C6 could run an extended period '15

Maximum Bob Lutz stated that GM has no more time or money to spend on niche vehicles today.

High volume vehicles only...

Could this mean the corvette C6 runs for an extended period much the same way the C4 corvette did?

What do you think? 2015 before the C6 retires?

Moneys tight so do any of you think the corvette with its relatively low volume ie. Niche vehicle....

will be left with just evolutionary changes without major changes?

4 bucks a gallon is wrecking havoc on GM sales..so.....

Lutz says GM won't sweat the small stuff
Carmaker to focus on high-volume, big-profit products
BY MARK PHELAN • FREE PRESS COLUMNIST • July 16, 2008

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The troops need something to fight for, not a feeling of endless retreat.


General Motors Vice Chairman and retired Marine pilot Bob Lutz gave his beleaguered company that goal Tuesday, saying the company will concentrate its engineering and design efforts on vehicles it expects to sell profitably and in high volumes.

He pointed to successes like the Chevrolet Malibu and Cadillac CTS as evidence that GM's plan to sell large numbers of attractive cars is more than the empty boasting that has accompanied so many turnaround plans in Detroit.

"This is not the time for niche vehicles," Lutz said. "We can't afford to hit singles and bunts. We need triples and home runs."

This ain't batting practice, though. From Toyota and Honda to BMW and Mercedes, the world's best automakers have been successfully selling fuel-efficient cars for years.

"We're targeting everything to be high volume," Lutz said, acknowledging the competition, but with a confidence born of GM's recent successes with the Malibu, CTS, Buick Enclave and GMC Acadia.

Chevrolet is key
GM's best-selling Chevrolet brand is key to the plan. Chevrolet has at least four small cars or crossovers that will debut before the end of 2011: the Cruze compact car, a new version of the Aveo subcompact, the Traverse midsize crossover that goes on sale soon and a new version of the Chevrolet Equinox compact crossover.

All will have class-leading fuel economy and the kinds of features and design that have increased Malibu sales 95% this year while taking in an extra $4,000 on each car it sold, Lutz said.

If those four vehicles hit the market with the same strength the Malibu did, they could easily account for 800,000 or more sales a year.

Profit matters far more than sales volume, however. Small cars like the Cruze and Aveo have been break-even business at best -- and frequently money losers -- for GM.

Lutz said the Cruze has been developed to match or exceed the Honda Civic for looks, fuel economy -- and more important, selling price.

That's far from Chevy's current compact, the Cobalt. Cobalt sales have soared this year, but Lutz estimates the car sells for $3,000 less than a Civic.

GM employees got their first look at the Cruze when Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner addressed them Tuesday. The car -- which will be sold around the world, though the U.S. version will come from Lordstown, Ohio -- makes its public debut at the Paris auto show in September.

The eagerly anticipated Chevrolet Volt, an extended-range electric vehicle due to go on sale late in 2010, also could contribute far higher volumes than previously announced, Lutz suggested. GM has said it plans to build about 10,000 Volts in 2011, the car's first full year of production.

Any projection for the Volt is iffy because the vehicle relies on new technologies and suppliers, he said.

"We're in uncharted territory. If global demand is there, my personal guess is that vehicles like the Volt could be 500,000 a year in a few years' time," Lutz said.

GM plans to use the Volt's technology in vehicles it will sell around the world, including some vehicles that will be built alongside the Volt at the Detroit/Hamtramck assembly plant and shipped to Europe.

The engines that drive GM
Chevrolet and Cadillac are the engines that drive GM, and Cadillac will introduce two new CTS models in 2009: an extravagantly stylish coupe and a reportedly breathtaking sport wagon. CTS sales are up 30% this year, and the car is selling for an average of $8,000 more than the previous model, Lutz said. He expects the same from the wagon and coupe.

GM confirmed several other new vehicles that should hit the road in the next two years Tuesday. Cadillac and Saab will build crossovers based on the well-received concept cars they unveiled at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January.

Despite the intense financial pressure on GM, new-vehicle development escaped Tuesday's belt-tightening largely unscathed.

"We will build world-class vehicles. That's absolutely not something we will sacrifice," Lutz said, providing a rallying cry GM's designers and engineers needed on a grim day.