Duh, there is recessions in a country, price of gas is beyond point where 20/22 mpg constitutes reasonable mileage. For people interested in vehicle for business purpose city mileage is less of attraction and the rest of population is not on market for 50K plus car. I reckon that explains Civic sales.

If I dreamed of being chased by a giant squirrel would that make me a nut?

My how shocking!!! American aren’t rushing to buy a vehicle that’s going to to cost them several hundred $’s to fill-up, even if it does save them some fuel.

GM will have success with hybrids when it starts bring the technology to the Cavalier, Malibu, Astra and any other vehicle that can see more substantial fuel saving and cost less to fill-up.

It would have been better for GM to have had 2-mode hybrid system for the Outlook, Acadia and other CUV models first.

If they offered this hybrid system on the Suburban by the time I’m ready to replace my current Suburban I’d be happy to take it off their hands. I would like to see some real world figures of how this does in towing use though. That’s a dealbreaker for me. 20/22 sounds fantastic, I get 15/19 now, less when I’m pulling the boat.

@t-ak-box,
My guess is that GM did the GMT900 SUVs first as they share a platform with Silverado. A hybrid 21 combined Silverado is more important to GM than a hybrid Acadia.

“GM will have success with hybrids when it starts bring the technology to the Cavalier, Malibu, Astra and any other vehicle that can see more substantial fuel saving and cost less to fill-up”

t-ak-box,

This is so so so True IS GM reading this…..

The machine is at least 5 years too late. Further the Hybrids should have been offered as GMC and CADILLAC models not CHEVY and GMC.

At $50K I would think that GM would have seen this as a much further up scale model than CHEVY customers are used to even looking at. GMC Denali and CADILLAC Escalades typically cap $50K so suddenly offering a Hybrid drivetrain is an easy “gimme”. People with deep pockets will happily part with their money if they think they are getting something cool, useful, or at least, reasonably unique.

Further, aren’t we trying to cut back on the number of full-sized SUVs out there? How about putting more effort into making the Lambda SUVs work better and bringing out diesel already.

Move faster! This is a game of catch up!

I agree with Blakkarr, they should have rolled it out in an Escalade where people can afford the technology. Why don’t they stick it in a Lambda? Also, not to many ppl in the city are going to find a vehicle the size of a Tahoe useful. For those that do the highway driving, they already get it in the gas only version.

That’s because Hybrids suck in the first place, & the only people buying hybrids are people stupid enough to be fooled by the “better for the environment” logo. Only 17% of an automotive battery can be recycled, & there is some pretty nasty stuff inside a battery.

They had a Tahoe hybrid going up against a GL Diesel from Mercedes lately. The fuel savings of the Tahoe in city traffic don’t measure up against poor overall fuel consumption, added weight, and a high sticker price. Unless you are doing city driving mainly, these GM Hybrid SUV’s simply don’t make sense.

Hybrids make sense for smaller CUV/SUV vehicles, but for larger truck based vehicles, I would say diesel would be a better option.

Too bad they cancelled their RWD cars, the BILLIONS they blew developing this transmission could have actually been used in something that would really have been efficient. Man, no one who is serious about towing stuff is going to rely on this kind of technology and complexity to get a real job done. When I’ve got my ass end 4ft underwater hauling a 27ft ski boat up a slick ramp, I don’t want any problems…

Most purchasers of these vehicles didn’t need them anyways. The fact that they are now mild hybrids doesn’t make these vehicles any more necessary.

Tow your toys, run your business, haul your ridiculously over sized family - YES!
Commute to office job alone, status symbol, personal compensation - NO!

Hm…I wonder if it might not be because the plants that have built this thing have been IDLED for a couple of months due to the American Axle strikes.

Does LLN have any proof that the Hybrid SUVs are sitting on lots unsold for an inordinate amount of time? Or is this just a supply problem?

Sheesh. I’d like to get actual news from a news source. Is that too much to ask, LLN?

This is such a pointless article - obviously if you are trying to sell $50k vehicles to people interested in high fuel mileage (to save money) they are not going to buy them because they do not save money or much gas for that matter.

These hybrids are worthless and on top of that they come from GM who has proven that they have an unreliable product that has gone as far as to set homes on fire The mileage isnt even that good compared to the regular model and they want 5 k more
Get a Toyota or Honda

Talk about a day late and a dollar short……………..
DrFill

What a joke. GM trying to ride the green bandwagon with some ****ty mild hybrids hmmm….where are the gm fanboys that hated on Toyota’s far better hybrids and yelled and screamed about how its such a pointless technology and no one should buy it? double faced cowards.

Toyota is dumping money into old hybrid tech while GM develops advanced hybrids with newer lighter batteries, who is the one with pointless technology?

#18: Toyota’s developing lithium batteries with Panasonic. There’s no point forcing unreliable technology into the marketplace until its proven. That’s what scares me about GM trying to one-up Toyota. They seem intent on being 1st to market with Lithium at whatever cost. Toyota is rarely first to market with anything, but when they do come to the market, they USUALLY execute (via manufacturing/marketing/whatever) it better than any competitor. ie: Hybrids: Insight and Accord HV were first in class; Prius and Camry HV were second and we know the rest. Midsize truck: All there US companies had small/mid-size trucks but the Tacoma now sells the most. Luxury brand: All European and American luxury brands mocked the Japanese entering the luxury market. Now Toyota is usually always the benchmark..in everything.

So when you say that Toyota is spending their money on old hybrid technology, you’re wrong. The technology has already been developed. The only reason why GM may seem to be more ‘forward-thinking’ is because their R&D process has been showcased as marketing tool for vehicles they don’t plan on selling for 2 years, if at all.

Last time I checked, Toyota was pumping more money into regular nickel batteries, and said they did not think lithium ion batteries were the way to go, because Toyota is trying to corner the market on the old batteries.

it will be a cold day in hell when your typical meat head full-size truck driver would consider a hybrid of any sort, even if it carries a GM badge.

Why would you call truck drivers meat heads? Seems harsh and untrue considering the number of people I know with great degrees and high intelligence who drive trucks.

If you have to tow a boat or some other large item and dont want a pickup, this is a great option. And last i checked the gay ass RX400h costs the same price and gets roughly the same mileage. Its snooty peoples biases for showier vehicles thats keeping these sales slower than expected - watch what happens to sales when the Escalade Hybrid goes on sale, i guarantee the numbers will triple, because its a “look at me” car.

#19. Wherever you heard that, you were misinformed. Toyota is engineering the new Prius and subsequent hybrids for the new lithium battery packs because they are coming. The new Prius will debut with old nickel packs but will be replaced with lithium, probably during a mid-model change. Also the new dedicated Lexus hybrid will come with lithium standard. So Toyota is going to ease in with lithim doue to the obvious concern of the volatility of the lithium battery pack.

its too damn high cant afford it

It’s a ****ty hybrid just like any other. I still say slap a “magic” H or T on it and it would sell just like that other garbage!

DialM, you got nuthin better to say than to repeat your tired old lame lines in every post. A4, if you think escalade hybrid is gonna sell like a hotcake, maybe you didn’t read the article in LLN about the tahoe hybrid sales…those mild gm hybrids are the true ****ty hybrid knockoffs majority of ppl wont touch.