Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Toyota
GM: Hummer is the anti-Christ trying to plunge us into the abyss
Dashing hopes Don Esmond will ever collect his $100, Toyota's research and development chief Kazuo Okamoto told Reuters "while we'd love to be first, we're determined to be best" when it comes to hybrids. As we wrote about recently, Irv Miller of U.S. group vice president for communications wrote the Volt's batteries "don't exist." These statements are fine but the bread and butter source for great quotes is still GM's vice chairman Bob Lutz. Are you ready for this one?"People have a very simplistic way of organizing things: Toyota, because of the Prius, are saving the planet from certain destruction, whereas General Motors, which produces the [Hummer] H2, is the anti-Christ that's trying to plunge us into the abyss."
"It's totally ridiculous. ... The only way we can get out of that is by being more environmental and leading with more environmental technology than Toyota," Lutz added. Wait a minute... did Lutz just call us stupid?
[Source: Bloomberg]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
steven 4:28PM (9/11/2007)
No, he did not call you stupid. He succinctly stated the mantra of a large number of people who read and comment on this blog.
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Kardax 5:02PM (9/11/2007)
I'm not really willing to cut Mr. Lutz any slack here... the comparisons have been extreme, but the fact is Toyota could deliver another million hybrids before GM gets the Volt out the door.
You can have all the technological leadership in the world, but if doesn't leave the lab it doesn't make a difference.
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Kardax 5:02PM (9/11/2007)
(test)
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Jeremy Korzeniewski 5:42PM (9/11/2007)
Lutz is indeed about the best source of quotes around... but he has a point. Toyota builds plenty of gas guzzling vehicles, and is willing to build as many as people will buy. They would gladly be the market leaders in SUV's with their Sequoia, Land Cruiser etc. And they'd take the full size pickup crown too, if they could - they are trying.
But, they also offer and sell more eco-friendly cars than GM does at the moment, and Lutz is right - the only way for GM to shed the image is to offer and sell more of them.
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ug 6:25PM (9/11/2007)
GM is responsible for creating its own corporate image and is the only one responsible for changing it.
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Dave 7:02PM (9/11/2007)
Note to Lutz-
Don't rush things because you've read some polls or some quotes in the paper.
In the past, GM (not only GM) has rushed products into production and made a mess for themselves. I hope that doesnt happen this time. That would be real trouble.
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Tim 8:42PM (9/11/2007)
Toyota is moving to bigger vehicles while GM is moving toward more economical ones. I'll wait for the big picture to clear before casting stones.
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frank78 8:49PM (9/11/2007)
That's a good point Tim. I do see a heck of a lot of Toyota's commercials pushing the Tundra.
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Kardax 11:13PM (9/11/2007)
Sales of larger vehicles doesn't bother me at all. That problem will solve itself when gas is $10 a gallon.
What I don't like is seeing companies talk about their perceived technological advantages while delivering nothing to the customer.
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Wil 11:40PM (9/11/2007)
I had a good deal of respect for Bob Lutz until he repeatedly dismissed Toyota's success with hybrids as nothing but P.R. The fact is that a lot of engineering went into Toyota's hybrids, a lot of hard work that Lutz himself admits GM didn't see a need for. So please, stop complaining about Toyota's positive press--it just makes you look even worse.
"The only way we can get out of that is by being more environmental and leading with more environmental technology than Toyota," Lutz added.
That's right, Bob. Because, as of today, in the marketplace, Toyota is leading GM. And the way for the U.S. to win is to actually beat the competition, not just bitch about their success.
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Der Alte 1:11AM (9/12/2007)
I agree that GM really should be careful on the quality issue. Rushing E-flex to market before it is ready would be a mistake. Toyota has been making a lot of comments about batteries not being ready and questioning whether series hybrids are better than HSD. One way you could interpret it that is by saying the Toyota is just trying to spread fear, uncertainty and doubt. Or you could look at it by saying that Toyota over time has always waited for a product to be well tested and ready before offering it on the market, thus garnering it the reputation for quality it now holds. In fact, its the times where Toyota pushed too fast that some of their most public engineering and production mistakes have been made. They pushed the next gen Corolla back so they could make sure they got the new Camry right...they've learned from their mistake and hopefully realize abandoning their time honoured principle of not selling a car until it is thoroughly ready is a bad idea. Mercedes made the same mistake that put their quality in the crapper for years and had to go back to old ways to reverse that too.
GM's history on the other hand is full of half assed produts rushed to market and rejected because the quality and design was not there. GM over the last few years has seen the light and improved quality dramatically. They must not be lured into old habits. Any E-flex vehicle offered for sale must be of the highest quality and reliability for the consumer to accept. If that means they miss a deadline by a year or two, so be it. They will lose their advantage they have with plug in quickly if E-flex is of crappy quality which would be all it needs for Toyota to take the plug in lead with what would be their better researched, better tested product.
In short, GM should focus on getting it right before worrying about timelines.
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Bill 9:05AM (9/12/2007)
Yes, _if_ GM or anyone else can put a battery pack with more than 10 times the capacity of the Prius's battery into a vehicle that can hit a $30,000 price point.
It's much cheaper to use electricity to move the car instead of gasoline (again, assuming one can afford the initial purchase price)
That's a question that will take 3-5 years to answer.
>questioning whether series hybrids are better than HSD
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Bill 9:06AM (9/12/2007)
Yes, _if_ GM or anyone else can put a battery pack with more than 10 times the capacity of the Prius's battery into a vehicle that can hit a $30,000 price point.
It's much cheaper to use electricity to move the car instead of gasoline (again, assuming one can afford the initial purchase price)
That's a question that will take 3-5 years to answer.
>questioning whether series hybrids are better than HSD
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detroit9k 11:57AM (9/12/2007)
Here here. Honda actually deserves the green tag more than does Toyota. GM is a really big company which is where it's at because the US bombed the heck out of the competition in the 1940s.
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