GM TO ACCELERATE LAUNCH OF NEW TRUCKS!

From Autoweek.com

General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner wants to accelerate the launch of the automaker's next-generation full-sized trucks, but analysts say there isn't much he can do. At most, GM can accelerate the launch of its re-engineered pickups by two or three months, analysts say.

And the SUVs are locked into their introduction schedule; GM might move up their launch by only a few weeks. The 2007-model Chevrolet and GMC SUVs are expected to go on sale in January, with the 2007 Cadillac Escalade following a month or two later.

GM's big pickups originally were scheduled to debut late in 2006. "Given the state and the size of the (GM900) program and the number of plants involved, obviously it's a big challenge to move it up a lot," Wagoner said during a Wednesday, March 16, teleconference with analysts and journalists. "But we've been doing a lot of work on that. Our intention is to try to advance the date."