US automakers: have they learned anything?
From the Center for American Progress, via email:
General Motors submitted its restructuring plan to Congress last week in an effort to receive billions in federal aid, it pledged “a dramatic shift in the company’s U.S. portfolio” toward “more fuel-efficient cars and crossovers” and “extensive investment in a wide array of advanced propulsion technologies.”
Testifying before Congress, GM CEO Rick Wagoner said that one of GM’s “mistakes” had been “not moving fast enough to invest in smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles for the U.S. market.” Yet, just yesterday on Fox News, GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz seemed a bit off message, insisting that Americans still want large SUVs and that small vehicles are a bad investment. As gas prices fall, ”the American public wants sport utilities and large pickup trucks,” Lutz said. When Fox host Brian Kilmeade noted that Americans used to want big gas guzzlers, Lutz remained defiant, “No, they do now.”
Wagoner had pledged an “increased commitment” to alternative fuel-driven cars. What’s more, the bailout money could be conditional on the auto companies dropping their lawsuits against states seeking tougher emissions standards. Given all this, Lutz seemed to undermine GM’s sincerity and its chances for receiving the bailout money.
