Thomas Friedman of NYT talks back to GM
GM's war of words [1] [2] with Thomas Friedman of the New York Times continues, but this time it's Friedman's turn to talk. We were recently tipped off to the contents of a Friedman editorial dated for June 14th (today) that's locked inside the gated online community of NYtimes.com. We're hesitant to republish it in its entirety for fear the Times will go medieval on us, so we'll do our best to sum up. In response to General Motors' denouncement of Friedman's original op-ed that appears on the company's FastLane Blog, the reporter reminds us that in addition to making more cars that achieve above 30 mpg on the highway than any other automaker, it also sells more cars that get 9 to 11 mpg than any other automaker. Friedman is referring specifically to the HUMMER brand and presumably the H2 in particular, although Friedman doesn't specify and GM doesn't make the H2's mileage numbers readily available on its consumer website.
Friedman also learned that in addition to GM's controversial fuel subsidizing promotion that began this battle, at least some dealers in California have also been authorized to offer $5,000 discounts on 2006 Tahoe and Suburban SUVs. We're willing to cut GM some slack on this one, as its needs to get these 2006 models off the lot post haste to make room for the more popular and newly redesigned 2007 models. No conspiracy there, just a logical business decision to move last year's model.
Finally Friedman pulls out a rather sharp argument that none of the domestic automakers has yet confronted: the story behind E85. As many of you know, the domestics have been selling flex-fuel vehicles back in the mid-Nineties, though have hardly marketed the technology at all until now. Many if not most consumers were completely unaware their cars were flex-fuel capable since they first went on sale. The reason it wasn't promoted, according to Friedman, is because the automakers produced flex-fuel capable vehicles in order to take advantage of a federal loophole that increased the overall mileage of each company's fleet to within federally mandated limits. Friedmans cites the 2006 GMC Yukon 2WD that actually gets 15 mpg city and 20 mpg highway, though is rated at 33 mpg in order to meet the government's CAFÉ standards. Only by producing these vehicles as flex-fuel capable were the automakers able to take advantage of this loophole.
That's it for now until Steve Harris, GM's VP for Global Communication and author of GM's first response, gathers the General's troops and formulates another response to Friedman's response.
Thanks Dave G. for the tip!
[Source: NYTimes.com]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Yogi 8:29AM (6/14/2006)
Tom Friedman is the equavilent of pile of dog turds. He has a braid the size of a pea and a mouth the size of a
#3 washtub, never tells the truth and IMO is nothing more than a smartass, jackass. That sorry jerk can go straight to hell as for as I am concerned. And Tom you will have to wait a long time before you see Toyota take over GM, why don't you take your sorry ass to Japan since you love it so much.
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joe 8:51AM (6/14/2006)
Yogi you are a moron
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CastratetheGOP 9:09AM (6/14/2006)
Yogi,
Must you feel the urge to make simpleton grammar errors so early in the morning?
This is in reference to your adolescent remarks that Thomas Friedman is “nothing more than a smartass, jackass”. In this instance smartass is being used as an adjective that describes jackass (a noun); usage of a comma between the two words is in direct violation of rudimentary grammar rules.
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Bob from ALAMN 9:18AM (6/14/2006)
The important thing to remember about E85 is that the alternative fuel is cleaner-burning than either gasoline or diesel, and using E85 in a flexible fuel vehicle can reduce air pollution. That's why the American Lung Association of the Upper Midwest strongly supports its use.
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Howard Kerr 9:21AM (6/14/2006)
Details of this Federal loophole in CAFE standards for the automakers building Flex-Fuel vehicles are in the latest Car and Driver. As I mentioned on another forum here at AutoBlog, if there is a loophole in the laws, trust Detroit to exploit it to it's fullest.
Until I read that article, I always wondered what the deal was with flex-fuel. I mean, outside the midwest, E85 is almost non-existant and while the Big 3
built these cars and trucks they didn't go to flex-fuel compatible across ALL their lines/models....just certain models with certain engines. For example, Ford's 3 liter OHV engine in the Ranger and Taurus WERE flex-fuel (I think that it's been temporarily phased out) no other engines in the Ranger or Taurus were flex-fuel engines.
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jscro 9:31AM (6/14/2006)
Yogi = Total douchebag
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Go Kilo Ebi 9:34AM (6/14/2006)
Do you know how many E85 gas stations there are in the state of Florida? Two, neither of which are open to the public. Sure would be nice if they put some of that E85 marketing money into something that would actually allow me to fill up my flex-fuel vechicle.
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Phelix 9:36AM (6/14/2006)
If that's all Friedman's got in respone, that's pretty weak.
