By BRYAN LAVIOLETTE
Michigan wllz
DETROIT — Maybe last year’s show set this year’s up for a letdown.
At the 2009 show, General Motors went on the offensive with major announcements about its plans for a battery research facility, Chevy Volt production plans, partnership programs with battery manufacturers and a new Cadillac concept using the Volt’s technology.
It was exciting because GM, facing the toughest trials of its existence, went on the offensive and actually wrested the fuel economy lead away from Toyota.
But on Monday, Toyota and Ford went on their own offensives. Jim Lentz, head of Toyota’s U.S. sales arm, said that the company planned to develop a “family” of Prius hybrid vehicles. It also announced that there are eight new hybrid models in the pipeline and that the company plans to increase global hybrid production from 530,000 in 2009 to 1 million within the next couple of years.
Lentz went on to say that the company is approaching what it calls “sustainable mobility” with a four-prong approach that includes the company’s hybrids, plug-in hybrids, fuel cell vehicles and battery electric vehicles.
Toyota has already announced a new plug-in Prius that the company will build in limited numbers later this year. Lentz also said that the company plans to market a fuel cell vehicle by 2015.
So what was on GM’s agenda regarding fuel economy? GM showed production versions of the Chevy Spark and Cruze, vehicles it has shown previously. It also showed a sporty concept of the next generation Chevy Aveo and of course the Volt.
It also showed an urban utility vehicle concept for GMC called the Granite, a Denali version of the GMC Acadia and a Buick Regal called the GS.
As for big announcements about advanced powertrains, GM officials didn’t offer much. It still has a press conference scheduled for Tuesday to talk about plans for Cadillac, but no major announcements on fuel economy are expected.
At last year’s show, GM showed the Cadillac Converj concept using the Volt’s high-tech powertrain. Some had hoped that GM would announce that the Converj was a go, but right now, all that is expected is for Cadillac to show the CTS-V Coupe.
Ford also stepped up with some major announcements. The Dearborn automaker announced plans to invest $450 million and create 1,000 jobs to build lithium ion batteries for hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles.
“This investment underscores how serious we are about delivering a range of electrified vehicles to customers — including hybrids, plug-in hybrids and pure electric vehicles,” Bill Ford Jr., Ford’s executive chairman, said in a statement.
