Unguzzle

GM's Lutz Appears on Colbert Report, Talks Volt

Reilly Brennan — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 15:35:00 -0500

Chevrolet’s press blitz for the Volt extended-range electric vehicle is in full force. Tuesday’s centennial celebration put the new range-extender electric car in the spotlight and you’d be hard pressed to find a newspaper, broadcast, or news website without mention of the little car that could. The parade of press continued Wednesday when GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz appeared on The Colbert Report on Comedy Central.

We’d love to tell you that Lutz killed it. But in reality he rarely got more than a sentence or two in before Colbert wrapped him up in his web of faux news satire. Colbert also got in a few good jabs on Lutz’s comments that global warming was a crock.

In a perfectly closed loop, Lutz has already blogged about his appearance from yesterday’s show. He says “you’ll notice some pauses on my part. Those pauses were not because I didn’t know what to say; they were time needed to index through and discard the truly dangerous answers!”

To view the episode, click the player. The ad will run for thirty seconds before the clip begins.

+ GM FastLane: Bob Lutz's Reaction To His Colbert Appearance

Outlining a Big Future for Mini USA

Chris Paukert — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:45:54 -0500

Given North America’s rapidly evolving shift toward small, fuel-efficient vehicles, you’d have to reason that things are going pretty well over at BMW’s Mini franchise—and you’d be right. We spent the morning having breakfast with Mini USA vice-president Jim McDowell, and learned a few things about how the company is doing during these belt-tightening times, and how it plans to move forward to capitalize on an increasingly Mini-friendly environment.

Here is what we learned:

The Mini Clubman represents fully 20 percent of the U.S. model mix, and is performing above expectations in our market.
The current Mini convertible (still on the first-gen “New Mini” platform) is in its last month of production. We will receive the new model in the spring, with the customer model configurator coming online before then.

Mini’s original goal when they entered the market in 2002 was to sell 20,000 cars in the first year. They exceeded that mark, and as ofthe close of 2007, they are exceeding their projections by 2.5 times. Mini’s analysts anticipated five-fold growth in the U.S. small car segment between 2002 and 2010, and if anything, that projection now looks a bit bearish.
Fully 81 percent of cars sold in July were specified cars—that is, they weren’t picked up off of dealer lots, but custom configured by an individual buyer. The last three months have been Mini’s best ever in the States, but that is unlikely to continue due to supply constraints: the company had but a four day supply of vehicles at the end of June, an unbelievably small amount.
Recent word of 500 electric Minis coming to the U.S. is accurate (but the announcement caught them "by surprise”) and plans are to have cars in the hands of actual customers “about this time next year.” That said,it isn’t clear whether these cars will be sold, leased, or otherwise disbursed. It is also undetermined whether these cars will be offered outside of California.
Mini USA is keen to incorporate some of the fuel-saving measures present in Minis in other markets (namely stop-start), but U.S. OBD II (on-board diagnostics) regulations are making this a more difficult process.
Mini sees its buyers primarily cross-shopping Honda, Volkswagen, Toyota (Prius) and Scion, but a large portion of Mini buyers don’tconsider other vehicles at all.
Mini presently has 82 dealers in the U.S., more than 50 percent of who are updating their stores (upgrading/enlarging). It expects to have 13-15 new stores open by 2010-2011, some in new markets, some in existing markets where growth warrants a second store.
There is still no official word on a timetable for the forthcoming Mini softroader. This model will bring Mini’s total offerings to four, but McDowell believes that the Mini brand could accommodate six models without issue.
U.S. Mini officials “would like to see” a diesel powertrain option in the States that achieves at least 50 miles-per-gallon, but there are no firm plans for anything at this time.

McDowell reiterated several times that Mini has no aspirations to become a genuine high-volume player, and it understands and embraces the idea that it is “Not the best car for most people, but it is the perfect choice for some.” Key challenges for the Mini brand going forward will include improving quality survey scores while maintaining character, as well as securing adequate supplies of cars for this market.

EPA Claims 75 MPG Standards Could Be in Place by 2030s

Seyth Miersma — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 10:00:52 -0500

While automakers worldwide are still working feverishly to bring future products in line with the tough new economy standards, the pace of change is likely to do nothing but increase from here on out.

The director of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Transportation, Margo Oge, said yesterday at the SAE World Congress in Detroit that U.S. passenger cars and light trucks may have to average as many as 75 miles per gallon by the 2030s, if a proposed cut of greenhouse gases is to come about. The proposal from the scientific-community would hope to see emissions reduced by 50 to 80 percent from 2000 levels, by 2050.

While Oge admitted that it would take long-term thinking on the part of automakers, and a consideration for both engine and fuel technology, she claims that a time of even greater change is upon us. Oge said that the, “Political, economic and regulatory landscape in the United States and globally has changed dramatically over the past year. The reality is the pace of change will not be letting up anytime soon."

With oil use on the rise as demand in places like China and India continues to skyrocket, it stands to reason that vehicles will have to become dramatically more efficient if greenhouse gas emissions are to be cut. Predictions have oil use rising to as many as 120 million barrels a day by 2030, up from today’s average of 85 million.

+ The Detroit News: Car makers could face 75mpg rules by 2030s, EPA says

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Video: Bob Lutz Talks About What Social Media Has Done For GM

Winding Road Administrator — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 22:42:32 -0500

If you think Bob Lutz doesn't pay attention to what people are saying about GM, think again. The GM Vice Chairman recently sat down with FastCompany.tv and went on record for seventeen minutes about social media and what the new age form of communication has done to change the conversation between consumers, manufacturers and the media. Of course, Lutz became one of the first automotive executives to ever pen his own blog; GM's "Fast Lane Blog" has become a must read for those inside the automotive industry and out.

For those who thought Lutz actually sits down at his terminal and types his blogs into his Fast Lane site himself, think again. In the video he talks about his process--that he usually comes up with a topic, types it up and sends it within the company (one would expect this is within GM's own communications network), and those recipients provide a bit of feedback before it's posted for the public. While this isn't a surprise, it likely crushes the dream that many a blogger had of Lutz typing away on his Apple Macbook from a Detroit coffeeshop (or maybe that's just us who imagined him sipping a bottomless cup of joe and writing blog entries into the wee hours). Still, even with the pass-through, Lutz says that with the Fast Lane Blog, he can "vent (his) frustrations."

An important part of the interview centers around the "global warming controversy" that erupted some weeks back when Lutz when on record as saying that Toyota's hybrids “make no economic sense

GM’s Bob Lutz Challenges Media on Past Global Warming Statement

Dustin P. Walsh — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 09:00:01 -0600

A few weeks ago, we told you about Bob Lutz’s colorful denial of global warming. Now, on the GM FastLane Blog he has taken time out to explain his comment.

He said, “My beliefs are mine and I have a right to them, just as you have a right to yours. But among my strongest beliefs is that my job is to do what makes the most business sense for GM.

GM on Hummer’s Image, ‘No one criticizes a bulldozer for its gas mileage.’

Dustin P. Walsh — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 14:30:57 -0600

General Motors wants consumers to rethink their idea of Hummer. A survey by J.D. Power and Associates last year said SUV buyers avoid the Hummer brand because they believe its gas-guzzler image, according to the USA Today.

Jon Osborn, research director at J.D. Power, said, “Hummer has an image of being the big, ponderous vehicles. Really, it gets about the same or as good gas mileage as several other (SUVs). The name Hummer connotes a much more gas-guzzling vehicle than really is on the road today.