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02-02-2009, 01:31 AM
Can Chevrolet's Volt Do What Dodge's Viper Once Did for Chrysler? (online.wsj.com/article/SB123335176632734705.html)
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Production_Exterior_of_the_2011_Chevroelt_Volt.jpgJoseph White – WSJ (wallstreetjournal.com) – Feb. 2, 2009
2011 Chevrolet Volt – 40 miles AER and Green as grass.
Question is, will GM last long enough to produce them? -- Ed.
When Chrysler got into trouble during the early 1990s, the company reached into its bag of tricks and produced an outrageous car called the Dodge Viper.
The Viper was an in-your-face concept by Detroit of an exotic sports car. The exterior appearance aped the stance and attitude of a 1960s Shelby Cobra race car fortified with a large bottle of steroid pills. Under the hood was a modified V-10 truck engine. Launching the Viper made absolutely no business sense in the context of the sour economy of that time. But it did call attention to the company, and sent the world a message that Chrysler was not dead, yet... It's a classic "halo car" -- a vehicle designed and built for the sole purpose of calling attention to a company or a brand...
New halo cars will likely attract attention with clean drivetrains. Old halo cars borrowed their looks from classic designs of the auto industry's fossil-fuel chugging past. New halo cars will seek inspiration from consumer electronics and communications technology.
GM's Vice Chairman for Product Development Bob Lutz is an emblem of this change. Mr. Lutz championed the Viper -- and horsepower in general -- during his years at Chrysler, and used to dismiss hybrid cars as expensive money losers that didn't return enough in fuel-cost savings to consumers to cover the additional price of the electric power system.
Then Mr. Lutz and his colleagues saw that Toyota was getting an enormous reputation boost out of its high-mileage Prius hybrid that transcended practical considerations such as profit per vehicle or out-of-pocket costs to the buyer. In other words, the Prius is a halo car -- different from the Viper but not so different in intent or impact. Now, Mr. Lutz is a driving force behind the development of the Chevrolet Volt at GM, an electric car with a small gasoline engine for backup power… http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123335176632734705.html
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Production_Exterior_of_the_2011_Chevroelt_Volt.jpgJoseph White – WSJ (wallstreetjournal.com) – Feb. 2, 2009
2011 Chevrolet Volt – 40 miles AER and Green as grass.
Question is, will GM last long enough to produce them? -- Ed.
When Chrysler got into trouble during the early 1990s, the company reached into its bag of tricks and produced an outrageous car called the Dodge Viper.
The Viper was an in-your-face concept by Detroit of an exotic sports car. The exterior appearance aped the stance and attitude of a 1960s Shelby Cobra race car fortified with a large bottle of steroid pills. Under the hood was a modified V-10 truck engine. Launching the Viper made absolutely no business sense in the context of the sour economy of that time. But it did call attention to the company, and sent the world a message that Chrysler was not dead, yet... It's a classic "halo car" -- a vehicle designed and built for the sole purpose of calling attention to a company or a brand...
New halo cars will likely attract attention with clean drivetrains. Old halo cars borrowed their looks from classic designs of the auto industry's fossil-fuel chugging past. New halo cars will seek inspiration from consumer electronics and communications technology.
GM's Vice Chairman for Product Development Bob Lutz is an emblem of this change. Mr. Lutz championed the Viper -- and horsepower in general -- during his years at Chrysler, and used to dismiss hybrid cars as expensive money losers that didn't return enough in fuel-cost savings to consumers to cover the additional price of the electric power system.
Then Mr. Lutz and his colleagues saw that Toyota was getting an enormous reputation boost out of its high-mileage Prius hybrid that transcended practical considerations such as profit per vehicle or out-of-pocket costs to the buyer. In other words, the Prius is a halo car -- different from the Viper but not so different in intent or impact. Now, Mr. Lutz is a driving force behind the development of the Chevrolet Volt at GM, an electric car with a small gasoline engine for backup power… http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123335176632734705.html