EPA's 2009 Top Ten; Dodge's Hemi Hybrids Tout mpg; New Corvette "on Indefinite Hold"

How serious are the problems facing the Detroit Three?

This serious: General Motors' Chevrolet Division has put the next-generation Corvette, the C7, on indefinite hold.

GM Inside News reports, "Well-placed sources have confirmed GM has put the next-generation C7 Corvette program on hold, pending a review of the impact of the 35-mpg CAFE laws due to come into effect in 2020.

"The problem for GM is that, while 35 mpg is the target for 2020, automakers have no idea what the transitional fuel-consumption targets are in the interim. In other words, they have no idea how they should be planning to get from today's CAFE number to 2020's. Transitional fuel-consumption targets are not expected to be finalized until the end of 2009."

(Corvette ZR1 supercar; remember to click on any photo to enjoy it in a larger format).

It's not like the current Corvette, the C6 edition (the sixth generation car since its introduction in 1953, which used a straight-six cylinder truck engine called Blue Flame and a two-speed automatic transmission) is lacking for horsepower or excitement.

The current base C6 uses the 6.0 Liter LS2 engine. The V8 produces 400-horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 400 ft-lb of torque at 4,400 rpm. Its redline is set at 6, 500 rpm.

The upgraded C6 Z06 model has a 7.0 Liter V8. Officially certified output is 505-horsepower, much more than Mustang and comparable to Dodge's Viper. I've had the pleasure of driving both models on city streets, wide-open highways and race tracks, and "kick in the pants" doesn't do either Corvette justice.

Finally, the biggest, baddest Corvette available is the 2009 ZR1 (a similarly-named Corvette saw life from 1990 through '95 as a ferociously-upgraded C4 Corvette). GM's announced target of 100-horsepower-per-liter has been reached by a new engine, LS9. That's a supercharged 6.2-liter V8 producing a confirmed 638-horsepower and 604 foot-pounds of torque. The sticker price is $100,000, and its top speed is 205 miles per hour. The engine is the most powerful ever in an American production car.

The C6.R racing version of the Corvette has acquitted itself very well in races ranging from the 24 Hours of LeMans to the 12 Hours of Sebring. Development driving for the Z06 and ZR1 models was done at Germany's Nurburgring, a 3.2-mile 16-turn race track built in the 1920s and which was once nearly 18-miles in length.

(Racing version of the C6 Corvette, the C6.R).

About 40,000 Corvettes are sold in a good year.

It's not these kinds of cars which hurt the Detroit Three (and other car-makers) when it comes to their mpg ratings; it's the hundreds of thousands of full-size trucks and SUVs and large sedans, with V8s or large V6 engines, that do the real damage.

For instance, Chrysler is this week touting their Dodge trucks in a press release headlined: "Most Powerful Hybrid SUVs Now Offer Best-in-Class Fuel Economy."

The release reads in part: "Official EPA fuel economy numbers for the 2009 Chrysler Aspen Hybrid and Dodge Durango Hybrid are 20 city and 22 highway, achieving best-in-class fuel economy ratings for a full-size 4x4 SUV.

"Chrysler's first production hybrids are coupled with the renowned 5.7-liter HEMI V-8 engine with fuel-saving Multi-Displacement System (MDS) technology. Total output, when combined with the advanced two-mode hybrid system, is 400 horsepower and 380 lb.-ft. of torque - the most powerful hybrid SUVs."

(These hybrid systems used by GM and Chrysler are nearly identical, developed mostly in Europe by 500 engineers from GM, then-DaimlerChrysler and BMW).

Okay, I can accept this as moderately good news, the same way I took the full-size V8 Chevy "dual-mode hybrid" pickups and SUVs being named "Green Car of the Year" at last year's Los Angeles Auto Show - With tongue firmly in cheek.

(Cutaway view of the Dodge Durango "Hemi Hybrid").

My worry is not when these trucks are used as they were built to be: Hauling heavy loads to and from a jobsite, acting as heavy-duty delivery vehicles and pulling horse trailers and boats.

It's these huge trucks used to take the kids to soccer practice, to their Kumon after-school cram courses and for weekly food-shopping jaunts that stick in my craw.

(BMW's 2008 118d diesel has won a "World Green Car of the Year" award; there are so many awards, I'm not even certain WHICH "Green Car" award BMW got).

And these hybrid systems will fit only in GM's and Chrysler's largest cars and trucks. If a car-maker wanted to grab public opinion in a powerful, positive way, why not develop (or pay to license) a gas-electric hybrid system which fits some of your smaller vehicles to give your company something to really crow about?

But, what do I know ...

Finally, keeping in mind that the EPA says that their fuel economy ratings are now closer to real-world driving than ever before, here's their list of the top ten fuel mileage rankings among 2009 model year cars and trucks:

1. Toyota Prius (hybrid) -- 48/45

2. Honda Civic Hybrid -- 40/45

3. Nissan Altima Hybrid -- 35/33

4. Ford Escape Hybrid FWD; Mazda Tribute Hybrid 2WD;
Mercury Mariner Hybrid FWD -- 34/31 (All three are the same under their sheetmetal).

