xcel
03-13-2007, 05:28 PM
Arlington plant tries its hand at building hybrid SUV’s. (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/031307dnbushybrids.3797153.html)
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/2008_GMC_Yukon_Hybrid.jpgTerry Box - Dallas Morning News - Mar. 13, 2007
General Motors plans to offer a hybrid version of the GMC Yukon in 2008. It and a hybrid Chevrolet Tahoe may both be built at the Arlington GM assembly plant. Workers there are producing 12 of the hybrids in a two-day test run.
ARLINGTON – Workers at the Old World GM truck plant go green today.
For two days starting this morning, the workers will practice building hybrids as General Motors Corp. prepares to offer the industry's first full-size hybrid sport utility vehicles this fall. The vehicles are true hybrids powered by small V-8 engines and electric motors that should provide a 25 percent improvement in fuel economy – to about 20 miles per gallon city and 25 on the highway.
The unique system will be available on the Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon, which account for more than half of the full-size SUVs built at the Arlington assembly plant.
GM is the first automaker to build full-size hybrid SUVs, and the Arlington plant – one of the company's most important factories – is the only one assembling them.
Plant manager John Dansby said he doesn't know how much additional volume, if any, the hybrids will generate. The Arlington plant, which assembles the Tahoe, the Yukon, the Cadillac Escalade and several extended versions of full-size SUVs, has a production capacity of about 200,000 vehicles a year.
Mr. Dansby described the hybrid production this week as "confirmation builds" to assess and fine-tune assembly procedures. Actual production should begin this summer.
"We'll do a block of 12 [vehicles] starting at 6 a.m. on Tuesday," he said. "We'll have them spaced out over two days. We'll do a few during the day and some at night so both shifts get a chance to work on them."
The plant's 2,700 assembly workers have been training for months to build the hybrids, Mr. Dansby said. The vehicles have different transmissions that contain the two-mode hybrid drive, more complex computer systems and a 300-volt electrical system.
"You need to be aware of that when you're working around them," he said. "If you're trained properly, there shouldn't be any problems at all."
Hybrids account for about 1 percent of new vehicle sales in the U.S. If that percentage holds true at Arlington, where the Tahoe and Yukon comprise roughly 60 percent of the plant's regular production, the plant would make about 1,200 hybrids.
A rundown on GM’s Hybrid SUV’s
Production should begin in late summer, with the trucks arriving at dealers in the fall.
The Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon will be the industry's first full-size hybrid SUVs.
The Tahoe will get a dual-mode hybrid system that will help it at takeoff as well as at cruising speeds. Most systems kick in only at low speeds.
The hybrid Tahoe should see a 25 percent improvement in fuel economy, which would mean about 20 mpg city, 25 highway.
GM has not said how many hybrid Tahoes it plans to build, but hybrids currently account for about 1 percent of vehicles sold. That would equate to roughly 1,200 vehicles at the Arlington plant if it builds hybrid Tahoes and hybrid Yukons.
No price has been set, but hybrid systems usually add $2,000 to $5,000 to the price of a vehicle.
"We needed to prepare the facility and workforce for this build, which we have," said Dan Flores, a GM manufacturing spokesman. "But who knows what the volume will be? It's another feature that will appeal to some buyers."
Although 1,200 is a small number of SUVs, the preparations at Arlington are being watched closely throughout GM, officials said. The automaker plans to offer its patented two-mode hybrid system in full-size pickups in fall 2008 and later in the new Malibu midsize sedan.
"Full-size SUVs remain popular," said Brian Corbett, manager of GM hybrid vehicle communications. "If we can introduce compelling technology with a significant improvement in fuel economy, we think that will be attractive to some buyers."
Two-mode system
GM is planning 12 hybrid vehicles. No prices have been disclosed, but hybrids are typically $3,000 to $5,000 more expensive than conventional vehicles.
The automaker already builds a small hybrid SUV in the Saturn Vue and light hybrid versions of the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups.
Those hybrid systems are not as efficient or capable as the two-mode system that Arlington will install in Tahoes and Yukons. The two-mode system will also be used when the Oshawa Truck Assembly Plant begins building hybrid models of the Silverado and Sierra.
The two-mode system provides an assist from the electric motor on takeoff as well as at cruising speeds. Most hybrid systems supplement the gas engine only at low speeds.
"It's one thing to put a hybrid system on a vehicle that already gets excellent mileage," said Tom Wickham, also a GM manufacturing spokesman. "But you can really generate savings when you put it on a vehicle like an SUV that does not get great mileage."
Though most consumers don't associate full-size SUVs with the hybrid culture, demand could be decent, said Kevin Riddell, manager of powertrain forecasting at J.D. Power and Associates.
