Advertisement

GM Insider Admits Company Knew Consumers Demanded Efficient Vehicles Decades Ago

 
1,876 views Oct 30, 2009

Black Chevy Volt 2

Black Chevy Volt 2

Enlarge Photo

Related Photo Galleries


See more photos »

Finally the cup holder has been overtaken as the most important feature of a new car.  It was beat out by fuel economy.  Americans have finally confessed and admitted that fuel efficiency is the most important factor to consider when purchasing a new car.  But, insiders at the Big Three knew this possibly decades ago.

Over the last couple of decades, Americans car buyers have swayed towards large SUVs and full size trucks.  This decision was not influenced by fuel economy concerns.  Rather, as one industry analysts suggests, these oversize vehicles were at the top of automakers lists and they had no desire to change their mindset.

According to ex-GM economist Walter McManus, the Big Three dismissed concerns about fuel efficiency because it did not fit into beliefs within the corporate board rooms.  McManus conducted research for GM.  He even admits to changing survey results to fit with corporate beliefs.  As McManus said, "The survey would estimate that people would estimate fuel economy fairly highly.  Being a good economist, I said, 'No, they don't,' and I changed the results. [...] Our job was not to seek the truth, but to justify decisions that had already been made."


Walter McManus is currently a professor and the head of the Automotive Analysis division of the Transportation Research Institute at the University of Michigan.  His words were recently spoken in an interview with Energy and Environment News.

The Big Three were aware of demand for fuel efficient vehicles, yet would not budge from their decisions to produce fuel gulping vehicles.  These vehicles were profit makers for the company.  However, times quickly changed and consumers demanded fuel efficiency and the Big Three were too slow to react to a demand they saw coming for decades.

Too bad GM did not follow consumer demand.  If they did follow the fuel efficiency route decades ago, the Volt could be in generation II or III by now.

Source:  Energy and Environment News  (login required)





Posted in:
 
Contribute
Send us a tip Comment Contact the editor
Follow Us

 

Have an opinion?

  • Posting indicates you have read this site's Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
  • Notify me when there are more comments
Comments (9)

  1. Desertstraw Posted: 10/30/2009 4:44am PDT

    A top GM official said that killing the EV1 was the dumbest thing that he had ever done. He still doesn't get it because he thinks it was dumb because it was a public relations disaster.
    The dumbest thing that GM ever did was to sell the patent on the NiMH battery to Chevron, which then chose to forbid its use in electric cars. The second dumbest was killing the EV1 which was a great car whose virtues GM has since disparaged. Had they done otherwise, we would now be in the third generation of electric cars and the Prius would be a minor novelty. While we all hope for better storage devices, the simple truth is that the NiMH is a battery upon which an electric car industry could be built. It has been proved dependable and durable under millions of miles of actual use. Ranges of the two EV's built over a decade ago were over 100 miles on a charge with SCE reportedly getting 150 on its RAV4's while the Solectria record of about 375 still stands.
    If the new owners of the NiMH patent would just allow its use for electric cars, people would be building their own electric cars today. We would have a movement like linux in computers where the contribution of many enthusiasts creates a superior product.
     
    Post Reply
    Vote
    Bad stuff?

  2. Eletruk Posted: 10/30/2009 11:36am PDT

    "Our job was not to seek the truth, but to justify decisions that had already been made."
    Sounds like the Hydrogen lobby.
     
    Post Reply
    Vote
    Bad stuff?

  3. Noel Park Posted: 10/30/2009 2:14pm PDT

    "If they did follow the fuel efficiency route decades ago, the Volt could be in generation II or III now." Yeah, and GM might still be a viable and successful company, instead of bankrupt.
     
    Post Reply
    Vote
    Bad stuff?

  4. Innovator Posted: 10/31/2009 11:54am PDT

    If I was a board member, and I discovered that surveys and reports were falsified, I would have that person fired.
    Board members may choose to disregard reports, but must not be lied to.
     
    Post Reply
    Vote
    Bad stuff?

  5. Innovator Posted: 10/31/2009 11:58am PDT

    Chevron's NiMH patents are probably expired by now. Doesn't matter as Li-ion is better anyway.
     
    Post Reply
    Vote
    Bad stuff?

  6. Desertstraw Posted: 10/31/2009 4:19pm PDT

    To Innovator, #5:
    Wrong on two counts, possibly three.
    1) The patent does not expire until 2014.
    2) The patent was sold to a Bosch-Samsung partnership this summer.
    3) The Li-ion battery is only better than NiMH on paper. It has not been proved in practice. NiMH has millions of miles of proof that it is durable and reliable.
     
    Post Reply
    Vote
    Bad stuff?

  7. J. Marvin Campbell Posted: 11/2/2009 6:03am PST

    RE: NiMH
    NiMH has a longer shelf-life than LiIon as well.
    A variant of the EV95s in my RAV4 EVs, made by SAFT, is currently (punny!) being used in light rail applications in Europe- light trolley-cars that can travel several blocks between catenaries.
    My ones in my cars have worked for seven years and 130K miles- still going strong.
    It will be another decade before LiIon has any real track record.
     
    Post Reply
    Vote
    Bad stuff?

  8. rex Posted: 11/2/2009 9:26pm PST

    Hey, over at Gm-(V)Dolt.com they're still selling the GM-branded Gas-Guzzling-is-good-for-you cool-aide...and they're still waiting for the GM folks to deliever on the Dolt by 2010. Sadly these people are delerious having inhaled too much exhaust over their many years as Gm-execs. Give it up -the car is another fatasy like the survey's noted above, all desinged to support their belief system -gas is good for you.
     
    Post Reply
    Vote
    Bad stuff?

  9. Doug Korthof Posted: 11/6/2009 3:41am PST

    Missing the point that the Oil-auto companies are really controlled by the OIL companies! They produce the "drug" that uses the hardware that requires that drug; naturally, the big money is in selling the "dope", not the "needle".
    So expect the few EVs that are eventually delivered, IF ANY, to be a fiasco, using the WRONG BATTERIES, and we'll be told to "wait for fuel cells". Sound familiar? It's what GM did with the EV1 in 1996, tried to create a disaster -- except that time, Toyota proved that NiMH worked, and GM had to use a lawsuit run by its corporate "parent" Chevron in order to bring Toyota to heel and stop production of real EVs, the Toyota RAV4-EV. You won't see it again.
     
    Post Reply
    Vote
    Bad stuff?

 

Have an opinion?Join the conversation!

Advertisement
Advertisement

Find Green Cars

Go!

Advertisement

More from High Gear Media

 
 
Green Car Reports
  • Follow Us
  • Twiiter
  • Facebook
 
 
© 2013 Green Car Reports. All Rights Reserved. Green Car Reports is published by High Gear Media. Send us feedback. Stock photography by Homestar, LLC.