Detroit, Jan. 16 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp. Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner is filling gaps in his vehicle lineup with the biggest outpouring of new models in company history, including the first Cadillac midsize sport-utility.

Investors say he's doing the right thing because the world's largest maker of cars and trucks also needs to plug a hole in its pension fund. General Motors' $76 billion in retiree obligations are the most of any company, and the automaker estimates that it will need to set aside as much as $15.5 billion over five years to meet those costs.

Wagoner's focus on new cars and trucks is helping the company slough off its reputation as a maker of big sedans for the over-60 crowd, investors said. At the North American International Auto Show, Wagoner unveiled the Cadillac SRX luxury sport-utility, which will compete with Toyota Motor Corp.'s Lexus RX300, and the Chevrolet Equinox small sport-utility, which will take on Ford Motor Co.'s Escape and Toyota's RAV-4. General Motors in the past has introduced as many as six models a year.

Wagoner, who succeeds Jack Smith as chairman May 1, also showed off five prototypes, hinting at what might come off the production lines of the future. Those included the Pontiac G6, the next version of Grand Am, and the Cadillac Sixteen, a 1,000-horsepower luxury coupe that may carry a $250,000 price tag if General Motors decides to sell it.

Wagoner stated that General Motors would offer as many as 12 hybrid sport-utility and car models by 2007, with the capacity to sell as many as 1 million hybrids a year using its own technology. The automaker had been in discussions with Toyota to use the Japanese automaker's system as part of a technology sharing agreement signed in 1999.

Investors said Wagoner made the point that the world's biggest automaker shouldn't let a rival set the standard for hybrid gasoline-electric vehicles.

 

It would be cool to work for them.

I think they have the best engineers in the world.