Itsme

GM will cap gas prices for buyers in California, Florida

By Dee-Ann Durbin
ASSOCIATED PRESS

2:25 p.m. May 23, 2006

DETROIT – General Motors Corp. will cap gas prices at $1.99 per gallon for customers in California and Florida who buy certain vehicles by July 5, the automaker said Tuesday.

The offer is good for 2006 and 2007 model year vehicles. In California, eligible vehicles are the Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban sport utility vehicles and Impala and Monte Carlo sedans; the GMC Yukon and Yukon XL SUVs; the Hummer H2 and H3 SUVs; the Cadillac SRX SUV; and the Pontiac Grand Prix and Buick LaCrosse sedans. In Florida, eligible vehicles are the Impala, Monte Carlo, Grand Prix and LaCrosse.

To take part, customers must buy or lease an eligible vehicle between May 25 and July 5 and enroll in the OnStar vehicle diagnostic service, which automatically runs checks on the vehicle and sends e-mail notices to owners each month. The diagnostic service is free for the first year; after that, it's part of a package that costs $16.95 per month.
Each month for one year, GM will give drivers a credit on a prepaid card based on their estimated fuel usage. Fuel usage will be calculated by the miles they drive, as recorded by OnStar, and the vehicle's fuel economy rating.

GM will credit drivers the difference between the average price per gallon in their state and the $1.99 cap. The credits can be used through December 2007. Consumers wouldn't get any credits if gas prices fall below $1.99.

Customers can go to a company Web site, fuelprotection.com, starting Thursday to calculate their potential savings.

GM said a California resident who buys a 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe and drives 1,000 miles per month would get an estimated $103.75 monthly credit, based on the current average premium fuel price of $3.65 per gallon, GM said. A Florida resident who drives a 2006 Buick LaCrosse about 1,000 miles per month would get an estimated monthly credit of $60 based on the current premium fuel price of $3.19.

GM spokeswoman Deborah Silverman said GM picked California and Florida in part because the company wants to increase sales in those states. California is a big market for SUVs, Silverman said, while mid-size sedans are top sellers in Florida. California also has some of the highest gas prices in the nation, she said.

Silverman said GM will see how successful the program is before deciding whether to expand it to other states.

GM's newly redesigned full-size SUVs like the Tahoe have been big sellers this spring despite rising gas prices, and GM wants to keep that momentum going. In the first four months of this year, Tahoe sales were up 36 percent. The rebate could help older, slower-selling SUVs like the Hummer H2, which saw sales fall 19 percent in the same period.

GM's car sales were down 12 percent through April. While some cars have bucked that trend – Pontiac Grand Prix sales were up 24 percent – the rebate could help stragglers like the Buick LaCrosse, which saw sales fall 21 percent.

After years of watching customers focus on their deals instead of their vehicles, GM has been cutting back on incentive spending in favor of lower overall pricing. In April, the company lowered per-vehicle incentives by 26 percent to $2,836, the biggest drop of any U.S. automaker.

Silverman said the new program isn't straying from GM's strategy. The automaker has always said it would continue to use targeted incentives to focus on particular vehicles or regions, she said.

GM shares rose 4 cents to close at $24.48 on the New York Stock Exchange.

gwilks98

very creative. My luck would be that I would enroll and then the new flying electric car would be invented the next month.

__________________
"I know the pieces fit, cause I watched them fall away."

"Cold silence has
A tendancy to
Atrophy any
Sense of compassion."

MJK

bachviet

Time to buy a H2.

__________________
Dell Dimension 9200 | Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 (2.4GHz) | 4x1GB DDR2 | 256MB nVidia GeForce 8800GT

Dell Studio 17 | Intel Core i7-720QM (1.6GHz) | 2x2GB DDR3 1066MHz | 1GHz ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650

Intel P4-C 3.0GHz | ECS 865PE-A | 3x512MB PC3200 | 128MB PNY GeForce 6600GT

Cheesypuff

seriously! **** THEM!!! we're in the middle of a gas shortage, and they're encouraging people to CONSUME more gas (with suv's mind you)? how American of them...lets give them a break for using up our ****ING GAS!!!

__________________
Life is like toilet paper, long and useful!
The stars at night, are big and bright *clap 4x* deep in the heart of TEXAS!

Airencracken

What most gas guzzler owners don't understand is that they create their own high gas prices by creating artificial demand.

Fcuking GM retards.

__________________
"I remember my first orgasm, I just wish someone was there to share it with me..."11-05-2003 05:33 AM - Topane
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. - Benjamin Franklin
Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, & the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opiate of the masses. - Karl Marx
Hell is other people - Jean-Paul Sartre

DarkFury

Same song... second verse...

Seems that gas has become the new politics of G|A.

__________________


DarkFury's Pimptopia - Don't Hate the Playa, Hate the Game!
Home of the Original OG Pimp (accept NO imitations)

Airencracken

Well, gas is an important issue.

Jeffbx

They don't care about gas... they care about selling cars.