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Juan 9:37AM (6/14/2006)
Thanks for the info, Howard. You got me curious and a I tracked down this opinion column from the Detriot News that details how the FlexFuel vehicles get their mileage bonus:
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060608/OPINION03/606080306/1008/OPINION01
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Craig 9:42AM (6/14/2006)
Finally someone in the press called BS on the more models with better than 30 mpg that GM has been trumpeting. I don't dispute the claim but only one of them averages better than 30 mpg. GM should be embarrassed that their tiny 2006 Aveo, with manual transmission, only gets 35 mpg on the highway and gets 26 mpg in the city. If you can't get better fuel economoy out of a car that size you are doing something seriously wrong. I know it's made by Daewoo but this is GM's response to the Toyota Yaris (34 city, 40 highway) and Honda Fit (31 city, 38 highway)? I don't blame GM for making low mileage trucks and SUVs because that is where the market was, and pretty much still is, but the market is shifting to small cars and thay are not going to be able to compete.
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mickster 9:45AM (6/14/2006)
YOGI-it's called a BRAIN. It's obvious yours is missing.
For the record-I am in the market for a GM SUV. I've gone to a GMC dealer, Chevy & Saab. Except for Saab (and they have a very small overall inventory of all cars at this particular dealership) the dealerships have a lot full of 2006 SUVs.
Now I'm definitely waiting for the big August & September incentives, but they wouldn't be in this mess if they hadn't made so many SUVs in the first place. Sure incentives are always needed-When Honda & Toyota do it it's called a good thing; when GM does it or Ford it is bad. Both overproduce, however Honda & Toyota have better inventory control and better managed dealerships when it comes to floorplan. I have to think GM is shoving SUVs down the dealership's throats.
One dealer told me come back in August since I am not in a rush and the deals will be better. I guess he is going to use up all his holdback and floorplan monies waiting for the incentives.
GM & Ford and DCX have created an incentive based selling system and instead of cutting production and facing the UAW head on, they cave and have to pull cash or no-intrest financing (which is no longer cheap with the Prime well over 5%) to sell vehicles.
While Toyota & Honda overproduce, they don't grossly overproduce and it might just have something to do with lack of UAW in their U.S. factories and of course, in Japan...
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Drew 9:49AM (6/14/2006)
It's exploitation because they didn't do E85 across the line?
Is it exploitation that Toyota doesn't do hybrids across their entire line?
It's not a loophole if the law is working as intended. The law was written to encourage auto manufacturers to build alternative fuel vehicles.
How is it GM's fault that all the E85 fueling stations are in the mid-west?
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caffee 10:00AM (6/14/2006)
Craig you do not know what you are talking about, and neither does Tom Friedman. Friedman wrote a peice on GM using lies and half-truths to pursue an opinion that was little more than a hatchet job. And finally the 2006 GMC Yukon is not rated at 33mpg, just another of Tom's half-truths. The next time he decides to take up the environmental mantel, he should at least check his facts and refrain from stretching the truth to the breaking point. That in itself is an environmental hazzard
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Drew 10:05AM (6/14/2006)
The Aveo is not a response to the Fit or Yaris. The Aveo has been out for around 3 years now.
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Drew 10:07AM (6/14/2006)
It's exploitation because they didn't do E85 across the line?
Is it exploitation that Toyota doesn't do hybrids across their entire line?
It's not a loophole if the law is working as intended. The law was written to encourage auto manufacturers to build alternative fuel vehicles.
How is it GM's fault that all the E85 fueling stations are in the mid-west?
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Marcello Mastroianni 10:08AM (6/14/2006)
There's no question that GM (and all the auto companies) need to do more to reduce gas consumption. But Tom Friedman is little more than a self-absorbed shill, promoting whichever argument is most likely to bring attention to himself and his career. This is a man who helped to popularize the phrase "Give war a chance", he's never met a war for oil that he didn't like, and now he's suddenly decided that he cares about humanity and the environment. He's a cheap hack, nothing more.
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American and Proud 10:11AM (6/14/2006)
Craig check your facts, GM's large truck and SUV's get better mileage than Toyota, the Chevy Impala gets the same mpg as the Camry and I could go on. You are skating on thin ice when you use shabby facts to support what you already know is not true. GM makes more cars that get above 30 mpg than any other auto manufacturer in the world. You can make false denials but it's true, now go outside and make out with your Toyota.
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Tool 10:11AM (6/14/2006)
I applaud Tom Friedman's columns that raise the awareness about GM. I am convinced that most of their efforts are window dressing.
The story about E85 makes perfect sense. I was wondering why all-of-a-sudden after 8+ years of manufacturing flex-fuel vehicles, it is being touted as a panacea.
As the hometown newspaper, The Detroit News, reported: "A gallon of corn-based E85 ethanol fuel goes only three-quarters as far as gasoline, costs more at the pump and provides negligible environmental benefits."
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PR 10:14AM (6/14/2006)
the times gave up being a news source years ago in favor of being one large editorial paper.
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Carlton 10:16AM (6/14/2006)
#1 Yogi: "He has a braid the size of a pea"
Sounds like you and he are two of a kind. At least he can spell.
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