Filed under: Hybrid, Minivan/Van, Chevrolet, GM, Electric
2011 Chevrolet Volt charging port – Click above for high-res image gallery
The more vehicles General Motors is able to build using the battery technology pioneered in its 2011 Chevrolet Volt, the better chance the automaker has of earning a return on its significant investment into the electrically driven automobile. It’s the classic economies of scale issue… but what is the next logical vehicle application?
While many of the early prognostications pointed to a Voltec-powered Cadillac, a report from AutoWeek says GM CEO Dan Akerson is suggesting a minivan may come first. There’s also some talk that an unknown hatchback is in the works (yes, the Volt is indeed a hatchback that’s shaped to look more like a sedan, but whatever).
Also notable are Akerson’s expectations that at least 10-percent of all GM production will be hybrid, plug-in hybrid or electric vehicles within 10 to 15 years. Akerson wants each of the automaker’s four core divisions – Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet (check) and GMC – to have a vehicle using Volt technology, though no timeframe for that expansion has been given.
In other Volt news, Akerson told reporters at the 2011 Automotive News World Congress that the General is on track to sell 25,000 Chevrolet Volts for the 2011 model year, which is a sizeable increase from the 10,000-20,000 units expected as production began.
Moving past the ever-present greenery, Akerson and GM North American President Mark Reuss both stated that the company is putting some of its next-generation truck programs on the fast-track. We’d imagine that means we’ll see new fullsize pickups from Chevy and GMC sooner rather than later.
Gallery: 2011 Chevrolet Volt: First Drive
Photos copyright (C)2011 Chris Paukert / AOL
[Source: AutoWeek]
Report: GM CEO Akerson says Chevy Volt tech coming to minivan originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 12 Jan 2011 14:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Continue reading “Report: GM CEO Akerson says Chevy Volt tech coming to minivan”
According to the Detroit Free Press, the Securities and Exchange Commission has accused former Delphi CEO J.T. Battenberg III of intentionally working to hide his company’s financial situation from investors. On Tuesday, an SEC lawyer told the jury in Battenberg’s trial that the ex-Delphi boss made the company’s financial numbers look better than they were in order to secure larger bonuses. The SEC sued both Battenberg and Paul Free, the former Chief Accounting Officer for Delphi, and several other former executives in 2006 for fraudulent accounting. Delphi entered into bankruptcy protection in 2005.
Dan Akerson, the man who just recently replaced Ed Whitacre as General Motors’ CEO, will be paid an annual salary of a cool $1.7 million. That’s an awfully pretty penny, but Akerson indeed has his work cut out for him – The General is finally on its way to public ownership, with a stock IPO in the works for later this year.
