GM execs have rushed to moderate a statement made by Vice Chairman Bob Lutz confirming that GM would bring the Cadillac Converj concept into full-scale production.
The plug-in hybrid luxury coupe is based on the tech from the upcoming Chevrolet Volt, however is conceived as having considerably more power. The concept has drawn a large amount of attention at the Detroit show, and on Sunday Lutz told a conference that the striking hybrid was to be produced in some iteration in the near future.
But barely 24 hours after Lutz made the announcement, local Michigan news website mlive.com began reporting that GM's global product director John Howell was pouring cold water over the idea, and that the business case for building the Converj was not yet established.
Reports suggest that GM is yet to be convinced that the Volt platform itself is a viable basis for a car that would suit the resurgent Cadillac's image, and of whether the necessary changes to the platform (designed, lest we forget, for a city car) to turn it into a performance car are likely to be technically achievable in the near future.
There are also said to be concerns about whether the very idea of a powerful luxury hybrid coupe has any place in the rapidly transforming American market.
Its worth remembering that the same Bob Lutz who has given such strong backing to the Converj, the Chevy Volt and other hybrid and electric transport concepts at GM also once famously referred to man-made global warming theory as 'A crock of s***'. He's like GM's very own Prince Philip...
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