Hillary to the Rescue 

Hillary to the Rescue

Looks like the “suffering” of the big three has caught the attention of somebody big and important.

Inside Line Reports: Hillary Clinton Calls for Auto Summit as Big Three Suffer.

Apparently, the former First Lady and now U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has asked President George Bush to do something about the problems piling up in Detroit. The do something here means for the President to convene a summit of auto manufacturers to discuss the future of the industry.

Senator Clinton was concerned about the “serious ramifications” Delphi Corp.’s filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection has for the entire U.S. auto industry. Earlier, General Motors posted a $1.63 billion third quarter loss while Ford posted a $284 million loss. In her letter to the President, Clinton said the summit should cover healthcare issues and address foreign competition.

I was browsing Auto Parts Inner’s car articles when I came upon the news about GM’s newest fleet of SUVs, and I almost forgot that the automaker was having problems. In January, the new Tahoe will go on sale - the first in a family of new full-size SUVs GM will launch in the first half of 2006. The 2007 Cadillac Escalade and GMC Yukon will also hit the market in January, while the Escalade ESX and EXT, Chevy Suburban and Avalanche and GMC Yukon XL will roll into dealerships in the second quarter of 2006.

GM supporters are counting on this risqué move to be the “salvation” of the ailing automaker. The new GM SUVs are said to be bigger, better looking, more powerful and more fuel-efficient trucks. The big Cadillac and GMC SUVs look distinctively different from the Tahoe, thanks to unique hoods, lights and grilles. All the SUVs share a wider track -- the distance between the wheels -- and sheet metal that makes them look smaller than they actually are. (Maybe a move to placate “big SUV = gas guzzler” fears among consumers who are now looking to get out of their big trucks and into smaller cars). To address the need for more fuel-efficient vehicles, GM also has a brand-new six-speed automatic transmission that will arrive sometime in 2006 which will reduce fuel consumption further. The automaker is likewise working feverishly to get fuel-sipping diesel engines into the SUVs.