GM "On Track" for Plug-In Crossover by 2011, Says Product Planning Chief

Sale of Saturn Brand, Which Was To Get the New Hybrid, Won't Delay Its Launch

Following up on last month's report of a possible Buick dual-mode plug-in hybrid in 2011 to replace the Saturn plug-in that was dropped when GM sold the brand:

GM's product development chief has told Reuters news service that the company is on track to bring out a plug-in crossover SUV by 2011.

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This Buick mock-up could be the new GM plug-in hybrid.

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"I can tell you that I won't lose one day in terms of customers being able to walk into dealerships and actually purchase a plug-in," GM Vice Chairman Tom Stephens said in an interview with the news service.

Stephens also said GM isn't ignoring the idea of a battery-electric city car: "I think there's pent-up demand for the technology," he said of GM's work on electric-drive vehicles. "My job is to get it out there and get it right the first time but then get it cost-effective so that we can do a huge number."

Stephens has been head of GM product development since April, just in time for the Obama administration auto industry task force's examination of GM's business plan -- a review that wound up with the administration pushing GM into bankruptcy last month.

The company's turnaround plan -- submitted to secure operating loans from the federal government -- calls for GM to introduce at least 14 hybrid and other advanced technology vehicles in the next three years. 

Posted by

John O'Dell July 8, 2009, 1:43 PM

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Buick, General Motors, Hybrid, Plug-ins and Electric, Saturn

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GM Plug In Crossover, Plug In SUV