In its tough “GM Viability Determination” released Monday, the Obama Administration’s Auto Task Force determined that the company’s plug-in hybrid program was a diversion from profitability and, essentially, a waste of taxpayer money.
“While the Volt holds promise, it is currently projected to be much more expensive than its gasoline-fueled peers,” read the report, “and will likely need substantial reductions in manufacturing cost in order to become commercially viable.”
In light of this and other excessive costs, the task force gave GM 60 days to return to the drawing board and come up with a more realistic restructuring plan.
So on Wednesday, GM asked the Administration for $2.6 billion more in government loans to develop three plug-in electric cars — the Volt and two spinoffs — raising to “$10.3 billion the aid it is seeking under a U.S. Energy Department program designed to support development of fuel-efficient vehicles,” Reuters reports.
Which part of “not commercially viable” did GM not understand?