Official: GM Quietly Drops Hybrid Pickups; Are SUVs Next? - Green Car Reports
GM's full-size hybrid pickups, the Chevrolet Silverado Hybrid and GMC Sierra Hybrid, for much of the time they've been on sale, have offered the highest gas mileage of any full-size truck on the U. S. market. Yet these hybrid pickups, which were introduced for the 2009 model year, have been surprisingly slow-selling. Total sales numbers for the GM [NYSE: GM] full-size hybrid trucks added up to just 3,114 last year, from a high of 8,797 across five models in 2009. And now, we've received official confirmation that they're discontinued. At a special event last week previewing GM's 2014 Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra, GM North America President Mark Reuss confirmed to us that this so-called Two-Mode Hybrid system is no longer part of GM's plan for pickups. The information is expected, in light of several reports in recent months—one from GM Inside News —citing company insiders indicating that the system was to be dropped in some or all of its current models. Reuss declined to comment on the future of the system in the company's SUVs, like the GMC Yukon and Chevrolet Silverado, which are both currently offered with the Two-Mode system and due later this year for a significant refresh as well. Some sources had as recently as a few months ago confirmed that the automaker was still planning to offer the system in a refreshed Cadillac Escalade Hybrid—a vehicle that's served as a green image-booster for celebrities and business leaders. Source: www.greencarreports.com
