"We have to build cars and trucks that people want to buy." So said Rick Wagoner, head of General Motors, at a recent conference in Dallas, Texas in response to why GM didn't begin offering hybrid cars earlier. Yeah, Rick, that's entirely true. But, your company also has to have at least a modicum of foresight in order to be successful in the tough American market these days. For instance, Toyota is just now reaping the benefits of its hybrid electric vehicles, despite the fact that the automaker has been building them since 1997. Did Toyota know something that GM didn't? Not really, as the entire world has been watching oil prices climb for the last few decades. It was bound to happen in the United States -- GM's own backyard -- as well, and now that it has indeed taken place, the three remaining American automakers have been caught with the wrong product at the wrong time sitting on dealer lots.

[Source: MSN Money Central]

Speaking to the Commonwealth Club of California this week, GM CEO Rick Wagoner told the gathering that in order for electric cars to make a difference in global warming it will require large numbers of them to be deployed at prices that mainstream buyers can afford. While a few hundred Tesla Roadsters or Fisker Karmas may make the owners feel better about themselves, in the U.S. vehicle fleet of 200 million vehicles they they won't make any real measurable difference in the grand scheme of things. To make a significant impact on fuel consumption and emissions, millions of cars and trucks every year need to be more efficient. However, that can only happen if those vehicles are affordable to average car buyers.

When Wagoner was asked why it's taking as long as it is to bring the Volt to market he explained that it's a lot harder to create a viable $20,000 electric car than one that costs $100,000. Nonetheless it has taken Tesla almost as long to bring the Roadster to the street as GM will have spent on the Volt program. We still don't know how much cars like the Volt will cost consumers or GM when they launch, but one thing is certain: they won't be $20,000. Someday, the price may get closer to that price but that will take time and some serious battery cost reduction. In the meantime, parallel efforts to create large numbers of other kinds of more efficient vehicles will have to continue. That's why companies like Ford are pushing forward with smaller turbocharged engines that are lighter and relatively inexpensive. They can put hundreds of thousands or millions of these on the road annually at prices the masses can afford.

[Source: Automotive News - Sub. req'd]

Recent comments by John Powell, the deputy director of the UN World Food Program, have drawn return fire from GM CEO Rick Wagoner at the Beijing Motor Show. Powell blamed biofuels in part for the recent run up in food prices around the world that has resulted in more poor people not being able to afford food. Speaking at the Beijing Motor Show Wagoner called critics "shockingly misinformed" saying that high fuel prices are a much bigger factor in food costs than the diversion of food stocks to fuel production. Wagoner acknowledged that a dramatic increase in corn ethanol production and use could ultimately increase food prices further. Currently ethanol availability in the US is limited anyway with only about 1,200-1,300 E85 stations nationwide. GM's focus is on helping to develop cellulosic E85 production through investments such as their stake in Coskata. To some extent, Wagoner is probably correct in blaming increasing fuel prices. However, part of the reason oil has gotten so expensive is huge increases in demand from China and sustained high demand from the U.S. Shifting energy consumption from petroleum to biofuels will not do anything to address this fundamental problem. Until we dramatically cut back our energy consumption prices will likely stay high for both food and fuel. One upside is that this might help address the over consumption of food in the U.S.

[Source: Green Fuels Forecast]

As mentioned, General Motors' CEO Rick Wagoner has urged his dealers to oppose states which want to set their own greenhouse gas emissions regulations, which would go above and beyond what U.S. government regulations already require. "We need to work together to educate policymakers at the state and local levels on the importance of tough but national standards," he said, adding that GM would not "be able to accomplish everything that we otherwise could," if states set regulations which were different than the rest of the country. The response from the NADA group seems to agree with the GM corporate stance. Wagoner also suggested that car dealers and automakers should work together to help create an alternative fuel infrastructure which would allow more consumers access to ethanol and, eventually, hydrogen.

These remarks were made at the 2008 National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) meeting in San Francisco. Dealers for huge automakers like GM are able to reach more local and state officials than GM is able to do itself, meaning that their lobbying efforts are very important. California has been setting their own regulations regarding fuel mileage for a while now, and it is true that meeting the state's regulations, along with those in the rest of the U.S., has been difficult at times.

[Source: The Detroit News]

In an interview that should air soon tonight (Nov. 18) at 8 p.m. EST on CNBC's Beyond the Boardroom, GM CEO Rick Wagoner says General Motors will release a new hybrid every three months for the next four years. Three days ago, CNBC teased the interview with that quote and you can watch the tease here. This program highlights page says "the popular Cadillac brand and GM's plans to roll out a new hybrid every quarter for the next 4 years." That page also includes another tease of the interview where Rick says he really thinks things are going to change in the next 10 or 20 years. Here is exactly what Rick says in the video about hybrids;

We will have one new hybrid coming out every quarter for next four years. We've got four on the market right now. We are getting in the game with a range of technologies.

Doing some simple math and knowing that a quarter means three months and that there are four quarters in a year; this means there will be 16 new hybrids from GM by 2011. There are about 16 hybrids on the market currently. This release schedule easily puts GM ahead of any other car maker's announced hybrid release numbers and should make GM the car maker with the most hybrid brands for some time. Stay tuned, I will live blog the the interview as it airs. Feel free to hoot and howl in comments.

