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GM Keeps SUV Focus with New Two-Mode Hybrid System

By Joe Benton
ConsumerAffairs.com

February 2, 2006

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Far from giving up on profitable super-sized SUVs, General Motors is setting out to turn its land-cruising SUV fleet into gas-sipping, efficient hybrids.

The move will mean better gasoline mileage for GM's SUV customer base and suggests the possibility of a return of SUV profits for the troubled automaker.

Cadillac will get its first hybrid SUV in the fall of 2007 with the 2008 Escalade SUV.

GM Chairman Rick Wagoner announced the new SUV at GM's Baltimore transmission plant where the hybrid transmission that will be part of the Cadillac and other GM hybrids is to be manufactured.

The transmission is a major piece of what GM calls a two-mode hybrid system in the Escalade. The Escalade will be similar to the hybrid version of the Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon SUVs.

The hybrid Escalade, according to GM claims, will obtain a 25 percent gain in fuel economy meaning the vehicle could get close to 30 mpg on the highway.

The two-mode hybrid system is unlike the gas and electric engines found in the Toyota Prius and other hybrids now because it provides improved fuel economy in stop-and-go driving and at highway speeds.

The two-mode hybrid system is designed specifically to give drivers of full-size SUV V8s highway cruising and towing power along with increased gasoline mileage.

GM Chairman Wagoner said the automaker's new two-mode hybrid system one-ups the competition because of its advanced design. Wagoner claims that the GM two-mode system will become the industry standard for hybrids.

GM is investing $118 million in the plant that will manufacture the transmissions for the entire line of gas-electric hybrids that are all scheduled to be introduced next year. GM becomes the first automaker to build and design mass-market hybrid transmissions in the United States.

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