GM to begin pushing its hybrid SUVs hardcore

Click the Tahoe hybrid for a high-res gallery

Marketing is extremely important when launching a new vehicle. The idea that you can "Build it and they will come," doesn't actually work in the real world, even when the vehicle is designed to save money at the pump. Such is the case with General Motors and its most recent hybrid vehicles: large SUVs. Despite the fact that the Tahoe and Yukon hybrids are all new and boast an extremely high-tech and well-integrated hybrid system, sales of the gas-savers stands at a mere trickle. High-cost is surely a factor, but, as experts point out, the marketing of the new vehicles has been sorely lacking.

GM's main marketing man, Mark LaNeve, agrees that the automaker could be doing a better job. "There's very little awareness that we even have these products. We're going to be constrained by battery availability, but we still think that we could work it up to 5 to 10 percent of our full-sized SUV sales." Since it began reporting hybrid sales five months ago, GM has sold 1,540 Tahoe and Yukon hybrids out of 57,818 total sales of its big SUVs. Expect to see much more advertising for these hybrids in the coming months.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]