General Motors
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GM has announced that it will offer fuel-efficient diesel engines in its Cadillac and Saturn lineup for US markets by 2010. The diesels will be used in GM’s cars, crossovers and light-duty trucks according to Vice Chairman Bob Lutz. We may get a preview of one of the first diesel engines that GM plans to use by as early as September’s Frankfurt Auto Show, reports Automotive News, possibly in its e-flex Opel Vectra. The next-gen Vectra will likely be sold in the US as the new Saturn Aura, and GM is expected to showcase the new e-flex system again during the Detroit Show in January...
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GM ranks 5th on Fortune 500 ahead of Toyota in 6thToyota has moved up to sixth place on this year’s Fortune 500 list of the world's 500 largest companies by revenue, up from eighth spot the year before. General Motors still managed to hold its title of the world’s largest carmaker in terms of revenue, registering ahead of Toyota in...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Opel Calibra set to return, GTC leads the wayThe Opel Calibra hasn’t been in showrooms for almost a decade, but with the unveiling of the Opel GTC concept car there’s hope that the Euro coupe may make a return. Though it’s yet to be confirmed for production, a spokesman from Opel revealed that management is keeping its...
Kenneth Hall -
GM to absorb hybrid costsA major hurdle for hybrid technology has been the significant premium in price customers have to pay for the eco-friendly models, which is why GM is considering absorbing part of the costs in the hope that it will increase popularity of its hybrid cars. The specific models that are likely to get...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
First Pontiac G8 prototypes completedGM Holden has announced today that the first Pontiac G8 engineering prototypes have been completed at the carmaker’s production site in the Australian state of Victoria, where they’ll undergo testing ahead of the G8’s US market debut early next year. The first production versions...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
GM to unveil new Opel E-Flex concept in FrankfurtGM has announced that it will reveal a new Opel concept car powered by its E-Flex propulsion system at September’s Frankfurt Auto Show. The E-Flex design features an electric motor that provides drive to the wheels, and runs on batteries charged by a secondary powerplant or even a household...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Opel’s aging Vectra sedan is well overdue for a major overhaul, but a replacement vehicle isn’t due until the second half of next year. Several prototypes, such as this one, have been spotted by spy photographers that reveal the new Vectra will have a wider and taller body than the current generation. The larger body is seen as a key strategy towards positioning the new Vectra up-market, putting it on a better standing against cars like Volkswagen’s Passat and the Alfa Romeo 159. These images, courtesy of our friends at Autogespot, show that designers have remained true to...
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Toyota overtook GM in sales last yearLatest findings show that Toyota actually surpassed General Motors in the global sales race last year with a lead of roughly 128,000 vehicles. There had been rumors that Toyota had in fact understated its figures so as to avoid a backlash from American consumers but this latest report goes some way...
James Martinez -
Preview: Opel and Chevy to launch mini-SUV by 2010GM’s European division will be launching a new mini-SUV based on the Corsa hatch, a vehicle that could be sold as a Chevrolet or Saturn for the US market by the end of the decade. Smaller than the current Antara SUV, which is sold in the US as the Saturn Vue, the new Corsa-based SUV is being...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
GM Volt edges closer with signing of battery dealGeneral Motors has awarded two contracts for the development of lithium-ion batteries for its E-Flex electric drive system, a sign that development for the advanced vehicle is well underway. The new drivetrain will feature in a production version of the Chevrolet Volt concept car due to hit the...
Kenneth Hall -
GM Alpha update, RWD Pontiac G6 due in 2010Despite concerns over the survivability of development plans for a new range of rear-drive models from General Motors, the midsized Alpha project is reported to be well underway with the first model due by the end of the decade. Alpha is the name of GM’s midsized RWD platform, a global...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Updated: VW-Proton deal <del datetime="2007-06-01T15:11:06+00:00">called off</del> still possible, GM back in the pictureUpdated: Just yesterday, Malaysia’s Prime Minister made comments that Volkswagen was not willing to make a suitable offer and that Proton should look elsewhere for a suitable tie-up. Today, AFX News is reporting that Government investment arm Khazanah Nasional has said that Proton is still in...
