General Motors

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Since there are GM vehicles awarded, I thought of posting this here. I LMAOed when I read that there is a "Best Cup Holder" award ---------------------------------- GM, Ford, Honda and DCX Take Top Honors in 8th Annual Ward's 'Interior of the Year' Competition Winners Unveiled at Auto Interiors Show Link to Original Article @ The Auto Channel DETROIT, June 6 -- The votes are in and the big winners at the 2007 Ward's "Interior of the Year" awards are models from General Motors, Ford, DaimlerChrysler and Honda. In all, 34 vehicles from 11 manufacturers were in contention to win an "Interior of the Year" award in the annual competition sponsored by Ward's AutoWo…

Back in September, we reported that GM and BMW were in talks about an alliance. The possible alliance would have General Motors looking at BMW's lineup of gas and diesel engines, while BMW is looking at the Voltec powertrain. Now, a report from German business magazine Wirtschaftswoche says there could be more to this alliance. Wirtschaftswoche reports the two are in talks about jointly developing fuel cell technology for vehicles. The plan would allow BMW to access GM's fuel cell tech. In return, BMW would help pay research costs. When asked about this, a BMW spokesman said, "We are speaking to GM about various future technologies but we are not saying anything more b…

Truck line may be for sale International may buy GM's medium-duties FLINT THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION Sunday, May 13, 2007 By Todd Seibt [email protected] • 810.766.6315 FLINT - General Motors is considering selling its medium-duty truck line, which employs about 500 people at the Flint Truck Assembly Plant, but there is no firm deal yet, sources said. And right now, the UAW, wrapped in thorny national contract negotiations with GM and Delphi Corp., doesn't see a good reason to approve any such move. "We are aware of these ongoing talks between the parties," said Cal Rapson of Clayton Township, vice president of the UAW's GM and Delphi departments. Whi…

Check it out: http://chirpthird.com/vb/showthread.php?p=79637#post79637

And ends up making a profit! Those crazy accountants!! DETROIT, United States (AFP) - The world's biggest automaker, General Motors Corp., announced a revision to its first-quarter results, saying it had posted a net profit of 445 million dollars. GM said it had finalized its first-quarter profits to 78 cents per share following a "final determination" of its accounting for a recently approved retiree health-care settlement agreement and other adjustments. The automaker had said on April 20 that it had shrunk its losses during the first quarter to 323 million dollars, or 57 cents per share, from 1.3 billion in the same period a year ago. "The difference between the…

Nov. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Shares of Toyota Motor Corp., first traded in 1949, rose to a record on optimism U.S. sales will grow, making the company's market value more than 14 times larger than that of General Motors Corp., the world's biggest producer of vehicles. Toyota shares, which have gained 41 percent this year, rose 4.4 percent to 5,890 yen at the close of trading in Tokyo, as a report yesterday showed U.S. factory production rose by the most in 17 months, which may spur demand. Toyota is forecasting its 12th consecutive sales record in the U.S. this year and the company's fourth consecutive year of record profit. That contrasts with GM, which has…

I am a huge Disney Parks fan - My favorite attraction to visit at Epcot in WDW happens to coincide with my passion for all things General Motors - the GM Test Track (formerly GM's World of Motion pavilion). Mouseplanet's weekly WDW news update reports that the GM Test Track attraction is scheduled to be closed from April 15 through September 21, 2012 for an upgrade to include a name change -Test Track presented by Chevrolet: …Our friends over at TouringPlans.com are reporting that Test Track may close from April 15 through September 21, 2012 to get an upgrade and to also change the official sponsor from General Motors in general to GM's Chevrolet brand in particular. It…

Whenever you get the chance to sit down and chat with General Motors' executive vice president Mark Reuss, you know that some interesting tidbits will come out of it. Case in point is a piece published by Car and Driver where Reuss shoots the breeze on Cadillac and Chevrolet. What are GM's priorities at the moment? Reuss explains it like this: “to grow Cadillac, and get Chevrolet back in the car game, really feed Buick and GMC, get Opel straightened around, and get our international operations profitable.” Now New York put Cadillac in the spotlight with the introduction of the CT6. Reuss explained that CT6 isn't the brand's flagship and “there’s a car above this.” Car…

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ecn?s=DPH

Here's the direct link to an August 22, 2005 Q&A between U.S. News & World Report and Mark LaNeve: "Q&A: GM's Marketing Chief" :angry: I sure hope he's not serious about 3 products for Buick.

