Washington Post columnist Warren Brown shares his thoughts on last week's Escalade Hybrid (EH) press conference. Not suprisingly, Warren's aware that now my not be THE best time to be launching a $79k SUV– even if is less thirsty than its less expensive gas-only variant. Still, in the end, Warren joins GM in their luxury barge as it drifts down denial. "Big tricked-out SUVs… retain considerable market pull, even in a market where monthly fuel bills are beginning to rival monthly amounts due on vehicle finance notes. There appears to be a cadre of hard-core fans, influenced by needs real and imagined and guided by a passion for motorized might and luxury, who are keeping the big rides on the road and in the showrooms." Warren is happy to parrot GM's sales projections for the EH (say it like you mean it). "With 60,000 Escalade sales last year, Cadillac was the undisputed leader of the luxury SUV market. But even with its new Platinum and hybrid models, Cadillac will be lucky to sell 40,000 this year, GM officials conceded. But 40,000 is still good business." This from the same company that overestimated '08 U.S. new vehicle sales by some two million units– so far. And just in case you'd think that Warren would call GM on this turkey, no. "The 'hybrid' tag comes with a hefty price premium — $5,000 to $8,000 more, depending on the model. Will hard-core SUV buyers go for that? Maybe they will." For sure, they won't.
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I wonder how viable the Escalade will be given the huge reductions in Suburban, etc. siblings sales.
Well the ones sitting in the showrrom or soon to be there will sure let the buyers to have them for a super deal of the century.
Unless the steel went up so much for a ton that GM can afford to flatten them as pancakes & send them China for Geelys.
I don’t think a single car has a worse “just drove off the lot” depreciation than the Escalade Hybrid. One can find lightly used (sub-30kmi) Escalades for less than $30k.
Didn't know about the 2mil overstatement of sales. Was there a news entry on this? Just curious.
Rday: General Motors Corp. Sales Conference Call – Final.(Conference notes) Publication Date: 03-DEC-07 MIKE DIGIOVANNI, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, GLOBAL MARKETS, INDUSTRY ANALYSIS, GENERAL MOTORS CORP. "So given those factors, housing prices, starting to decline, we feel the housing will start to, the glut will start to clear in the second half, net exports fueled by strong overseas growth remaining in place, and Fed having flexibility on lowering the funds rate, we think that '08 is going to come in in the low 16 million unit range, probably down slightly from 2007." And then… June 3, 2008 DETROIT (Reuters) – General Motors Corp expects U.S. total industry vehicle sales to be in the mid-to-high 15 million unit range in 2008, Chief Operating Officer Fritz Henderson said on Tuesday. FYI I think they're off by another million. At least.
Aren’t June sales pacing at a 12.5 million annual right now. That’s pretty horrific and you know that is driven by nothing but tumbleweeds rolling through those SUV/Pick up truck choked lots.
WTF!
$80k for a vehicle based on the GMT900 platform?
They would have been better off putting the hybrid system in the real pickup truck and using it for electric PTO options.
Sorry, but I don’t get the point of this article. Are you saying that GM shouldn’t build this vehicle because its socially irresponsible/politically incorrect? If so, that’s a dangerous road to follow. I hope the market’s there and GM can sell them at a profit to enough fools so that they can fund their investment in vehicles that might actually save the company(a huge stretch, I know, but maybe they can use the funds to buy out Rabid Rick.) But this editorial seems like social screeding to me.
I just went to the Escalade Hybrid site and I’m amused that the “Q & A” section tops with where can I see/get one? and how will people know I drive a hybrid?
… mpg ratings, nope.
RedStapler, I think you’re right. Some pickup trucks are need-based. A reasonably priced hybrid pickup with ePTO might have a lot of appeal.
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mellvar, I don’t know about the Escalade but someone reported 13 hybrid badges on the Yukahoe hybrid. One of them is a giant banner across the bottom of the door panels. Don’t worry, Cadillac will make sure everyone knows your gas hog is an ecologically sensitive gas hog.
Albnyc :
June 22nd, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Sorry, but I don’t get the point of this article. Are you saying that GM shouldn’t build this vehicle because its socially irresponsible/politically incorrect? If so, that’s a dangerous road to follow … But this editorial seems like social screeding to me.
You take the high road, and I’ll take the low road. Building an hybrid Escalade, at that price point and weight, at this point in time is just dumb – never mind whether it is “socially irresponsible/politically incorrect” whatever that means in this context.
Just as you don’t enter into any soaring championships with a metal plane these days (used to be you did), building cars with the wheelprints of the heavy SUVs is far from the best way of extracting profit from running an auto plant.
Big, topped-up SUVs are just lazy carmaking.
This vehicle is already developed and potential Escalade customers may be able to absord the price increase better than Tahoe or Yukon customers have. So far this appears to be a big bust in terms of appeal. BMW,Chrysler, and GM were all partners on this drive train. Hopefully, this is scaleable to smaller vehicles that customers would be more willing to buy considering the current price of fuel.
Good mileage for a lousy mileage vehicle is not good enough.
I figure that many people buying a 79K car/truck/whatever don’t care that much about gas prices.
Of course if we are talking about those people who take a home equity loan to buy an Escalade and a heated swimming pool for their house…well, that’s a different story entirely.
The Escalade Hybrids’ ability to sneak up on rival gang members before the guns are a-blazin’ will no doubt please some of the demographic. The cruising range might make those south-of-the-border drug runs feasible on a tank of gas.
It’ll be a hit.
The local Cadillac dealer is running an advertisement for $7,500 off all ’08 Escalades and you receive a $2,500 gas card. I’m sure they can’t wait to offer a $79,000 alternative.
Stein:
Wow a Soaring reference, wasn’t expecting that, although I don’t know how many people on TTAC are familiar with Gliding and Competition flying in general.
The hybrid Escalade? Exactly which demographic are they aiming for here? Why not follow it up with the special Escalade vegan edition containing no animal products? I got news for GM but the Escalade buyig demographic doesn’t much worry about their green credentials and if they have $79k to burn then they can most likely also afford the gas.
My friend has his Escalade for a bout a year and a half now and he hates it. It’s nice out of the showroom but after a while things rattle and and you can see how shoddy the bodywork is. it really is a an awfully produced car.
And GM wants to tack on another $5,000-$8,000? For a Hybrid? yeah my friend is already crying at the pump! Like a Hybrid is going to help!
So is it built for rich people who want the bragging rights or to take advnatge of some gov’t funded corporate rebate program?
If I can buy an Escalade I won’t worry about it’s mpg. Actually if I can buy an Escalade, I’ll buy something like a BMW wagon or an Audi wagon and be happier.
Okay GM – read the news. Gas is $4+ now. Nobody wants your SUVs. Time to change your production lineup…
RF: You are selling our comments to GM right? I mean we’d make a GOOD focus group – alot better than the white bread, vanilla, suburban types that I imagine the big 2.8 hires…
Stupid me! I just remembered that GM is Big Oil and they exist to maintain demand for all of the oily by-products like diesel and gasoline and plastics… OF COURSE they will keep buildings SUVs.
No reason for GM to make and sell a 40mph hybrid CAR or WAGON now is there? Nobody would want to buy a GOOD hybrid minivan would they?
TTAC commenters a good focus group? Heh. It’s pretty much a chorus of:
Die, Ford, die.
Die, GM, die.
Die, Chrysler, die.
What’s the point?
Oh, and where is that GOOD hybrid minivan from Toyota, where can I buy it?