GM vice-chairman, Bob Lutz believes that the high costs involved in building hybrid vehicles is pushing up the price of non-hybrid cars. 'GM will lose money on hybrids,' he said. 'We will continue to build them - and the cost will be spread across other cars.'
Lutz also said he thinks hybrid cars will never make up more than 10% of the U.S market. In the UK, hybrids make up 0.8% of car sales, according to figures from the SMMT. GM will start to sell its first extended-range electric vehicle, the Chevrolet Volt, next year.
Toyota – the biggest maker of hybrids – disagrees with GM's stance on such cars.
A spokesman said: 'We will strive to make a million hybrids a year and as we achieve economies of scale, hybrid prices will come down. Hybrid vehicles are more complex, so there is a premium over non-hybrid vehicles, but we believe the overall cost of ownership, with the lower running costs, outweigh the initial purchase costs over non-hybrid cars.'
