GM Kills Yet Another Electric Vehicle

The recently announced Buick Crossover plug-in hybrid vehicle has been mercilessly sacrificed. This particular vehicle barely made it to the drawing board before being relegated to file 13. GM claims the plug-in hybrid technology that was originally intended for a Saturn Vue will yet rise from the ashes into another vehicle, but discerning observers will wait for the proof in the pudding.

While trumping up the claims of a new and improved GM, we are reminded of "The Who" lyrics, "Meet the new boss....same as the old boss" (From Won't Get Fooled Again).

Tom Stephens, GM Vice Chairman had this to say on the GM FastLane Blog:

The Buick crossover we showed received consistent feedback from large parts of all the audiences that it didn’t fit the premium characteristics that customers have come to expect from Buick.

We were all struck by the consistency of the criticism of the compact crossover. And what we decided to do in response is a good example of the essence of the new General Motors… acting quickly, and boldly, and listening to feedback from customers, employees, dealers, media and just about anyone else with an opinion.

Last Friday, reaction to the Buick crossover was discussed at the meeting of our Executive Committee, the newly formed group that steers product decisions, and it was decided that if it didn’t belong, it didn’t belong. Buick crossover canceled. Fritz Henderson, Bob Lutz and I and the rest of the committee decided to take swift action to prevent a potential underperformer from reaching the marketplace. And we decided that the important plug-in hybrid technology would be applied to another vehicle, at no delay, that we’ll discuss in the very near future.

What gives me pause is how quickly we made a decision and carried it out. In the past this would have been a several-month process involving meeting after meeting of the APB, ASB, and various other acronyms, and also many “offline” follow-up discussions before a decision was reached and enacted. This happened in one day.