The article is titled “Lutz: U.S. won’t embrace small cars at today’s gas prices” from autonews.com and he talks mainly about how everyone should be making car-manufacturing more convenient for GM. I’ve put my thoughts in bold.
DETROIT — General Motors sees E-85 and biofuels as the best near-term solution to lowering U.S. usage of petroleum.
But new federal fuel regulations will only mean higher vehicle prices, slower new vehicle sales and continued consumer resistance to smaller cars. What small car options do we have to resist against?
“We refuse to let the price of fuel rise gradually in the United States and therefore we fail to induce change in consumer behavior,” Bob Lutz, GM’s vice chairman of global product development, said at the Automotive News World Congress on Wednesday evening. I think you need to refuse a little louder, Bob, cause right now no one seems to be listening. Prices seem to continue to go up.


Lutz said while GM is working diligently on alternative solutions to gasoline such as the lithium-ion battery powered Chevrolet Volt, consumer behavior is very difficult to change. And it takes a long time. New federal regulations requiring a 35-mile-per-gallon national average by 2020 will not inspire consumers to purchase more fuel-economic vehicles. I must only talk to weirdos cause everyone I hear from wants 35mpg+ cars. European prices
Only gas prices at the level that Europeans pay will cause Americans to rethink their vehicles, Lutz said. Current European gasoline prices are the equivalent of about $8 a gallon, he said. Tell that to my dad who’s been driving full-sized pickups his whole life, but is looking to buy a Prius for his next car(Unless diesel options come out in time). Also the three people I know who have actually put deposits down for a Smart car.
“If for the last 15 years we’d had a slow but sure rise in federal fuel taxation of, say, 15 cents a gallon per year — that would have gradually put the customer in the equation,” he said. Customers are idiots! Luckily we’re here to tell them what they want.
Over time and without any federal fuel economy regulation, the markets could have naturally and gradually transitioned Americans into smaller and more diesel-oriented vehicles, Lutz said. So you’re saying diesel is the best way to go, but why start working on a problem now when we could put it off till later?
” I’m not advocating tax hikes or calling for higher fuel prices, I’m just explaining the difference between the European fleet and our own,” he said. ” In America, instead of raising fuel prices, we’ll end up having to raise new vehicle prices, because of the increased use of lightweight materials and fuel-saving technology.” and that makes us look like the enemy instead of letting us point the finger solely at the oil companies.
That will cause more people to hang on to the vehicles they have longer, slowing down new sales growth, ” which is exactly counter to the intended effect,” Lutz said. Translation: We’re not ready, so this will cause people to buy non-GM cars from manufacturers that were ready.
” Europeans, at their fuel prices, are willing to pay premium prices for premium small cars that deliver terrific fuel economy. That is not the case here in America, land of the big truck and big horse” and, he added, ” the big American.” Why don’t you give us a chance before telling us what we will and won’t buy? We have no options for premium small cars so it’s pretty hard to tell.
The new federal regulations will also fail to lower the U.S. dependency on petroleum and imported oil, Lutz said. The best near-term solution to doing that is to adopt more E-85, ethanol-burning vehicles. Lucky for you we’ve got plenty of E-85 options!
” It’s just common sense,” Lutz said. ” You don’t roll over the whole fleet at once. It takes decades — and the bigger the price disparity between the old ones and the new ones, the longer it takes.” It’s just common sense, my stock price would go down.
Making a dent
GM’s goal for electrically driven vehicles is attainable, but Lutz said it will take many years for those vehicles to be on the road in volumes to really make much of a dent in petroleum usage.
He argues a faster solution is E-85. There are already more than 6 million flex-fuel vehicles on the road right now in the U.S. alone. Those vehicles could be running on ethanol if it were more readily available, Lutz said. What kinda mileage does E-85 get?
If all the flex-fuel vehicles that GM, Ford Motor Co., and Chrysler LLC have committed to have on the road by 2020 were to run on ethanol, that could displace 29 billion gallons of gasoline annually, Lutz points out. That is roughly equivalent to 18 percent of America’s projected petroleum usage in 2020, he said. And the Ethanol suppliers are ready for that right?
He said other benefits of E-85 include that it’s better for the environment, it doesn’t have to be imported and it requires little change in consumer behavior. Just like biodiesel!
On the other hand, he said with diesel fuel at the same price as gasoline in the United States, there won’t be many Americans willing to pay a ” $3,000 to $4,000 premium” for diesel vehicles unless GM is willing to eat that cost. Unless you educate the public on the benefits of diesel, and that the disparity would not take long to pay back. Plus resale is great.
Lutz also reiterated GM’s stance that electrically driven vehicles powered by lithium-ion batteries are the long-term future of the automobile industry. He argues that naysayers don’t understand that not all lithium-ion technology is created equal. That’s in a VERY long-term future. I care about current, short-term future, and long-term future. Current and short-term means diesel and other options
” It’s like beer. Some people say beer tastes bad. But there are many different types. U.S. beer, imported beer. You’ve got pilsner, ale, stout, wheat beer,” Lutz said. ” Some beers are better than others. Just because somebody said one particular lithium ion technology is a little bit aggressive and it’s been known to cause thermal problems, does not mean they all do. The technology is advancing every day.” I’ll bet the diesel beer tastes the best. I think this is a horrible analogy.

 

Not a fan of Lutz in particular. Definitely not a fan of E85. I don't think the customer has been part of GMs planning future for quite some time IMHO.

 

The sad part is you would be surprised how many people think E-85 will save us from OPEC. I've read post from people who claim they get the same or better fuel mileage from E-85 as you do regular gas and I know for a fact its BS.

 

Lutz is a putz. E-85 gets worse mileage than regular and only slightly better than propane! Diesel and its derivatives are by far a much better way to reduce the dependancy on foriegn supply.

The fact that GM is generally lazy (sure the DMAX is a great motor) but why are they so relucant to push the envelope. EU has been doing so for years yet we have to put up with his crap. I don't get it. We are already at the $5 gallon here in Canada and it is going higher every day. Slow sales on anything over 4L is going to be very evident in the coming months and GM will just have to watch everyone of their previous customers buy Toyota, Honda, Smart, Ford, Benz, BMW, Nissan, Kia and anyone else that makes a small car or a turbo of some sort.

What would his company do if the EPA and the US Government said we think the consumer is ready for $7, 8, even 9 a gallon? Let's face it it can and likely will happen. Everyone I know out side of north america drives an oil burner for the simple reason that they go further on the same cost. This cost by the way is close to $3 a LITRE or $9 + a gallon.

 

ya i get a lot of people asking why a drive a diesel and i tell them they are stronger last longer and if i ever wanted to sell it i bet there wouldn't be a shortage of people that would buy it even if it had 200k on it