GM's Malibu To Join Growing Hybrid Field
Offering Represents Company's Push In Midsize Car Market
-
Play CBS Video Video Dream Machines On Display Anthony Mason visits the Auto Show in Detroit, where the cars of the future are on display today. He looks at what we would be driving if some of the most creative car designers had their way.
-
Video GM Hoping Hybrid Is The Answer American auto-makers are optimistic about 2007 after seeing their Japanese counterparts speed by in sales. Anthony Mason reports from the year's biggest auto show in Detroit about a new GM hybrid car.
-
Video Detroit's Cool Concept Cars Many of the concept cars on display at the Detroit Auto Show will never make it to the assembly line, but they offer a glimpse of what the future may hold. Anthony Mason reports.
-
Troy Clarke, president of General Motors North America, introduces the 2008 Chevrolet Malibu at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2007. (AP Photo)
-
Photo Essay Best At Show Saturn Aura, Chevrolet Silverado chosen Car And Truck Of Year at Detroit Auto Show.
-
Photo Essay Stars And Cars North American International Auto Show brings out a host of celebrities in Detroit.
The gas-electric hybrid will come out about three to four months after the new 2008 Malibu arrives in showrooms this fall, said Chevrolet General Manager Ed Peper.
The automaker launched the new Malibu, touting it as an indication that it will compete more forcefully in the competitive midsize segment. Troy Clarke, GM's president of North America, said, "the days of compromise, of leaving customers wanting more, are long gone."
Peper called the new Malibu, which is expected to start at about $20,000, "a car that looks like it's $40,000 but it isn't."
The hybrid version will have a belt alternator start system which enhances efficiency in stop-and-go driving by shutting off the engine at idle mode. This allows the fuel to be cut off to the engine during decelerations.
Company officials said the hybrid version will lead to substantial fuel economy gains.
In Other Auto Show News…
According to Bob Austin of Rolls Royce, the first two years of production of the model are already sold out.
Lutz told reporters Tuesday that the public's perception of GM "remains our greatest hurdle," but he won't stop working until he helps the company overcome it.
"Now, obviously things like getting `car and truck of the year' are all elements that aid in creating the perceptual shift in the American public, but we never expected it to be a fast process. But I tend to get a little bit impatient," Lutz said.
"I said, 'Well, two years, two-year reputational lag is OK. Five years is not so good.' And at some point I would like to retire, and I'm not going to go until this perceptual or reputational lag is gone," Lutz said.
"And I don't intend to work till I'm 90."
Montoya, who is making the jump from the F1 circuit to NASCAR, will be behind the wheel of the racing version of the Avenger.
"It's a completely different challenge," he said of Nextel Cup racing.
Montoya was one of three Dodge drivers on hand for a Chrysler Group news event, at which the automaker showed off the Avenger, a revamped Magnum wagon and a souped-up version of the Viper sports car with 600 horsepower.
Elliott Sadler drove out on the stage in a new Magnum, while Kurt Busch took the wheel of the new Viper.
With an 8.4-liter V-10 engine, Chrysler said the new Viper can go from zero to 60 miles per hour in less than four seconds.
"Time for me to trade up," Busch said.
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Mike Huckabee on GOP "rock stars," 2012, health care reform and more.