"I've seen a presentation on the two-mode system," Mr. Riddell said. "No one else has that. It will have a considerable premium, we think, but these are vehicles that already have high prices."
Forecasting growth
Many consumers view the domestics as slow to utilize hybrid technology, Mr. Riddell said. But by being the first to offer the systems on full-size SUVs, GM "has the opportunity to be a leader," he said.
Growth of hybrids will be modest because people are getting "more realistic about them," Mr. Riddell said. "But manufacturers realize that this is part of the evolution of powertrains, and they need to be part of it."
GM expects most hybrid SUV sales to come from the West Coast and West, the Northeast and Florida, said Carolyn Normandin, manager of product communications at Chevrolet.
With the growth of more efficient crossover vehicles, consumers already have alternatives to full-size SUVs, Ms. Normandin acknowledged. But some buyers, such as soccer moms who use their SUVs as kid transporters, still believe that only big SUVs have the space they need.
"When you take those people and move them to the West Coast, where this whole environmental attitude pretty much started because of the smog there, you start to have a real market for these vehicles," she said. "It's people who require the utility of an SUV but want better fuel mileage and lower emissions."
Filling in
The hybrids could fill in some production at the plant if the SUV market continues to stagnate. Unlike last year, the Arlington plant has not been scheduled for any production cuts because of growing inventories, Mr. Dansby said – though some sales are down.
Through February, for example, sales of the Cadillac Escalade and GMC Yukon were up 15 percent and 8.5 percent. But sales of the mainstream Tahoe were down 30 percent.
All the vehicles that Arlington builds had growing inventories in February, probably due to January's bad weather throughout the U.S.
'A blessing'
Duane Humphries, shop chairman of United Auto Workers Local 276, said workers at the plant don't know how much additional volume the hybrid SUVs will add, but the plant is glad to get them.
"We're pretty excited about the product," he said. "It's really a blessing for the Arlington plant to continue to get some of the new products we have and the confidence shown in us."
With sales of the Escalade and Yukon strong and dealers preparing for the spring selling season, the Arlington plant is scheduled to work its first month of overtime this year.
It will work four nine-hour days each week and every other Saturday.
Before now, the last time Arlington was scheduled for overtime was in December. But work and production have been steady, Mr. Dansby said.
"We talk about that [SUV business] every day," Mr. Dansby said. "The market has changed. But we're getting into the hot selling season. And while the market has gotten smaller, our share has grown. We will stabilize."
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/2008_GMC_Yukon_Hybrid.jpgTerry Box - Dallas Morning News - Mar. 13, 2007
General Motors plans to offer a hybrid version of the GMC Yukon in 2008. It and a hybrid Chevrolet Tahoe may both be built at the Arlington GM assembly plant. Workers there are producing 12 of the hybrids in a two-day test run.
ARLINGTON – Workers at the Old World GM truck plant go green today.
For two days starting this morning, the workers will practice building hybrids as General Motors Corp. prepares to offer the industry's first full-size hybrid sport utility vehicles this fall. The vehicles are true hybrids powered by small V-8 engines and electric motors that should provide a 25 percent improvement in fuel economy – to about 20 miles per gallon city and 25 on the highway.
The unique system will be available on the Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon, which account for more than half of the full-size SUVs built at the Arlington assembly plant.
GM is the first automaker to build full-size hybrid SUVs, and the Arlington plant – one of the company's most important factories – is the only one assembling them.
Plant manager John Dansby said he doesn't know how much additional volume, if any, the hybrids will generate. The Arlington plant, which assembles the Tahoe, the Yukon, the Cadillac Escalade and several extended versions of full-size SUVs, has a production capacity of about 200,000 vehicles a year.
Mr. Dansby described the hybrid production this week as "confirmation builds" to assess and fine-tune assembly procedures. Actual production should begin this summer.
"We'll do a block of 12 [vehicles] starting at 6 a.m. on Tuesday," he said. "We'll have them spaced out over two days. We'll do a few during the day and some at night so both shifts get a chance to work on them."
The plant's 2,700 assembly workers have been training for months to build the hybrids, Mr. Dansby said. The vehicles have different transmissions that contain the two-mode hybrid drive, more complex computer systems and a 300-volt electrical system.
"You need to be aware of that when you're working around them," he said. "If you're trained properly, there shouldn't be any problems at all."
Hybrids account for about 1 percent of new vehicle sales in the U.S. If that percentage holds true at Arlington, where the Tahoe and Yukon comprise roughly 60 percent of the plant's regular production, the plant would make about 1,200 hybrids.
A rundown on GM’s Hybrid SUV’s
Production should begin in late summer, with the trucks arriving at dealers in the fall.
The Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon will be the industry's first full-size hybrid SUVs.
