On a day of reckoning for the American way of building and driving cars and trucks, announced a bold attempt Tuesday to wean itself from a dependency on large SUVs and pickups, declaring that gasoline prices won’t retreat and the company must sell more small cars, some battery powered.
GM also announced it will be ready to sell the electric-powered Chevy Volt by the end of 2010, signaling the company’s confidence in mastering battery technology that could allow the car to travel far more than 50 miles on a gallon of gas.
Wagoner also said the future of the company’s franchise is in review, with an overhaul of the military-style vehicle lineup or a complete or partial sale of the division possible.
The American auto industry has been down this road before, caught off guard by market changes in the 1970s and 1980s in the wake of the Arab oil embargo and Iranian revolution, when Japanese imports started luring buyers from gas-guzzling V-8-powered sedans.
Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/green/chi-gm-cars-trucks-suvs-jun04,0,5261714.story
