CEO: GM is a year behind

Cutbacks delayed products

Associated Press

DETROIT

A big cut in research and development spending while General Motors was in bankruptcy protection set the company’s new product plans back by about a year, its top executive said Tuesday.

Chairman and CEO Daniel Akerson told reporters GM is working to accelerate vehicle plans that were postponed when R&D spending was cut to $5 billion per year as the company was trying to save money during its 2009 stay in bankruptcy protection. The spending has since been restored to $7 billion.

GM executives have been scrambling to get the new products back on track, trying not to fall too far behind competitors such as Ford Motor Co. as they update cars and trucks on a more regular basis. Newly redesigned cars and trucks tend to sell faster because they take advantage of new technology and are quieter, handle better and generally are more efficient.

Akerson wouldn’t identify which vehicles have been fast-tracked for development. The company had delayed its next-generation Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks during its financial crisis, and its Impala full-size sedan also is among its older vehicles.

The CEO also told reporters that new hatchback and small van versions of the Chevrolet Volt are in the works for 2012 or 2013. The Volt, a rechargeable electric car, is a hatchback. Akerson gave no more details about the new models.

“With the bankruptcy, we lost roughly a year in terms of development, so that’s why ’12 and ’13 are more pivotal here for us in the United States,” Akerson said.

He said the company’s product lineup is competitive with the industry for now, with GM having introduced the Volt, Chevrolet Cruze compact and Chevrolet Sonic subcompact in the past few months.

The delay affected engine development and other research, Vice Chairman Steve Girsky said.

GM has enough momentum with its new smaller cars to carry it through the product hole, but it faces tough competition from Ford and others in the pickup-truck and midsize-car segments, said Jeff Schuster, executive director of global forecasting for J.D. Power and Associates. The Chevrolet Malibu, GM’s top-selling entry in the midsize car market, is getting older than the competition, as are the pickup trucks, he said.

Joel Ewanick, GM’s chief marketing officer, said in an interview at the Detroit auto show Monday that the lull in new products will actually help the company market its existing new cars and build awareness of its four remaining brands: Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac.

GM, he said, has a lot of new vehicles in the pipeline, but the gap will let the company concentrate on the Cruze, the first credible compact car in GM’s history.