Michigan

  • 2009 Cadillac STS

    The very last Cadillac STS has rolled off the production line at the car’s plant in Lansing, Michigan earlier this month, paving the way for the plant to be retooled for the upcoming ATS compact sedan due to hit the streets late next year. As we’ve known for some time, Cadillac is planning to phase out its STS and DTS full-size luxury sedans and replace them with a single model, the upcoming XTS sedan due out either late next year or in early 2013. As for the STS, the car had been in production since August of 2004 and during that time has managed to find a home with more than...

  • Vue-Based Buick compact crossover teaser
    Buick Confirms New Compact Car And Crossover

    In August of last year Buick released a teaser of a compact crossover that was essentially a rebadged version of the Saturn Vue. The only major difference between the two was a Buick-style waterfall grille, and that rubbed consumers, dealers and many in the media the wrong way and subsequently...

  • Fisker Karma at Laguna Seca
    Fisker Consolidates U.S. Facilities, Closes Michigan R&D Center

    Like most of the big players in the automotive industry that had to retract, right-size and close facilities across the country, electric vehicle startup Fisker Automotive has also had to bite the bullet and consolidate some of its operations. A little over a year after establishing its 34,000...

  • 2010 Detroit Auto Show
    2010 Detroit Auto Show Main Floor Already Packed Out

    Despite the despair of the past year, things are looking brighter for the 2010 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit.

  • buick plug in hybrid teaser main630 1
    Buick's Second New Crossover Aveo-Sized?

    This morning's announcement from GM on a future Buick plug-in hybrid confirmed the presence of a second crossover vehicle--and according to one industry source, it's not just a standard gas-engined version of the upcoming hybrid SUV. Automotive News reports that the second Buick crossover will in...

  • 2010 Mercedes-Benz S-Class
    Foreign luxury carmakers could get loophole in upcoming fuel regulations

    In May the White House unveiled a new fuel efficiency policy calling for 35.5mpg fleet averages by 2016, and almost immediately the carmakers began talking about how much it would cost them. But now it looks like the luxury carmakers in the U.S. - primarily foreign marques - could catch a break...

  • Ferrari is being courted heavily for return to the 2010 NAIAS

    Fear-mongering reached new heights in the automotive world on the eve of the 2009 Detroit Auto Show, with naysayers predicting more somber processions and hushed voices than the average state funeral. And while the show did prove somewhat subdued, it was far from dead. Now plans for renovations at Cobo Center are sparking new hope for next year's show. The Michigan state legislature enacted a plan late last week to let the city of Detroit regain control of the aging Cobo Center and to use hotel and liquor taxes to fix its main problems - notably a lack of space and a leaky roof. With a $299...

  • Update: Specter Werkes unveils new C6 Corvette GTR
    Updated Specter Werkes Corvette GTR delivers 615hp

    Almost a year after the C6-based Corvette GTR from Specter Werkes was first unveiled the Michigan-based performance house has released an updated version of the modified supercar that is on sale now. A unique and flamboyant interpretation of the Corvette's basic shape, the Specter Werkes GTR mixes...

  • gm global battery systems lab 001
    GM opens advanced battery lab in Michigan

    Despite a bankruptcy filing that's barely a week old, General Motors is fighting to preserve its image as a relevant and potent member of the automotive industry. To that end, GM today announced the opening of its Global Battery Systems Lab in Warren, Michigan. The new lab is where GM will do the...

  • President Barack Obama
    Obama unveils new national fuel efficiency policy, 35.5mpg by 2016

    Carmakers are already fretting at the thought of achieving the new 35mpg CAFE standards imposed by the U.S. government by the current 2020 deadline, but an announcement by President Barack Obama today revealed the plan to get the standard up to 35.5mpg by 2016. The plan requires a gain of over 5%...

  • 2011 Ford Focus preview
    Ford confirms Michigan plant for new global Focus

    As the second model developed under Ford’s new global design strategy (the first being the new Fiesta), the next-generation Ford Focus will be manufactured at Blue Oval plants at all corners of the globe. In addition to its regular haunts in Europe, the Focus will be manufactured in Australia...

