GM product chief says no delay for plug-in SUV

DETROIT (Reuters) – General Motors is on track to launch a plug-in sport-utility vehicle in 2011 despite scrapping its Saturn brand as part of a sweeping reorganization in bankruptcy, according to the automaker’s product chief.

“I can tell you that I won’t lose one day in terms of customers being able to walk into dealerships and actually purchase a plug-in,” GM Vice Chairman Tom Stephens said in an interview.

Stephens also said GM could consider launching an all-electric small car for congested cities that would mark the automaker’s return to a technology it dropped in 2003 with the decision to scrap the battery-powered EV1 in California.

“I think there’s pent-up demand for the technology,” said Stephens of GM’s work on electric-drive vehicles, including the highly touted Chevy Volt.

Reuters