Sunday, July 12, 2009

Chevrolet Volt a Go, But GM Cutting Trucks and Deciding Fate of Hummer - Car News


Rising fuel prices are forcing General Motors to consider dumping its Hummer brand as part of a strategic move to cut trucks and add more cars to its lineup.
“It's an iconic brand,” GM chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner said in a press conference prior to the company’s annual shareholders meeting in Wilmington, Delaware, on June 3rd. However, even iconic brands become expendable under certain circumstances and Hummer may no longer fit into GM's product line, which will undergo a major overhaul to tilt the balance towards cars from the current 50/50 car/truck mix to 60 percent cars. To that end, 18 of the next 19 new products from GM will be cars or car-based crossovers, Wagoner says.