General Motors
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General Motors is expected to announce heavy second-quarter losses tomorrow along with a new round of job cuts planned for North America. This time the cuts will effect salary workers, with latest reports indicating that up to 5,000 jobs, or about 15% of GM’s North American white-collar work force, will be cut as the carmaker attempts to restructure its business. Earlier this month GM revealed that it would be attempting to save about $1.5 billion by reducing some employee benefits and reducing its salaried workforce. The carmaker estimates that the combined effect would be a 20%...
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Update: GM will stay in lease business through AugustUpdated: General Motors announced today that it would stay in the leasing business through August at the least. The obvious implication is that the company, via its GMAC finance corporation, is considering getting out of the leasing business, much as Chrysler has done. Ford's choice to simply...
Nelson Ireson -
GM has small engines ready, waiting for customer demandThe automobile industry - and especially the players in the U.S. market - have long been engaged in an all-out battle for more power and performance. The 2008 fuel crunch has shaken that strategy up somewhat, but General Motors says it still needs a signal from buyers that they are willing to...
Nelson Ireson -
GM planning Volt sneak peek for employeesGeneral Motors has revealed that it will unveil the Volt plug-in hybrid in near-production form to employees in a special sneak preview this September. Celebrating 100 years in the car business on September 16th, GM is reportedly nearly finished with the car's basic design, and is now working on...
Nelson Ireson -
2010 Chevrolet Camaro officially unveiledUpdated with new video. Since 2006, General Motors has been teasing the automotive world with the Camaro Concept, and now the production car is officially revealed to the world. Due to start production February 16th, 2009, the car is being marketed as a high-tech and efficient high-performance car...
Nelson Ireson -
Update: Progressive gets detailed on use-based insuranceUpdate: Progressive has announced a more fine-grained approach to use-based insurance pricing. Cars can be fitted with a ‘black box’-type device that records acceleration patterns, brake usage and other important data the insurance company believes contributes to a driver’s risk...
Nelson Ireson -
Update: With General Motors publicly announcing its doubts about Hummer's viability and plans to sell the brand, many dealers were upset about the carmaker’s seeming lack of care for the predicament they had been placed in by the comments and the potential loss of the multi-million dollar investments made in their stores. A Tennessee dealer has now revealed that GM is quietly getting dealers to sign off on their stores and making deals with each one, reports Automotive News. GM is reportedly paying Hummer dealers second and third-quarter bonuses early, with the average amount in the...
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GM to cut pickup production, shorten Saab warrantiesPart of the company's continuing reorganization plan, General Motors has taken several actions today to lighten its load in the face of reduced demand. Cutting back truck production, much like rival Ford recently announced, has been expected for some time. But reducing the warranty terms on U.S...
Nelson Ireson -
GM to cut powertrain development time and costs with new Detroit labGeneral Motors has opened an advanced engine testing facility in Detroit, Michigan, which the carmaker claims will allow it to speed up powertrain development times and save more than $200 million per year. According to GM, the new facility is the largest of its kind in the world and it will...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
GM and Chrysler extend incentives, Chrysler cuts leasingDetroit's carmakers announced their expected tough profit and loss statements this week, and now they're announcing another round of incentives in an effort to help push the bottom line back toward black. General Motors and Chrysler have both released word of their extended incentive programs...
Nelson Ireson -
GM in talks with China's ZhongxingGeneral Motors may be looking to expand its links with even more international carmakers, with latest reports indicating the U.S. auto giant is talks with Chinese carmakers Hebei Zhongxing and First Automobiles Works (FAW) Group. Zhongxing is one of the biggest pickup truck manufacturers in China...
Siddarth Raja -
GM testing Saturn Vue plug-in hybridsWhile all eyes may be turned towards Chevrolet's upcoming Volt plug-in hybrid, other brands under the General Motors umbrella are also set to offer plug-in hybrids to help improve the carmaker’s fleet average fuel economy levels and become more competitive in a world of record high fuel...
