35 MPG, or bust!

Chevrolet’s just-launched Tahoe Hybrid and its planned rear-wheel drive Impala are only two General Motors vehicles that may not make the grade, should a proposed fuel economy bill in the U.S. be passed into law.

As a member of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, GM endorsed the U.S. government’s proposed energy bill, which could see new vehicle fuel economy standards increase by 40 per cent to 8.0 L/100 km between 2011 to 2020.

According to GM vice-chair Bob Lutz, the new legislation, which would ultimately also affect vehicles sold in Canada, will wreak havoc with the automaker’s existing product plans.

In an interview with straight-six.com, Lutz said that “it looks like this 35 m.p.g. (6.7 L /100 km) rule will go through. Which means, frankly, a lot more work on our part.”

Despite decades of customers wanting better fuel economy in their vehicles — even before the recent rise in fuel prices and growing awareness of global warming — Lutz seemed surprised that the legislation is an impending reality and warned of the higher cost.

“All of this new technology we’ll need to get there won’t come for free,” he said.

For example, Chevrolet’s new Tahoe Hybrid, the world’s first full-size gasoline electric hybrid, gets real-world fuel consumption ratings of around 10 L/ 100 km. That’s a 25 per cent better combined city/highway fuel economy than the gas-only version, but its price starts at $50,490 in the U.S., about a $10,000 premium over a comparable gas-only version.

Lutz went on to say that automakers simply can’t make a large SUV deliver the proposed 8.0 L/100 km regulation.

To many Canadians who have already made the decision to go with right-sized vehicles, Lutz may have answered his own question.

“Unless we force our (large SUV) customers into a (compact Chevrolet) HHR-sized vehicle, we can’t (meet the new law’s requirements),” said Lutz.

Lutz also speculated that it is questionable whether any of the proposed vehicles on GM’s rear-drive global platform, like a new Impala, will ever be brought to market.

Lincoln learns its ABCs

Despite continued criticism for throwing away decades of brand equity by ditching iconic model names such as Continental, Lincoln will continue its alphabetic naming plan on new vehicles.

According to Automotive News, executives Lincoln say the next alpha-named vehicle at Ford’s American luxury brand will be its version of Ford’s Flex crossover, due sometime in 2009.

Lincoln’s name game started two years ago.

The Ford Fusion-based Zephyr was rebadged MKZ (pronounced Em-Kay-Zed) in 2006 after being introduced to the market earlier. It was followed by the MKX last year, the mid-size crossover that replaced the Aviator.

Lincoln’s yet-to-be-named Flex clone will be the next model in line after next summer’s launch of the MKS flagship luxury sedan, revealed last month at the Los Angeles auto show.

Ironically Lincoln is sticking with Navigator for its full-size SUV and Town Car for its full-size sedan/limousine.

In the past, Ford CEO Alan Mulally has criticized the company for switching vehicle names too often, abandoning “heritage nameplates” such as Taurus.

Lincoln’s argument is that its MK-Whatever naming system matches up with other luxury brand’s strategies, the grand daddy of which is Mercedes-Benz.

Acura cited the same reasons as Lincoln when they switched to letters and numbers in the naming of its products.

Despite a strong start for the Acura brand as the first Japanese premium brand, the Honda-owned division lost market share in the 1990s. During the same period, Acura changed to alphanumerics, dropping the well-known Legend and Integra badges.

Mike Richards, Lincoln Mercury general marketing manager, said, "It's costly to brand every single horse in the stable, as opposed to just branding the entire primary brand."

If Lincoln had stuck with Continental, Zephyr, and Aviator, or applied some of its recent concept car names like Vignale and Sentinel, maybe we wouldn’t be having this critique and Lincoln would have saved a few dollars along the way.

- John LeBlanc, Publisher