GM Heads for the Future with 14 Hybrids Leading the Way

General Motors is showing its hand to reveal what the renewed automaker is planning for the future. It appears that following stockholders' -- and the US government’s -- wishes, GM is heading for an extended fleet of alternative fuel vehicles. The Detroit automaker announced that it will offer no less than 14 hybrid models by 2012. As mentioned, this follows car czar President Obama’s long range goal to put one million hybrids and electric cars on the road by 2015.

The official launch of the green fleet will begin with the Chevrolet Volt (pictured) which GM plans to send to showrooms at the end of 2010 as a 2011 model. With an ongoing volatile market in gas, battery development and technology costs it remains to be seen if GM can bring the Volt in at the $40,000 it predicts or if there will be a significant pool of buyers.

Among the 14 models set for the alternative fuel fleet will be some current production hybrids including an improved Chevrolet Malibu, along with the Chevrolet Silverado and Chevrolet Tahoe, GMC Sierra and GMC Yukon and the Cadillac Escalade. Word has it that Caddy will also produce a future hybrid version of the popular SRX.

With a four-cylinder version of the new 2010 Buick LaCrosse in production it is a good shot that a hybrid will be soon to follow. Buick also is being touted as the recipient of a hybrid version of a new crossover that is still in development.

It appears that Roger Penske’s purchase of Saturn will not include the technology for the 2-mode hybrid system version of the Saturn VUE which was included in GM’s long range plans. With Saturn out of the GM stable the technology most likely will be converted to the VUE’s two platform-mates the Chevrolet Equinox and the GMC Terrain.

It seems like government goals and pressures are definitely steering GM’s production future. Hopefully the buying public a few years down the road will be yearning for hybrids, if not; GM may be headed down a new path of destruction.