Ralph Hanson -
While the automotive universe has certainly been shaken at its foundations with a confluence of unfortunate events this year, all is not lost. Cloudy second-quarter and first-half results appear to have a few silver linings as the industry begins to adjust to the new face of the market. General Motors, no stranger to trouble through the first half, and posting a second-quarter sales downturn of 5% globally and 20% in North America nevertheless today saw its stock rise to nearly double its value as late as last week, hitting $16.32 per share, before falling back to a still-improved $14.61 by...
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GM & EPRI join forces to develop electric infrastructureGeneral Motors' roll-out of the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid is set to have a large impact on the United States power industry. In a bid to anticipate this impact, General Motors will likely team up with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) - an institute that conducts research for several...
James Martinez -
GM windshield uses lasers to highlight road markingsAs the proportion of older drivers in the world’s leading nations grows, carmakers are finding new avenues for the technological advancement of safe driving. Taking a new angle on the head-up display (HUD) concept, General Motors is working on a prototype windshield system that enhances the...
Nelson Ireson -
GM focuses on crossovers and carsTurning away from niche vehicles and small-market cars, GM is looking to build nothing but high-volume cars for the near future. That means significantly cutting back truck output and focusing its energy on cars and crossovers. The company has had some recent success with high-volume products in...
Nelson Ireson -
GM reveals latest North American strategyGeneral Motors today announced further steps to adapt to the changing conditions of the U.S. market, which has been affected of late by a weak economy, record high fuel prices, shifts in consumer vehicle preferences, and the lowest vehicle sales volumes in a decade. Speaking at the presentation...
James Martinez -
Carmakers expand fuel-saving tires to mainstream modelsCars like Honda's Civic Hybrid and Toyota's Prius have long been known to use harder-than-normal tires as part of the overall package to improve fuel efficiency. Now U.S. carmakers, especially those in Detroit, are looking to the simple technology to improve fuel economy performance of a wide range...
Nelson Ireson -
Update: Despite reports from Top Gear claiming the CTS's brawny force-fed brother - the CTS-V - won't be sold in Europe, a rival publication has word from a senior GM official that the high-performance saloon will make it to Europe in left-hand-only drive and will even be sold in the UK. Autocar reports the CTS-V will make it across the pond in limited numbers and could be joined down the track by the upcoming CTS wagon as well. However, the official revealed that no final decision has been made on the wagon. Original: While left-hand drive European buyers have been able to purchase the...
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Russia bumps Germany as Europe's biggest market, Chevy tops chartsTroubles at home aside, General Motors' Chevrolet brand has blazed a path to the top of Europe's biggest market - and it's not Germany. Russia's 2008 first-half sales surpassed Germany's, rising 41% to a total volume of 1.65 million cars. The incredible increase is driven directly by consumer...
Nelson Ireson -
Chrysler and GM deny bankruptcy rumorsThe U.S. auto industry may be in turmoil, but both Chrysler and General Motors have denied any possibility of bankruptcy and have dismissed recent rumors to that effect as inaccurate. Both companies have been plagued by falling sales as consumer demand shifts towards smaller and more fuel-efficient...
Ralph Hanson -
GM: Volt won't have huge impact on fuel savings before 2015The upcoming CAFE standards are making carmakers nervous, with most of the major players speaking out about the huge cost and difficult technical challenges they face. High-tech plug-in hybrids like GM's Volt and Toyota's recently confirmed car have been the central hope for getting fleet averages...
Nelson Ireson -
GM likely to drop overlapping models instead of brandsGeneral Motors has widely been reported to be considering dropping several brands as it struggles in a climate of falling demand, rising fuel prices and material costs and increased competition, but the carmaker insists that the only brand under review is Hummer. Reports emerged earlier this week...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Report: GM considering Volt unveiling to distract from economic troublesWhether it's 'Monica Missiles' or 'Economic Stimulus Packages' the political misdirection is a tried and true method of shifting the media's attention from something undesirable and toward another issue that's easier to deal with. General Motors is reported to be considering just such an action in...
Nelson Ireson