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GM vice chairman wants mass produced hydrogen cars by 2011
THOMAS WATKINS, San Francisco Chronicle
Hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicles could hit showrooms as early as 2011, General Motors Corp. Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said Thursday.
Calling the effort a “moon shot,” Lutz said it is vital the world’s largest auto maker commits to the new technology, so it can win back its reputation as an innovator and design leader.
“This is to re-establish our technological credentials with the American public and the American media,” said Lutz, who spoke at the military base where the company was delivering a hydrogen concept car that will be test-driven by Marines in coming months.
“And it has a huge re-moralizing effect in the company as our people see how serious we are,” he added.
Up to $9 billion has been freed up as a result of General Motors’ recent restructuring, Lutz said. The company now has more money to invest in hydrogen fuel cell-powered cars, which will form an important part of the auto giant’s long-term economic recovery plan.
The company, which is suffering from declining U.S. market share at the hands of its Asian competitors, lost $8.6 billion in 2005 amid high healthcare, pension, labor and materials costs.
“We are going to make General Motors what it was in the ’50s and ’60s again,” Lutz said.
(14 Sep 2006)
Given the various technological hurdles associated with hydrogen at the levels of storage, transportation, safety, fuel cell technology, and of course large scale hydrogen production, a massive effort down this route may prove to be the desperate and decisive end to the teetering industrial giant.
See for instance:
-AF
G.M. Talked With Ford About Merger, Report Says
Nick Bunkley, New York Times
As Detroit waits to learn whether General Motors will pursue a tricontinental alliance with Nissan and Renault, word has emerged that the company briefly pondered a linkup with an archrival in its own backyard.
Executives at G.M. and Ford Motor, according to a report on Monday in Automotive News, a trade journal, held discussions about a partnership or merger this year. But industry analysts quickly dismissed the notion of the two struggling automakers possibly joining forces.
(19 Sep 2006)
Related: Report of General Motors-Ford merger talks sign of times, analysts say
‘Bold Moves’ at Ford Not Bold Enough for Wall St.
Nick Bunkley, New York Times
Its commercials assure car shoppers that the Ford Motor Company embodies “bold moves.”
Yet analysts saw little evidence of that emanating from Ford’s headquarters here last week as the company unveiled its latest revamping vision, in which it called for 44,000 job cuts, acknowledged that it would not make a profit in North America until 2009 at the earliest and conceded that it could not keep up with its surging Japanese rival Toyota.
(18 Sep 2006)
Why Ford is in worse shape than GM
Alex Taylor III, CNN Money
As he finishes his first full week as CEO of Ford, Alan Mulally may be wondering what he got himself into. The rumble of bad news never seems to stop.
* A leaked internal document says Ford is forecasting a pre-tax loss of nearly $6 billion in its auto operations this year, losing money everywhere except Europe and South America. With restructuring costs, the total loss for 2006 could reach $9 billion.
* The latest Way Forward plan contains more layoffs, more production cuts, and more factory closings. Ford has now offered buyouts to all 75,000 of its UAW workers.
* Two top manufacturing executives quit on Thursday.
Ford is heading into the same trough that GM entered a year ago, and the possibilities of an upturn seem so distant as to be unachievable. But there are major differences between the condition of the two companies that don’t weigh in Ford’s favor.
(18 Sep 2006)
General Motors to assemble Hummer H3 in South Africa
Dawn Eskelsen, ANDnetwork .com
United States car manufacturer, General Motors, has announced it will start assembling the Hummer H3 in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, next month at a cost of $100 million.
The South African plant will be the only one and the first outside the United Sstates to assemble the Hummer. According to a car dealer in Johannesburg, James Bruce, the investment is set to create emlpoyement for thousands of South Africans.
(18 Sep 2006)