  • Dodge Viper SRT8
    Chrysler to close 8 U.S. plants by 2010

    This past week’s bankruptcy announcement for Chrysler means the decisions will be coming hard and fast. The carmaker has already confirmed that overlapping models and some slow-sellers will be dropped but there will also be a lot more cutbacks as revealed by new bankruptcy documents filed...

  • 2011 Chevrolet Volt battery system

    Michigan may be most widely recognized as the home of the troubled Detroit 3, whose past ignorance of creating efficient cars and embracing SUVs has landed them in hot water. Now, the state wants to change this image and create a reputation as a future base for greener cars, an initiative that has seen four advanced battery manufacturers investing around $1.7 billion in the state. The situation was put in succinct terms by Governor Jennifer Granholm, who explained to Automotive News that the new projects "are all about going from rust to green". These projects include a $600 million...

  • Chrysler ENVI fleet
    Chrysler picks A123Systems as battery supplier for future electric vehicles

    Chrysler has announced today that it has signed an agreement with American battery supplier A123Systems for new nanophosphate lithium-ion batteries for its future generation of plug-in hybrid and all-electric vehicles. A123Systems plans to open a new manufacturing facility in Michigan, and via this...

  • Interstate Traveler Detroit Lansing rail proposal
    Idle Detroit 3 factories could switch to building solar-powered trains

    An ambitious project to bring high-speed rail to the U.S. is underway by private investors, with a route between Detroit and Lansing among the first rail lines on the drawing board. The Interstate Traveler company is currently wooing a state task force, with hopes of gaining permission to build an...

  • Mercedes Benz S400 BlueHybrid
    Daimler confirms Michigan for new hybrid lab

    Daimler has chosen Michigan as the site for a new $10 million research center focusing on alternative propulsion systems, such as hybrid technology. The German auto giant was previously considering building the center in South Carolina or California but chose Michigan following the promise of a...

  • Cobo Hall Arena
    Detroit City Council rejects plans to expand Cobo Center

    Last month’s Detroit Auto Show saw a number of carmakers pull out for the first time, with many citing a lack of suitable facilities and display space at the event’s venue, Detroit’s Cobo Center, as one of the main reasons for the exodus. To overcome this problem approval was...

  • Chevrolet Volt
    First Chevrolet Volt engines will come from Austria

    General Motors has confirmed that the first batch of its upcoming Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrids will feature an internal combustion ‘back-up’ engine sourced from Aspern, Austria, and not from Flint, Michigan, as originally planned. The announcement comes just a week after it was...

  • Nissan Design America studio

    In its efforts to further reduce costs and streamline is business, Nissan has announced that it will be shutting down its Michigan design studio and cutting back on roughly 100 white-collar jobs in North America, mostly from its sales and marketing operations. The plan will see the carmaker integrate its Michigan design team with the current Nissan Design America headquarters in San Diego, California, by April 1. While the Michigan design studio, located just outside of Detroit, will be shut, an adjacent research and development center will be kept running, Nissan spokesperson Katherine...

  • U.S. Capitol Building
    Michigan representatives ask for $25B in new loans for auto industry

    The first $13.4 billion in auto industry loan funds have been disbursed to General Motors and Chrysler, but already Michigan's congressional representatives are seeking another $25 billion in industry loans. The funds would be targeted at suppliers and carmakers, with some funds set aside to help...

  • Fisker Karma Sedan
    Fisker Automotive building new engineering center in Michigan

    The Fisker plug-in hybrid saloon has officially been revealed at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show. Click here for all the details and images. While the rest of the automotive industry retracts, 'right-sizes' and closes facilities, Fisker Automotive is in the process of expanding. Today the company...

  • GM announces two plants to close by end of 2008
    GM will close two SUV plants by end of 2008

    Cutting back on SUV and pickup truck production while shifting focus to smaller and mid-size cars means some reallocation of the workload among General Motors' North American factories. While many factories are just changing what they do, some will have to be closed to align with the new face of...

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