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Politics : Just the Facts, Ma'am: A Compendium of Liberal Fiction -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sully- who wrote (77553)	2/15/2010 12:24:56 PM
From: Sully-	Respond to of 90947

GM Exec: Hybrids Are Money Losers By: Henry Payne Planet Gore Detroit -- What if the vehicles of the future don’t make money? General Motors vice chairman Bob Lutz continued his habit of talking truth to power last week -- despite the fact that his company is now a subsidiary of the U.S. government. GM owners Barack Oama and Nancy Pelosi routinely claim that America is transitioning to a green transportation future, but Lutz stepped all over their lines at an industry event Friday when he said that hybrids will never comprise more than 10 percent of the U.S. market. Lutz was only expressing an industry consensus that hybrid-electrics are niche vehicles (like muscle cars) that enhance a company’s image but are too limited in appeal to go mainstream. Worse, Lutz said that hybrids are money pits that will have to be subsidized by other GM vehicles. Lutz has spearheaded GM’s plug-in Chevy Volt (due later this year) as a “halo car” enhancing GM’s green image. But he has also been skeptical of hybrids, pointing out the paradox of consumers who say they like fuel-efficient vehicles even as they are unwilling to pay hybrid premiums. Meanwhile, Washington is pushing Detroit companies to build more hybrids. A good idea? GM’s taxpayer shareholders may want to listen to car guy Lutz. -- Henry Payne is an editorial writer and cartoonist for the Detroit News. planetgore.nationalreview.com