenwashing:
GM's dual mode hybrid vehicles?
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Is
the marketing budget bigger than the production budget?
A few years ago Dan Neil wrote an article that so offended
GM that the automaker pulled all of their advertising from
the LA Times. Well, he might have achieved the same result
with his recent article, Just
Right, Yet Wrong.
Dan says a lot of great things about vehicles like the Chevy
Tahoe hybrid and the GMC
Yukon hybrid. Still, he has questions, a lot of
questions about GM's dual mode hybrid
vehicles, and those questions lead Dan to the word 'greenwashing'.
Dan asks, "what would the mileage of this vehicle
[conventional Tahoe] be with all the improved
aerodynamics, low-rolling resistance tires and aluminum
body panels, yet without the fretful weight (and cost) of
the hybrid system? What is the cost-benefit ratio of the
hybrid system apart from these improvements? And shouldn't
the improvements be standard issue?"
Ohhh, the mysteries of hybrid economics, but Dan isn't
done yet.
"It's hard to tell exactly what the "hybrid
premium" is on the Tahoe Hybrid (MSRP of $50,490) but
it looks to be, at a minimum, $8,000. That's a huge lump.
One argument to celebrate this technology is that it could
be mainstreamed into the hundreds of thousands of
full-size trucks and SUVs GM sells. But how realistic is
that? Does this super-low-volume program do more for
corporate image than corporate average fuel economy?What
is this program's budget? How does it compare to GM's ad
budget that crows about the program? The word is
greenwashing."
Ouch!
Still, Dan offers GM a few caveats. "Perhaps GM means
what it says when announcing that the company plans to
electrify personal transportation, and has tackled the
biggest challenge first: putting its most fuel-thirsty
products on a gasoline diet. Could it be we're being
cynical about a good-faith effort," asks Dan.
Then again, GM's first major step towards electrification
is the Chevy
Volt. And, while the Volt is still expected to meet
its launch date of 2010, there is a very good chance that
Volt could be delayed as much as a year or more - maybe
even forever.
What if the Volt never happens?
Will flex-fuel vehicles, mild hybrid cars, and full sized
hybrid SUVs be enough?
By 2010, Toyota is hoping to sell 1,000,000 hybrid
vehicles per year, largely led by hybrid
cars, such as the Prius
and the Camry
hybrid. Yet, the smallest hybrid to come from GM is
probably going to be the Saturn
Vue hybrid.
If GM's dual mode technology is confined to large hybrid
SUVs, can GM really compete if fuel efficiency drives
the future of automotive sales? And, when GM's hybrid
technology is confined to $50,000 vehicles, how can
economies of scale ever be achieved?
It's far too early for me to call GM's dual mode hybrids a
greenwashing effort, but it's hard not to be a bit
suspect. Just a few years ago GM's Bob Lutz claimed that
GM could have built and developed the Prius for just a
fraction of one year's marketing budget.
Were GM's dual mode hybrids developed with just a fraction
of one year's marketing budget as the ultimate PR tool?
Only time will tell.
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