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Now, with 44 big-car models made more fuel efficient (the interchangeability of parts and technical data among various name plates made so big a change possible), GM has a jump on the competition in complying with federal mileage requirements. A sampler of its new lineup:
> Cadillac. All other models join the already downsize Seville and measure from 8 in. to 12 in. shorter than last year. Though they are also 3.5 in. narrower, their headlights are positioned farther apart to make them look as wide as ever. Standard engines are no bigger than 425 cu. in., in lieu of the brobdingnagian 500 cu. in. of 1976.
> Buick. The LeSabre sedan is 665 lbs. thinner than in 1976. Fully 437 lbs. have been pared off the body, 135 of them by substituting aluminum for steel in bumper reinforcements.
> Oldsmobile. In 1974 the Olds 98 managed only 7.6 m.p.g. on city streets and 11.2 m.p.g. on the highway. In its 1977 incarnation, with a smaller engine, it posts marks of 16 and 21 m.p.g., respectively.
> Pontiac. New four-and eight-cylinder engines, incorporating the latest in anti-emission and fuel-economy technology, grace both the newly shorter standards and small-size Pontiacs. These light cast-iron engines will be used by other GM divisions in the future.
> Chevrolet. The full-size Impala and Caprice, 11 in. shorter than last year, are 4 in. narrower to create a boxlike shape. No longer is a 350-cu.-in. V-8 standard for both models. Buyers now have three choices: the 350, a 305-cu.-in. V-8 or a gas-stingy 250-cu.-in. six-cylinder engine. New Chevies have terminals for connecting with a special diagnostic device, on hand at GM dealerships, that can check up on 60 automotive functions.
None of GM's innovations comes cheap. By 1980, the company will have spent $15 billion on design and retooling over a seven-year period. GM Chairman Thomas Aquinas Murphy contends that increases in other costs "will add substantially more to the cost of the average 1977 GM car than we will recover" by raising the prices of the cars. Labor, he says, has become 9% more expensive in the past year, and "aluminum, copper, lead, glass and plastics are all up." Last week's decision by steelmakers to postpone or cancel price boosts scheduled for October (see following story) will probably have little effect on the automakers' pricing plans.
Murphy does not expect the price boosts to hurt sales. He thinks that 1977 new-car sales could better the 1973 record of 11.4 million, and expects GM to increase its market share. Car prices, he argues, have risen no more drastically than the prices of many other consumer goods. He also points out that the auto buyer who in the past got a 36-month loan can now commonly borrow for 42 or 48 months.
Perhaps—but what if car buyers feel gypped because GM is offering them a smaller car for a bigger price? GM stresses that its new cars are just as roomy inside as last year's. Still, customers may continue to equate size, weight and length with comfort. All in all, GM is placing a heavy bet on its new cars —a bet that Ford in particular, for the past five decades a restless second fiddle, is raring to take.