CAFE Regs Force Review of GM RWD
Programs -- Camaro Safe!
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At the New
York Auto Show in Mid April, General Motors Vice
Chairman and Chief of Global Product Development,
Bob Lutz, made headlines with his comments about
GM's suddenly-shifting plans for its future,
rear-drive, products.
President George W.
Bush's Administration recently announced plans to
overhaul Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards
for passenger cars. Under Bush's proposal, CAFE would go
up four percent a year for seven years starting in 2010.
By 2017, the "new" CAFE would require all passenger
cars to get a little over 30% more gas mileage than
'09 model year cars. |
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"Maximum" Bob Lutz,
GM's product czar, talks to the press at
the New York Auto Show. Image: GM/Emile
Wamsteker |
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The prospect of this change has not only GM, but
any manufacturer building passenger cars for sale in the
U.S. scrambling to alter product plans the first half of
the next decade.
Mr. Lutz was quoted
widely at the NY Auto Show that such an increase in fuel
economy would be impossible to achieve by some of the
rear-drive platforms GM was developing. Lutz told the
Chicago Tribune, "We don't know how to get 30 percent
better mileage from rear-drive cars." He went on to say
that a review of all rear-drive architectures under
design or development at GM resulted in their either
being postponed or allowed to proceed, depending on how
far along in the process they were.
Lutz said that work on
the "Global Small RWD Architecture", in the design and
engineering stage, has been put in a holding pattern.
Lutz added that if the proposed CAFE standard is
enacted, it would be the kiss-of-death for that program
and it would replaced with a front-drive platform.
Sadly, another program—this one a bit farther along—on
which work has been suspended is the rear-drive, Chevy
Impala which had been rumored as coming in 2010.
By now, you're all
holding your breath because the 2010 Camaro is to be
built on that same "Global RWD" or "Zeta" architecture
which was to have been under the rear-drive Impala.
Well, we're
happy—no—we're elated to tell you that the Camaro, both
the Coupe and the '10 Convertible, got through this
review generally unscathed. Zeta is already in
production in Australia as the
Holden Commodore. The
first North American use of it will be the Pontiac G8
Sedan, coming early next year and too far along to be
stopped. The 2010 Camaro was the product on the "bump
spot", that is: anything rear-drive coming to market
before it couldn't be stopped and anything coming after
it was on-hold pending the Feds' action on CAFE. Lutz
told CARandDriver.com, "...but, after discussion, Camaro
is still a go."
Looks like we dodged a
bullet...more like a freakin' rocket-propelled grenade.
Take a deep breath, maybe open a cold beer, then relax
because the 2010 Camaro is safe.
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