The Tahoe will get a dual-mode hybrid system that will help it at takeoff as well as at cruising speeds. Most systems kick in only at low speeds.
The hybrid Tahoe should see a 25 percent improvement in fuel economy, which would mean about 20 mpg city, 25 highway.
GM has not said how many hybrid Tahoes it plans to build, but hybrids currently account for about 1 percent of vehicles sold. That would equate to roughly 1,200 vehicles at the Arlington plant if it builds hybrid Tahoes and hybrid Yukons.
No price has been set, but hybrid systems usually add $2,000 to $5,000 to the price of a vehicle.
"We needed to prepare the facility and workforce for this build, which we have," said Dan Flores, a GM manufacturing spokesman. "But who knows what the volume will be? It's another feature that will appeal to some buyers."
Although 1,200 is a small number of SUVs, the preparations at Arlington are being watched closely throughout GM, officials said. The automaker plans to offer its patented two-mode hybrid system in full-size pickups in fall 2008 and later in the new Malibu midsize sedan.
"Full-size SUVs remain popular," said Brian Corbett, manager of GM hybrid vehicle communications. "If we can introduce compelling technology with a significant improvement in fuel economy, we think that will be attractive to some buyers."
Two-mode system
GM is planning 12 hybrid vehicles. No prices have been disclosed, but hybrids are typically $3,000 to $5,000 more expensive than conventional vehicles.
The automaker already builds a small hybrid SUV in the Saturn Vue and light hybrid versions of the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups.
Those hybrid systems are not as efficient or capable as the two-mode system that Arlington will install in Tahoes and Yukons. The two-mode system will also be used when the Oshawa Truck Assembly Plant begins building hybrid models of the Silverado and Sierra.
The two-mode system provides an assist from the electric motor on takeoff as well as at cruising speeds. Most hybrid systems supplement the gas engine only at low speeds.
"It's one thing to put a hybrid system on a vehicle that already gets excellent mileage," said Tom Wickham, also a GM manufacturing spokesman. "But you can really generate savings when you put it on a vehicle like an SUV that does not get great mileage."
Though most consumers don't associate full-size SUVs with the hybrid culture, demand could be decent, said Kevin Riddell, manager of powertrain forecasting at J.D. Power and Associates.
"I've seen a presentation on the two-mode system," Mr. Riddell said. "No one else has that. It will have a considerable premium, we think, but these are vehicles that already have high prices."
Forecasting growth
Many consumers view the domestics as slow to utilize hybrid technology, Mr. Riddell said. But by being the first to offer the systems on full-size SUVs, GM "has the opportunity to be a leader," he said.
Growth of hybrids will be modest because people are getting "more realistic about them," Mr. Riddell said. "But manufacturers realize that this is part of the evolution of powertrains, and they need to be part of it."
GM expects most hybrid SUV sales to come from the West Coast and West, the Northeast and Florida, said Carolyn Normandin, manager of product communications at Chevrolet.
With the growth of more efficient crossover vehicles, consumers already have alternatives to full-size SUVs, Ms. Normandin acknowledged. But some buyers, such as soccer moms who use their SUVs as kid transporters, still believe that only big SUVs have the space they need.
"When you take those people and move them to the West Coast, where this whole environmental attitude pretty much started because of the smog there, you start to have a real market for these vehicles," she said. "It's people who require the utility of an SUV but want better fuel mileage and lower emissions."
Filling in
The hybrids could fill in some production at the plant if the SUV market continues to stagnate. Unlike last year, the Arlington plant has not been scheduled for any production cuts because of growing inventories, Mr. Dansby said – though some sales are down.
Through February, for example, sales of the Cadillac Escalade and GMC Yukon were up 15 percent and 8.5 percent. But sales of the mainstream Tahoe were down 30 percent.
All the vehicles that Arlington builds had growing inventories in February, probably due to January's bad weather throughout the U.S.
'A blessing'
Duane Humphries, shop chairman of United Auto Workers Local 276, said workers at the plant don't know how much additional volume the hybrid SUVs will add, but the plant is glad to get them.
"We're pretty excited about the product," he said. "It's really a blessing for the Arlington plant to continue to get some of the new products we have and the confidence shown in us."
With sales of the Escalade and Yukon strong and dealers preparing for the spring selling season, the Arlington plant is scheduled to work its first month of overtime this year.
It will work four nine-hour days each week and every other Saturday.
Before now, the last time Arlington was scheduled for overtime was in December. But work and production have been steady, Mr. Dansby said.
"We talk about that [SUV business] every day," Mr. Dansby said. "The market has changed. But we're getting into the hot selling season. And while the market has gotten smaller, our share has grown. We will stabilize."