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It's hard to predict where gas prices will go, but you still need to make assumptions for planning purposes. What assumptions is GM making about gas prices?
We need to get our mix conservative. So we've said, "Let's just plan on $4-per-gallon gas being here for good." There's no upside to planning for an optimistic viewpoint that gas prices are going to come down.
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GM needs to be planning for $5/gal. gas and up before it gets here. Failing to do so is how they got into this mess in the first place. Gas went from $1 to $2 per gallon over a year or two and they decided that a 100% gain was as high as things could go. Then it went to $3 and they ignored the %50 rise even as it was cutting sharply into their bottom line and people were warning them to prepare for the worst. Now it's $4 and they are feeling the hurt while patting themselves on the back for assuming this is the worst it can get because they avoided assuming gas prices would go down. Get a clue. They are going up. Here comes the flood, wall off the store fronts with subcompact Chevrolets and climb aboard the good ship MPG. Otherwise you'll be doing the same speech in a year or two pleading GM's case that, "No one could have predicted $5 per gallon gas."
As far as efforts go, good job on the 4 cylinder proliferation. The 1.4 turbo is much needed. The Volt will help once it's mainstream. Quit worrying about castrating Cadillacs, Pontiacs, and other luxury or performance cars, and instead chuck the truck and SUV dead weight overboard. Keep pickups up to date with efficient engines when you can, but trying to fix that hole will only hemorrhage more money down a bottomless pit. The 6 speeds are helping and the class leading economy of the XFE models and LTZ Malibu 4 are good starts. Think about the smaller, more efficient vehicles people are going to keep moving to as their SUVs, crossovers, large cars, and commuter pickup trucks come due for replacement (hint, it's not optimized versions of the same with a couple more MPGs).