5. Smart ForTwo convertible; Smart ForTwo coupe -- 33/41

6. Toyota Camry Hybrid -- 33/34

7. Volkswagen Jetta (manual, diesel); Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen (manual, diesel) -- 30/41

8. Volkswagen Jetta (automatic, diesel); Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen (automatic, diesel) --

29/40

9. Toyota Yaris (manual) -- 29/36

10. Toyota Yaris (automatic) -- 29/35

The least fuel-efficient of all 2009 cars? Lamborghini's Murcielago, rated at 8 mpg city and 13 mpg highway. To protest this vehicle's mpg rating, I will, once again, not buy one this year.

(This Lamborghini Estoque concept, first exhibited at the recent 2008 Paris Car Show, is a four-door sedan version of the company's Murcielago; production is seriously being considered, and possibly with some sort of hybrid powerplant - Can't wait for that press release, touting the car's high mileage).

Comments

[MuchMadness]

I have never understood the appeal of SUVs and large trucks. They are ugly, handle poorly, guzzle gas, and are ridiculously expensive.

[Steve Parker - Huffpost Blogger]

But Detroit knew the secret way to our hearts: Bigger is better. If 4 is good, then 6 must be better and clearly 8 is best --- that is, if 12 or 16 (cylinders) aren't available. As recently as 2003, Cadillac was pitching a V16 concept car at auto shows around the world. I saw it in Detroit, Los Angeles and Tokyo in the same year. The Japanese seemed, well, stunned by it, I guess is the right word. That was only five years ago. They have their work cut-out for them.

[seamusnh]

I like my SUV. Helps in the snow here in NH. Gets about 22 mpg. About the same as the minivan which we use when the 6 of us go somewhere...

[BlackbirdHighway]

Lower gas prices have brought the return of something I haven't seen in months - Hummer commercials.

[Steve Parker - Huffpost Blogger]

And Hummer itself is now for sale. GM is taking offers. We should start a little 'Blog pool' on who will buy it - I'd vote for a Chinese or Indian company, flush with cash and wanting even more.

[chappelforpres]

GM has demonstrated it has neither the will, nor the vision, to build world class cars. US automakers were "saved" by cheap gas and the SUV excesses of "easy credit". Now the chickens are coming home to roost. Had they invested wisely, building at least one leading light, given their enormous truck/ SUV profits, they wouldn't be neck deep in manure. Naturally, management "stole' any excess profits.

[rpr]

Whenever I hear "best in class" or "award-winning" I automatically stop listening.
With the class or award defined narrowly enough it's trivial to be best.
Give me data. I don't listen to marketing doublespeak.

[Steve Parker - Huffpost Blogger]

Thanks for the comment. You are the nightmare which keeps auto execs awake at night. And there are more of you (and us) every day. The car awards have become so numerous that the only one which might still have any 'juice' is the Motor Trend award, and only because it's the oldest one. Most people think JD Power actually 'tests' the cars they rate. They don't. They mail survey forms to owners of specific cars and trucks and document the results from those who send the forms back. No testing, no driving involved. At all. Of course, Dave Power and car execs don't really want you to know that, but we'll spread the word whenever we can. Consumers should at least know the basis for some of these awards and survey results. I got an e-mail invitation to a press conference at next week's SEMA Show in Las Vegas which - I am not kidding - Promised "a very nice gift for the first ten editors" who show up. I think I'll miss that one.

[nivek]

I am sorry to see the American auto industry dying on the vine, but it has no one to blame but itself. American consumers wanted SUV's and trucks. Auto makers gladly provided them at substantial profit. Ford and General Motors knew this was coming and did little to save themselves.Now they are left with large inventories,and few genuinely economically wise choices to offer.

[rpr]

American consumers were told to want SUVs and trucks.
American car makers saw that there was more profit in those vehicles than normal cars and pushed them heavily in marketing and advertising, that's all there is to it. This includes the big lie that SUVs are safer than cars.

[Steve Parker - Huffpost Blogger]

This so-called "We must have trucks!" consciousness started about 1992 ... It was a dream come true for all car-makers, in Detroit and everywhere else. No matter what they were selling in other countries, GM, BMW, Toyota, Hyundai - every car-maker selling in the US - saw here a place to dump their biggest, heaviest and most high-powered vehicles and make fortunes doing so. Someday Arnold Schwarzenegger will be held responsible, by powers stronger than mine, for so greatly contributing to the mess we now call "our environment." In a future post, I'll tell the story of how Guv'nor Ahhnold convinced a small military contractor called AM General to make a 'civilian' version of their military HumVee. Then GM bought AM General's Hummer business - and now it's for sale.

[seamusnh]

"American car makers". Really? Check Toyota's line-up of SUVs and trucks. Ever seen a Nissan Titan? Honda has the Pilot and Ridgeline. It is not just American car makers...

[Steve Parker - Huffpost Blogger]

And now Chrysler has cancelled their two gas/electric hybrids! More on that in a post later this week.

[Steve Parker - Huffpost Blogger]

You said it all: Excess inventory, factories kept open when they should have been retro-fitted for building the most modern cars in the world and an eye for profit-only. Some say it's the curse of "quarterly reports and dividends" but Honda and Toyota are on stock markets worldwide and they're doing okay ... No, this failure is due to things peculiar to we Americans.

[lastofourkind]

Can we really be shocked that GM is not in the top 10?
Really after all the news and panic they have had this can not be a suprise.
They have run their business into the ground and the airlines will be next!
-LoOK
http://lastofourkind.blogspot.com