“Green” GM stumbles again

Mickey Kaus Columnist
Font Size:

Sorry, shareholders taxpayers! Car & Driver compared six family sedans, including the Honda Accord, Hyundai Sonata, Kia Optima, Toyota Camry, plus the new Chevy Malibu and a VW Passat, the GM-killer sedan built at a non-UAW factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Results: The non-union VW came in first. The new Malibu came in last. …

P.S.: GM’s excuse is that the Malibu Car & Driver tested was the mild-hybrid “Eco” version, which presumably isn’t as much fun to drive as the regular gas versions. But Car & Driver tested the “Eco” Malibu because it’s the only Malibu that is available. The other versions won’t be out for months. … Why did GM choose to introduce this crucial car by leading off with a relatively undesirable, but “green,” hybrid niche version? I don’t know. But you have to wonder if the company would have put environmental correctness over salesmanship if it wasn’t owned in large part by the Obama Treasury Department. … Am I being paranoid? I don’t think so. GM’s government ownership came up as a possible factor in the company’s sudden willingness to accept mileage and emissions standards without a fight. Why not in deciding to spotlight the Malibu’s hybrid credentials? … This is the sort of issue where unsophisticated people think the company just crudely caves to what it thinks the President wants. More sophisticated people know it’s much more subtle and complex than that. And real insiders think the company crudely caves to what it thinks the President wants. …

P.P.S.: The hybrid Malibu got 26 m.p.g. in the test–no better than the VW, or the Accord, or the Camry. …

P.P.P.S.: Obama’s “green” preferences have already done GM immense damage by politicizing the Volt–a genuine engineering achievement that was supposed to cast a “halo” over Chevrolet’s entire car line, but whose failure to achieve sales goals has instead become a widely publicized embarrassment. It’s now a reverse-halo car. … If the President really wanted to boost GM sales to the sort of red-blooded Heartland types who still buy American cars–people who are probably not O.F.A. members–he should have said he plans to drive a Camry when he leaves office. …

Mickey Kaus