GM listens, quickly kills new Buick

[rickaren]

GM listens, quickly kills new Buick

Posted Thursday, Aug 20, 2009, 1:54 pm in Industry Comments Off

General Motors Co. pulled the plug on a new Buick compact crossover, including a plug-in hybrid version, just days after the vehicle got critical reviews from groups essential to the automaker’s success, The Detroit News reported.

GM’s executive committee scrapped the plan on Friday after earlier last week unveiling the crossover, and other new and future products, to potential customers, employees, analysts, dealers and the media at GM’s Tech Center in Warren, Mich., and its proving grounds in Milford, Mich., the paper said. The fast action illustrates the speed and flexibility with which GM is adjusting its vehicle portfolio, Tom Stephens, GM’s vice chairman for product development, wrote Wednesday on the automaker’s FastLane blog.

GM Chief Executive Fritz Henderson has said the company, which emerged from bankruptcy last month, must develop a competitive line of profitable models that “pay rent,” the paper said. The new Buick was a deadbeat, however, based on feedback from those who saw it last week and said it lacked premium characteristics, the story said. (The Detroit News)