James Martinez -
Buick is desperate to add new products to its lineup but an exec has revealed that any new model won’t arrive until the end of the decade at the earliest. GM’s president of North America Troy Clarke, who spoke recently with Car and Driver, explained that Buick could either add a model positioned above the Lucerne sedan or below the LaCrosse. The new car will either be a large RWD sedan or convertible, with styling based on the Velite concept that was displayed at 2004’s New York Auto Show. Developers will use GM’s global Zeta platform for the car’s running gear...
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Updated: GM’s fuel-cell Sequel drives 300 miles on a single tank, production versions by 2012Updated: General Motors is likely to have fuel-cell vehicles in showrooms by 2012, according to its vice president of R&D Larry Burns. "I don't know how many of them we'll make at the time, but we should have them in showrooms by early next decade, around 2011 or 2012," he said during an interview...
James Martinez -
Opel’s new Agila ready to hit the roadThe theme with carmakers across Europe seams to be ‘going small’, with the minicar segment seriously heating up with new entrants due from most of the major labels. Pictured here is the new Opel/Vauxhall Agila five door hatch that’s due to hit showrooms by spring next year. Its...
Kenneth Hall -
Saturn Vue gets two hybrid options for 2008 model-yearSaturn will offer two different hybrid options for the 2008 Vue crossover, with both vehicles getting the Green Line badge. General Motors made the announcement last week that the new Vue would be its first FWD vehicle to feature its Two Mode hybrid transmission and that customers can expect a 45%...
James Martinez -
Opel to drop Signum, Vectra takes flagship spotGeneral Motors’ European arm will be dropping its unsuccessful Signum hatchback by the middle of next year due to lackluster sales and the need for extra capacity at its Ruesselsheim plant in Germany. According to Auto Motor und Sport, Opel managed to shift only 8,040 units in the past 12...
Ralph Hanson -
GM's Volt could be on the road by 2010General Motors’ on again off again Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid is back on the drawing board with a possible release date as early as 2010. "We are doing the production engineering on the Chevrolet Volt," said GM R&D vice president Larry Burns in an interview with Automotive News. Some of...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
It appears that General Motors may resume development of a range of RWD large cars after plans were put on hold last month following fears that the Bush administration would raise corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards. The original porposal was to raise it by 4% a year, meaning fleets would have to average 34mpg by 2017 – 30% higher than today’s levels. GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz has now revealed that development will resume, but the cars may have to feature more fuel-efficient engine options. The announcement came during an interview with the GM product czar on Autoline...
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Mallett’s wide-body Pitbull Solstice with V8 powerMallett conversion experts have enhanced its already potent V8-powered Pontiac Solstice with this limited edition widebody pack. Having already shoved the Corvette’s 400hp LS2 V8 engine into the tiny Solstice Roadster, Mallett then needed a suitable styling package to differentiate its...
James Martinez -
Should GM dump more brands?It was going to happen eventually. Toyota surpassing General Motors in the sales race was not surprising in the least, but what happens now is anyone’s guess. How GM reacts to being dethroned from its number one spot could either send the company to the receivers or bring the American giant...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Breaking: Toyota takes top spot from GMIt’s official. Toyota has overtaken General Motors to become the world’s number one car company in terms of sales for the first three months of the year. For the January-March quarter, Toyota managed to sell 2.348 million vehicles versus 2.26 million vehicles sold by GM over the same...
Alex Kaufmann -
China designed Buick Riviera conceptBuick unveiled its new Riviera concept today at the Shanghai Auto Show, a futuristic looking vehicle designed with input from both General Motors and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC). The concept was penned by the Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center (PATAC) in China and is said to...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
GM’s Zeta could get BMW/DCX hybrid and new diesel V6General Motors’ Holden subsidiary is spearheading the development of a new diesel version of the modular Zeta platform as well as an advanced hybrid system, which could eventually be sold in its VE Commodore sedan and Pontiac’s new G8. In an interview with Australia’s GoAuto News...
Ralph Hanson