Toyota the first with a RWD hybrid? 'Not so fast,' says GM

GM's Vice President of powertrain development Tom Stephens has responded to a press release by Toyota touting the Lexus GS450h as the first commercially available rear-wheel-drive hybrid. Stephens says GM has produced over 4,000 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra hybrid pickups -- which are of course, gas-electric hybrids with rear-wheel-drive. "So welcome, Toyota, to the rear-wheel drive hybrid club," wrote Stephens. "We're glad you've joined us."





Stephens also said Toyota is not the first to use a longitudinal hybrid transmission, as it had claimed. "But as the head of GM Powertrain, I'm absolutely certain that GM has already developed two hybridized longitudinal transmissions, and we're nearing completion of a third system," he wrote. "So I'd respectfully suggest that Toyota recheck the calendar as GM's been in the market for quite a while now."

He also shed some light on future hybrid plans. "We're not done developing rear-wheel drive hybrid systems, either," he wrote. "In 2007, GM will introduce 2-mode hybrids in two of GM's most popular full-size SUVs, the Chevrolet Tahoe and the GMC Yukon. And in 2008, we'll make it available on Silverado and Sierra Crew Cab models and the Cadillac Escalade."

Full response here.