Related:

• Wagoner through the years - video interviews with the GM CEO, 1999-2006

[Source: CNBC]

Remember this picture? That's GM's Jill Ladjiak at last year's LA Auto Show when the General announced the plug-in Saturn Vue hybrid. Pretty excited, no? At the time, GM's Rick Wagoner said the PHEV Vue, which will use a modified version of GM's 2-mode hybrid system and a lithium Ion battery pack, was a "top priority" but no one would dare suggest when the car might be available for sale. Since then, we've had all kinds of updates on the progress of batter development and other things that need to happen to get you, yes you, a plug-in Saturn.

The Detroit Free Press' Mark Phelan is now reporting that Lajdziak told him in Frankfurt this week that the plug-in Vue is coming "very quickly ... in 2009-ish." So, we're getting there. Remember, though, that GM is not new to the plug-in game: here are plans for a PHEV from 38 years ago.

Related:

• In the AutoblogGreen Garage: 2007 Saturn Vue Green Line
• GM Awards two lithium-ion battery contracts for PHEV Saturn Vue
• Chicago Auto Show: 2008 Saturn Vue Green Line Hybrid unveiled
• US gets three hybrid Saturn Vues, Europe gets a diesel Opel Antara

[Source: Detroit Free Press]

There are three video interviews on YouTube from The Charlie Rose Show with GM's president and CEO Rick Wagoner. They were done in 1999, 2002 and 2006. It's really an amazing look at the developments in the car industry over those years. In the 1999 interview, the two men talk about "unheard of" price reductions and the 2000 SUV, which is larger than ever. Rick is also really excited by the new technology called Onstar. That video is below the fold.

In 2002, they get into deeper price reductions and talk of slowing sales for SUVs. You can almost see the interest in green issues grow, becoming equal to concerns about market share and China. This interview is the most interesting and is at the top of this post. 26 minutes in, after asking Rick about fuel cells, Charlie asks if Rick believes electric cars and hybrids are "the wave of the future." This is what Rick says.

"I think we tried electric and I think the conclusion is honestly that doesn't look like the answer. We think we can improve gas engines. We think that there will be a role for hybrids, which is a combination of some form of battery power and gas or diesel. We think there is a role for those but they are inherently at a disadvantage because you are paying for two propulsion systems. So we think there is going to be a role and this will evolve. But if you ask what could 10,20,30,40 years ultimately replace or begin to replace the internal combustion engine without big consumer trade offs, I think the best best bet is fuel cells."

He is then asked about peak oil and global warming. The 2006 interview, also below the fold, talks about the shift to cross overs and "imminent" release of hybrids. GM's doubts about hybrids is not really news. I could write about the rise of hybrids, growth in cross overs, public attitudes towards climate change, etc. but you see it in the greying hair of the CEO of GM in these videos.

[Source: YouTube]

GM is well aware that the youth market is key to the success of their future sales, after all, younger people eventually grow up and become the car buying public. In December, GM admitted in an internal memo that more and more young people were removing GM from their "consideration lists".

Rick Wagoner said on Sunday that GM plans on expanding their Hummer brand, as "The Hummer brand is very well-respected by teenage boys, and that's a good thing to build on...we need to expand the product offering," according to Wagoner. He continued, "We spent some time recently in California, even this morning, to find ways we can improve our internet marketing, where younger buyers are tending to go to. Those kinds of things, I think, are critical over time."

So, GM is looking at marketing techniques that connect with that younger crowd. I hope that the marketing folks can learn to push vehicles other than the Hummer to young people. I know that in California, GM made a "green" prototype Hummer, one that "breathes" clean oxygen via algae filled body panels. Again, I hope that they can come up with something that actually has the chance to see the light of day - I don't think we will see any oxygen breathing Hummers driven by teenage boys on the road any time soon.

[Source: Detroit Free Press]

We'll be keeping an eye out for GM CEO Rick Wagoner's upcoming speech which was announced this week. The speech will be on GM's strategy to beat Toyota at developing and selling green cars. A source in the know from GM told Bloomberg News that Wagoner will deliver a speech before the end of the year on how GM will use some of the $9 billion it saved by cutting costs and eliminating jobs over the past few quarters to produce cars and trucks that match Toyota's offerings in technology and fuel efficiency. These steps include plug-in hybrids, more efficient ICEs, hydrogen fuel cells vehicles and more.

Doesn't there seem to be a bit of desperation in leaking that GM's big strategy is to match what Toyota is doing? GM isn't even going to try and beat Toyota, just catch up? All right, GM, do it your way. You should know what you're doing. After all, you are losing millions each quarter.

[Source: Bloomberg News / Jeff Green via Detroit News]

GM boss Rick Wagoner wants the company to have the flexibility to change its mix of vehicles according to gas prices.

Speaking to the Associated Press last Wednesday, Wagoner said GM's current level of flexibility is "not as good as it needs to be." GM has already announced reductions in production capacity, so flexibility in building more vehicles with higher fuel economy should be easier if the price of gasoline hits $4 or $5 a gallon.

Another move is to build more vehicles off the same platform globally, again making it easier for a North American plant to switch to more fuel-efficient models when consumer demand increases. The same platform would support 4- or 6-cylinder engines and production would be based on consumer demand.

Analysts note that Asian automakers already have the flexibility to build different vehicles on the same assembly line. The old business model of setting up one line to produce large numbers of a single vehicle won't work as the auto market becomes more fragmented, they warn.

[Source: Associated Press via WHAS, Louisville, KY]