I could'nt help laughing at this short article... Excerpts: "(Chicago) Tribune auto columnist Jim Mateja says GM is committed to the high-tech, fuel-saving technology..." ukeleft: "Though we're late to the party, we'll be better than Toyota when it comes to performance and value, Jim Queen, GM vice president for North American engineering told Mateja." ukeright:
"Late to the party"?!?!? What about the EV? Seems like GM was an early arrival to the party and left before it really got going. Now they want back in!
They can never be better than Toyota in performance and value. Every year they progress, Toyota will also progress. And knowing the Japanese mentality and social importance of constant improvement, I severely doubt GM has a chance of catching them. Using history as an indicator, I'm guessing this statement is as practical as Bill Gates stating in the late 80s that the internet is a fad and Microsoft will invest no money into its development.
I'm reminded of a headline in a 1974 computer trade paper where IBM excitedly announced a significant feature that the rest of the industry giants had been delivering for 10 years.... [align=center:f674b8a920]"Today IBM Announces Yesterday!!!"[/align:f674b8a920] Welcome to the modern world, GM....
Late to the party? Crewman of the Titanic – “Captain, we collided with an iceberg and are flooding forward!†Captain of the Titanic – “This sounds serious. Better prepare the passengers to abandon ship!†GM Vice President and passenger onboard – “Hold on Captain! I’m from GM and I think we can build you more and better lifeboats before this vessel sinks!†Captain, Crew and rest of Passengers – “Thank you GM, we’re saved!â€
I think it would be a wonderful thing if GM started taking hybrid cars more seriously. I'd love to see them selling an ultra low emissions vehicle. If I were a top executive at Toyota I might be laughing right now. The statement from GM validates the hybrid market, boosting the position of Toyota, without offering anything concrete from GM. I'm sure the excellent engineers at Toyota are very secure in their jobs.
I feel that... too many people are making too much money from fossil fuel revenues to spend too much GM time on an idea that makes too much sense for the future of our country/planet. ...but then again, I'm just a simple unfrozen caveman.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(GreenSteve\";p=\"43886)</div> Oh but Steve, are you forgetting the Chevy Silverado - a hybrid that will get 10% better mileage for only 10% more $$ than the non hybrid model? :flame:
remember this statement is from the same group of people who claim that we have hundreds of years of oil left.
Re: Substituting Oil for Knowledge True to form, Detroit continues to substitute oil for knowledge. All the while critical thinking Toyota continues to move forward and upward. Granddaughter: "Oh, look grandfather! A $20 bill!" Grandfather: "Don't be rediculous! If it were real, someone would have picked it up already . . ." Toyota: "We picked the money and knowledge up off the pavement over 15 years ago and continue to pick up even more while others race along on tricycles!" Albert Einstein: "The solution to a problem cannot be found using the same methods that caused the problem in the first place." Detroit: "No problem. If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
