Quote:
Originally Posted by Captain Awesome
Yup. And nobody in their right mind would buy a V8 musclecar right now unless they need one for work or specific duties?
|
Even the V8 Camaro should get close to 30 mpg on the highway.
You think a Silverado can do that?
Scott, here's something I think GM still needs to work on - their image. I know they make cars competitive to Honda and Toyota in fuel economy, but they don't cary the image of "green" that Japan does. True or not, right now it's the general public's perception. Now, you cannot dissagree that in the 1990's GM was going up the wazzoo on SUVs, while Honda and Toyota continued to develop economy cars and now the high technology hybrids. GM, unfortunately, is playing catchup in that department. Everyone laughed at first the Honda Insight and then the Toyota Prius, but looks who's laughing now. I know hindsight is 20/20 and you can't go back and fix mistakes, but I think GM is hurting mainly because they chose to go with big, fat, BOF SUVs for the longest time. In a way, you can't blame them because that's where the cash was, and we all know how much cash the SUV craze generated.
I'm not saying Toyota is any less guilty of making land barges, but at the same time they were also investing in great, economical, small cars. GM to date has had only the Cavalier/Cobalt and Aveo. Not very much competiton to Corollas, Civics, and hybrids.
I really hope this Volt works. GM's future is at stake here. I think GM will sink or swim on the deck of the Volt. If it proves to provide 60-100 mpg in the real world, and the batteries last, and the car is reliable, it will knock Toyota and Honda off their butts.
But, it's still a gamble right now, so they better get it right.