They're getting hammered by imports in CA (always have), so they're taking a creative approach in getting more sales out there. An irresponsible approach, but creative nonetheless.

I'd be tempted to jump on this if they offered it here in MI (on one of the sedans), but I doubt they would. Too many employee sales.

OC

How completely ridiculous.

__________________
But what is adulthood except a delayed end-run around our parents' better judgment?
-- Peter Egan

*cough*

clutchy

we're not in a gas shortage... the reason the gas companies are making so much money is because of the market rate and the way do their books. it'll be less next year.

__________________
LK was treated unfairly

thanks X

Airencracken

Either way it's still artificial demand.

clutchy

and there's the correct answer.

just like housing prices were fluffed up through artificial demand...

LegendKiller

Yes, but the oil market rate is set by the supply and demand of a somewhat finite supply resource with an almost infinite demand function.

Lawmakers should automatically raise taxes to a flat 3.00 on gas, let GM swallow that pill and see how long they offer this rebate. However, that won't happen, they pander too much to the foolish masses and the companies who provide the goods to those masses.

I have no sympathy for anybody who complains about gas prices when they drive anything that gets less than 22mpg, at the least. They are the ones causing the problems. However, society as a whole is paying for their greed, thank you very much to those who cannot be responsible, we appreciate the extra burden you place upon society.

rajatQ2

If we can't compete with Japanese engineers, we'll throw money at the problem and pretend it doesn't matter.

At a time when customers are trying to conserve fuel, at a time when even the president wants to reduce dependency on oil, and the oil market is unstable, General Motors is enacting a program to help customers waste fuel.

Please tell me that this is not completely absurd! If you buy one of GMs Biggest SUVs, your fuel price will be capped at $1.99 a gallon. If you spend more than $1.99 per gallon, GM will reimburse you for the difference. Mileage is unlimited.

GM is a company that has failed to innovate across decades. They have completely failed to pay attention to customers needs, and instead tried to define customers buying habits by making big, ugly SUVs and associating the waste with a glamorous lifestyle. They make cars with 4, 5, 6, and even 7 liter engines for today's market. Are they designing cars for a different planet?

GM is a disgrace to American engineering, and now this. While Japanese carmakers are innovating in hybrid and fuel-cell autos, GM is paying people to drive its ****ty cars.

I will never, ever again buy an American car.

__________________
Find some free Comcast or Verizon on-demand movies to watch at home tonight:
www.movie-cat.tv

DarkFury

So does that mean you won't buy a Foreign car that's made in America too?



j/k


What about American cars made by Foreigners? I guess nobody wants to complain about vehicles like the Nissan Armada, Toyota Sequoia, Toyota LandCruiser, Range Rover, and other SUVs that are Foreign made... They must get "satisfactory" gas mileage I suppose?

Also, I guess nobody pays attention to the GM cars on this deal that get 28+ MPG like the Monte Carlo and others that use the same platform (one of them actually gets around 31 MPG) or that FURD makes hybrids like the Escape. I guess you only blindly see the SUVs or something.

Does an American 4 cylinder engine get that much worse gas mileage than a Foriegn one? Does a Foreign 8 cylinder engine get much better gas mileage than an American one?

cheapie

what??? that's insanity! why should we all be penalized for other people's poor habits? maybe put a bigger gas guzzler tax on those that suck up the fuel.


but again, much of the problem isn't that there is short supply of crude. speculation, bottlenecks in the refining process, gvt regs, and increased margins on the product have been major reasons for the increase.

Airencracken

cheapie

so you guys have no sympathy for families, small and large business owners, truck drivers, school systems, and municipal transit systems?

Airencracken

Cheapie, you know as well as I do that LK and I are talking about excess. Please don't try and drag the level of debate down by attacking a straw man.

cheapie

that's exactly my point AC. a flat $3 tax would dramatically hurt the people i mentioned.

Airencracken

Oh, I don't agree with the flat $3.00 tax. That'd kill me, however I do agree with a higher gas guzzler tax and a way to close several of the loopholes associated with SUV type vehicles and "business".

Jeffbx

How is this an engineering problem? It's a shift in demand. Consumers used to buy big, heavy SUVs & demand has dropped sharply. This, for the most part, is GM trying to keep their numbers up across the board, and at the same time get new customers in weak markets.



Same deal if you buy a family sedan - and I would jump on this in a second, given the chance. Sounds like a good deal - I'm driving a Grand Prix anyway.


Innovation on styling is a HUGE problem with GM. They're too scared to change their designs radically for fear of losing repeat customers.


Again, not an engineering issue - a management issue. Management is too scared to shift too rapidly. This is why Ford is failing as well, and Daimler Chrysler is burying them both.

Airencracken

I do still like the C6 vette though, and it's fairly fuel efficent.

surfer

I'm gonna trade in my Civic Hybrid for one of those Hummers!

rajatQ2

You're missing my point. It is irresponsible of GM to push their large SUVs with gas subsidies. It only encourages waste. That's why i dislike GM.

