Bob Lutz rips proposed fuel economy regulations

Yeah, someone should let Mr. Lutz know that there is a large selection of cheese to choose from to go with his whine. Its disgusting that they aren't eager to rise to the challenge. Its pathetic that they haven't voluntarily tried to beat the average for the last TEN YEARS when they had a chance. The Automotive industry is filled with engineers. I would hope that those engineers would be consumed with continually making a better product that is more efficient, without needing to be prodded by government regulations. There are numerous things that could have been done to better the average fuel economy of the GM fleet.
 
As VVK said, weight. Aerodynamic design and construction, an up-to-date and efficient diesel engine for cars and light trucks, keeping an electric car on the market, putting a truly efficient hybrid on the market, and so on. With the success of the Prius being so apparent, both Ford and GM still continue to give us hybrid SUVs, Trucks, and large-ish sedans. Why don't they take a page from the Toyota and Honda books and give us a small, efficient, dedicated hybrid. Sales would jump as people attempted to take advantage of the tax credit, and GM would finally be walking the walk in the fuel efficiency department.
 
GM is insanely huge and enormously rich. When will they stop complaining and start using their considerable resources to give us a truly diverse selection of cars, rather than rebadging the same SUVs, Trucks, and Sedans under different makes. They have the ability to lead the world in all categories, but they continue to stumble along.
 
If the Japanese manufacturers have built up fuel economy credits, then that speaks volumes about their commitments to efficiency and the economy. It doesn't mean that GM is being unfairly singled out. Obviously the American manufacturers still haven't learned how to play the game.

The government's inconsistency wrt fuel economy ratings and requirements doesn't help GM, for sure. But keep in mind the government ratings and regulations apply to ALL vehicles, not just GM.
And if there were __no__ regulations (such as those for safety), we would still be driving tin cans with exploding gas tanks.
 
Are Toyota or any of the foreign car companies whining and complaining about MPG? They saw the writing on the wall sooner, and GM didn't.
 
Perhaps Bob L. should stop with the sour grapes, and focus more on his true loves; producing alpha-male sport cars (a V10 Camaro, anyone?), and sponsoring/promoting car racing.

You guys make excellent points!
 
Lutz' main problem is a legacy problem, GM never built a car near as reliable or as efficient as Civic/Corolla, so no one goes to GM to buy a economy car, so GM sells no small cars, which makes them rely on their trucks, which hurts their CAFE average, but keep profits up.
 
But when gas prices rise, GM stock falls.
 
GM doesn't care about building lifetime customers with small cars, that gradually get bigger. Toyota does. Now Toyota is seeing the fruits of their labor.
 
GM didn't plan to fail. They failed to plan.
 
Now Toyota wants the rest of the pie. How sweet it is!
 
DrFill

It is indeed a distinct advantage for the Japanese. What Mr. Lutz's argument seems to overlook is why that is. The US government doesn't build on regulations because they want to bankrupt GM. These regulations are enacted for the greater good. If GM cannot see that, then they indeed do not belong among the powerhouses of Japan. Stop quibbling!
 
And what ever happened to all that investment GM undertook to provide high economy cars? They have an SUV with respectable economy (Green Line Vue). It's not just the UAW that eats into profits, it's wasteful spending with few fruits.

Also GM still has "Badge Engineering" issues There has not been a innovative or Hit design from GM in Years with the exception of the world class Corvette. So far all that we have seen on at least half of their models is badge engineering. I will always be a GM loyalist but we need to see more groundbreaking designs then what we are seeing now the New Sierra and Silverado trucks are a good start and so have the SUVS but Gm should also offer more groundbreaking designs in brands that target a broader range of consumers Pontiac, Saturn (in progress) and especially Chevrolet. As for the magic carbureator quote that is partially true GM does not have a 100 mkile carbureator . BUT one that is close to the 100 mpg has been invented by a man in Lynchburg Virginia. His car uses a special carbureator that runs on Kool aid and he gets over 80 miles to the gallon. His invention was topped by the oil companies from being production ready. If u don't belive me heres the website www.retroweb.com/lynchburg/attractions/main.html

oops meant to say *"stopped by the oil companies"

So he's saying that Toyota and Honda (et al) have accumulated credits from the years in which their average fleet economy was less than the CAFE mandate, which means they can now fail to meet the standards. I just looked it up and it's true, there is such a rule. The CAFE credits can be applied to the three years previous or the three years after the year in which they were earned - really not that long.
 
The rule has only been around for THIRTY YEARS, so I can see how it might've taken GM by surprise. Now, I too have issues with how CAFE works but c'mon, the rules are clear and they've been around long enough. It never took a genius to realize that the best way to meet them was to increase demand for fuel efficient vehicles - which means making them good.
 
And this isn't even about Suburbans vs. Corollas, because the light truck category is separate. If GM's small pickups weren't so bad and they had something to put up against the Rav4 and CR-V almost 10 years ago, they'd be fine. When it comes to cars, it's not that hard either. Stop giving all your midsized sedans standard V6s and the small cars 4-cylinder engines that are stronger than the Corolla and Civic's. Only a few people care and they'll get the stronger option anyway - for everyone else, make a fuel sipping engine so people looking for "a good commuter car" will buy it.
 
The hybrids aren't why commuter car buyers flock to Toyota and Honda, it's years of cars that get nearly 40mpg, including the current Corolla and Civic (under the old EPA measurements), which don't even seem to give up much in order to get those figures.