Letters to the Editor
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But we still need light trucks
That was the rational for allowing lower vehicle emmission and fuel consumption standards on pretty much anything with a truck chassis way back in the late 70s when they started talking about having emmission and fuel consumption standards. If you are a tradesman, a carpenter or a plummer or a drywaller, you need a work truck. Allowances were made. It took about 35 minutes for the big three to add seats to what used to be the cargo area and start marketing those trucks, that were now a LOT cheaper and easier to build than cars, as passenger vehicles.
What really cracks me up is that as time went on and SUVs got even bigger and less fuel effecient, automakers started putting faux truck bodies on passenger car chassis and calling them SUVs in order to keep their fleet fuel economy lower.
I'm happy that US automakers are not going to be building all those SUVs. But we still have those mechanics and tradesnem and they still need to get around with all their gear. So now what?
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General Motors announces the closure of four truck plants:
Hallelujah!
Now if only Ford and Chrysler would follow suit, as well as stopping production of their largest pick-up trucks. Even fewer people have use for an F-350 than for a Chevy Tahoe.
Too bad they didn't have contingency plans to convert these plants to making hybrid or, better yet, electric vehicles.
Recession? What recession?
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Thie silver lining in all this...
...they may kill off the Hummer brand!!!
Now all they need to do is eliminate Saab, GMC, and either Buick or Pontiac if they want to survive.
This is disasterous stuff for the people who'll lose their jobs, but GM's current move (echoing Ford's actions last month) at least show they are reacting in a timely, realistic manner.
A few years ago, they would have kept churning the trucks out, hoping the market would magically turn around. Which is all they could have done --back then, their non-truck product lines were pathetic and uncompetitive.
But recently, both have come up with cars (like the Malibu and Fusion) that are as good as their German or Japanese competitors.
And I say this as someone who's always owned German or Japanese cars. When the lease on my VW is up later this year, I'm gonna seriously shop the Chevy and Ford stores -- for the first time.
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Right now there's a glut of these vehicles
If demand for pickup trucks picks up, I'm sure that GM will resume building them in quantity, perhaps with hybrid power trains and similar fuel efficiency features.
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This is backwards
The Hummer isn't going away because it's the primary light duty vehicle for the the whole department of defense. It should never even have been offered as a civilian vehicle. OK maybe to a professional hunting guide or a forrester. And the F350 isn't going away either because many of the people who buy heavy and super duty pickups actually need heavy duty pickups. But nobody EVER needed an SUV. They were just a way for car companies to get around CAFE standards. The marketing worked a little too well, that's all.
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actually, ikuiku
GM is converting a plant in Detroit to build their new electric Chevy Volt. Meanwhile, both Ford and GM are converting over to hybrids as fast as they can.
After all, they want to build what they can sell -- with anything as complex as vehicle production, change takes time. And if you guessed wrong 3 years ago, now is when you feel the effect. Just ask Toyota, who opened a full-size truck plant in Texas last year -- to build the biggest, thirstiest Toyota pickup ever.
As the first poster on this thread noted, there are people out there who have legitmate needs for big trucks, and even SUV's. And from now on, they'll be the only ones buying them.
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Turbodiesels will keep 'em alive
Out here in SD, people actually use their 'burbans and heavy-duty F350s, etc. for towing horse trailers, farming. construction and so on. Clearly, we can all agree that a 1-ton pickup or 3/4 ton SUV is not necessary for urban commuting; but it is pretty myopic and asinine to claim - as previous letter writers on this thread have - that "nobody" needs a large pickup or SUV. There is a world that does exist beyond your coastal cities, y'know....
Anyway, these vehicles will still serve the needs of their customers in the future; however, instead of ancient pushrod V-8 engines providing the essential torque needed for towing and hauling, hybrid turbodiesel V-6s (which will be biodiesel-ready) should certainly get the job done. GM is working on current engine plans for this (including a prototype which puts out a healthy 450 ft-lb of torque on B100 fuel)...and if Ford does not wanna lose its F-Series supremacy, it will surely do the same.
Cheers,
Lonewolfy...(one of the few "Bright Greens" in the Salon community?)
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actaully, IaintBacchus
The military Humvee is a totally different animal from any vehicle in the current GM Hummer line; in fact the Hummer H1, which was the only model based on the Humvee, was discontinued several years ago. (Although you may still see a forlorn unsold H1 hulking in the back lot of your friendly local Hummer dealer ...which must be the lonliest place in the world right now.)
And if I recall correctly, the military is going to start replacing the Humvee in the next few years.
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@IaintBacchus
The Hummer isn't going away because it's the primary light duty vehicle for the the whole department of defense.
The Hummers that are sold for civilian street use are very different from the real Hummers used by the military.
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It's not the existance, it's the numbers
I'm happy that US automakers are not going to be building all those SUVs. But we still have those mechanics and tradesnem and they still need to get around with all their gear. So now what?
Yes, there is a need for trucks to haul gear. And while GM is closing factories, they're not likely to discontinue the truck lines entirely.
The thing is, there never was a need for anything resembling the numbers of trucks that are on the road today. For personal use, 95% of truck owners would save money and fuel by owning an efficient vehicle and renting a truck when the need arises. That's what I do.
For business use...many jobs require hauling capacity, but sometime people overestimate that. And some companies are just wasteful...many of my coworkers - who work 75% plus of their time in the office, and never have to haul anything - have corporate trucks, because we buy them en masse for our field crews, who do need them. The needs of our office employees could be well served at a fraction of the cost using cars.