As americans, we were getting to a point where car buyers actually consider gas mileage when choosing a car. Subsidies like this are backward progress.

And isn't the Furd escape using hybrid technology developed by japanese ?

LegendKiller

I have stated before that I am more than willing to give businesses a break, provided their vehicles are used 100% for business. None of this 50/50 BS. You want a massive truck? Haul crap in it or get rid of it. Want that large panel van, deliver news papers, not 1 gallon of milk.

The best way to eliminate inefficient use is to make it so damn expensive that nobody wants to use it. Look at europe, they have highly developed mass transit systems because it costs so dang much to buy gas. Most of their cars are small and fuel efficient.

Besides, think of it this way. If you travel less, you can afford more expensive goods, if the businesses just passed the tax onto the consumer. A natural balance will be found where the people who *NEED* it will pass the buck to those who don't, which won't be using it anyway. Thus, consumption overall drops and the price effect nets out. It's just that people will have to get used to taking a bus or train, or ride-sharing.

If you need to commute, live closer. If you need to haul a lot of kids around, buy a fuel efficient minivan.

It's time for this country to wake up and smell their carbon monoxide.

You can blame the oil hikes on "speculation" or whatever you want. It's high for a reason, that's because the supply and demand is at a higher equalibrium.

People will say that the market is "well supplied". Yes, that is true, it's well supplied for the given price level, at the S-D equalibrium. However, if it were more well supplied, then that equalibrium would be lower.

Furthermore, toss in the fact that oil = risk. Political, environmental, economical, weather, wars...etc. An oil barrel today, delivered tomorrow, in a more risky environment, will naturally cost more. Companies hedge against this using futures, creating a more efficient market.

People don't want to look at themselves as the cause of the market issues, therefore the blame it on boogeymen, such as speculators. When, in fact, our per-capita gas consumption is a multiple of any other country. Some say you need to look at it relative to GDP, sure, that would explain it. However, that doesn't give us a get-out-of-jail free card to consume what we want, we should be efficient in our allocation of resources.


The fact of the matter is that oil is scarce and is controlled by those who own a scarce resource. They supply the market to prop up the price in the long-term. Even if they provided it at a cheaper price, it would only mean we would use it up faster, which would then mean going to oil-sands/shale, which costs a heck of a lot more to process (profitable at $100/barrel +).

Add in the fact that we have over 2BN people in 2 countries that are developing and those people are driving more cars...etc. Then, we have natural disasters, political turmoil, and ME unrest, you get a lot of supply problems and a geometrically increasing demand quotient.

Then, finally, you get the stupid SUV/V8 "I gotta have a big richard" quotient, where people think that only real men drive something larger than a 4 or 6. These people are the true wastrels of society, since they add nothing with their additional consumption, other than to further entice further wastrel behavior.

So what do I say? I say that unless you can absolutely prove you will use it for business, face a 20% add-on tax for anything over I6. Then, hammer them at the pump with a $3 flat tax/gal.

Want that $25k 300C, ok...fine...Pay $5k gas tax up-front, then get hammered every time you go to the pump. Once somebody shells out $2000 more per year with that tax & gets hammered up front $5k, AND has to pay the base gas costs, you will see American stupidity decrease rapidly.

It's about time that those who use and abuse the most face the consequences of their actions.

Airencracken

yeah the es-cape's hybird stuff is toyota based.

InfiniteNothing

I have an idea. It involves a siphon and a suburban.

Airencracken

And where's the link

cheapie

lk....dude.....comparing europe to us isn't exactly apples to apples. saying that if your commute is long you should live closer is NOT really tangible to many people with the cost of housing in many places that people work. you should realize that being in the dc area now.

also, much of europe is urban and it's much easier for them to have/use mass transit systems. i can drive 10 hours and still be in michigan. if i do that in GB i'll be three countries away. well....i guess it's an island so i'd be somewhere wet but you get my point.

and as far as freight, it's virtually impossible to guarantee that you'll have a full load, ESPECIALLY with JIT production. believe me, companies would like nothing better than to do that but it's pretty much impossible. i could expound because this is my industry.

we're kind of in a bind right now. hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles are very immature and the value story is exceptionally weak right now.

as a matter of fact, i'm in a meeting right now with a vehicle OEM discussing contractual matters regarding our hybrid system. we are the leader in the market (md-hd hybrid electric drivetrain systems) and it going to be pretty painful for all parties involved until the technology matures. and combined with the fact that the fuel is now more expensive because of the way it has to be processed, and the fact that trucks will be about $10k more as of jan 1 due to an emissions change by the gvt (which will result in lower fuel economy), fleets are really feeling it. if something isn't done fairly quickly, i'm guessing it's going to substantially impact consumer prices.

anyhoo...i hate the idea of artificially changing the buying habits of american consumers. why should the gvt get more of my money just because i want to buy an suv?

however, i am ALL in favor of anything we can do to bring new technologies to market that will be fully viable alternatives to the internal combustion engine.