Not really news, but: 1) It's interesting 2) It's about GM and it's not depressing (figure we needed a break from the doom & gloom) Enjoy! http://www.askmen.com/entertainment/specia...al_feature.html

so, really, what if? Could GM make do globally with 3 brands? These are the three I propose. Chevy Opel Cadillac

Here are the pics..... Sorry, GM/Scott S. has asked that every website remove the pics. - Northstar.

Link to original article @ GM Media Online FOR RELEASE: 2006-06-13 General Motors to Build Chevrolet Cars in St. Petersburg *Russian President Vladimir Putin and GM CEO Rick Wagoner seal $115 million investment *Capacity for 25,000 Chevrolet Captiva SUVs and a new compact vehicle range *Start of production in 2008 *Facility is General Motors' third assembly source in Russia General Motors Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner (left), and St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko react to the applause after officially breaking ground at GM's new greenfield manufacturing facility in St. Petersburg, Russia on Tuesday, June 13, 2006 at the plant site in the Shushary …

http://money.cnn.com/2005/12/21/news/fortune500/gm. Link might not work so I cut and post the story. sorry Another sobering article about GM's financial problem. It seems like some analysts are speculating about removing GM from the respected DOW JONES stock index. How bad would that be for GM ? NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Does General Motors still belong in the exclusive Dow club? The troubled automaker, whose stock has lost more than 50 percent in value this year, has cost the Dow about 160 points. Without GM, the index would be up more than 2 percent; instead, it's up less than 1 percent. GM's percentage decline is more than twice that of th…

From The Wall Street Journal

Linkity At Witz' End: CAFE, the 0.2% Solution Why attack just five percent of it? by Gary Witzenburg http://www.thecarconnection.com/contact/in...p?AuthorID=3016 (2007-11-05) And consider that the U.S. vehicle fleet, currently about 250 million cars and trucks, is growing at the rate of six million a year. Even if those new ones get incrementally more fuel-efficient, their per-vehicle improvements will be overwhelmed by that explosive growth.Given that scenario, the demand for good used vehicles would skyrocket, and what may remain of the auto industry will have to survive on parts and service to keep them running. Is that far-fetched? Reso…

NEW YORK - The beleaguered General Motors has been wading through huge losses and dismal sales statistics this year. So there must have been a few feeble high-fives and pats on the back in the boardroom, with the news that Chevrolet is set to be nation's best-selling car brand at the end of the year. What must really get their spirits up: Chevy is set to snatch the title away from rival and the U.S.' No. 1 carmaker, Ford Motor. It'll apparently be the first time in 18 years that GM's Chief Executive G. Richard Wagoner Jr. doesn’t find, for a full year, his company playing second fiddle to Bill Ford Jr. and his empire at One America Road. For the fi…

The Suzuki P.X. Minivan Concept. Doesn't that dash look like a certain General Motors sports car in '66.

GM is upgrading 5 plants in Michigan, including ones which will build redesigned, full-size pickup trucks and the next-generation Cadillac CTS sedan. Here is Christine Tierney's report in the Detroit News.

GM May Gain Proton Power General Motors Corp. may bid for a stake in Proton, Malaysia's biggest automaker, which is seeking a strategic partner to help reverse its dwindling fortune, a report said Wednesday. Since late November, GM officials had met several times with the management and shareholders of the Malaysian carmaker and may make an offer as early as this month, the Business Times quoted an unnamed industry executive as saying. U.S.-based GM, the world's largest automaker, has proposed to take up a small stake at Proton's holding company as well as acquire a stake in Proton's manufacturing arm, the executive told the daily. GM's proposal includes helping Prot…

General Motors' too General Website A Critique January 12th, 2011 Paul Guastella - Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com Almost anyone looking to make a major purchase these days will at least do a bit of research online. With so many things to consider when purchasing a new vehicle, a website is a vital source of information to a consumer. A positive web experience will definitely make an impression on the visitor. Conversely, so will a negative experience. This is a chance a manufacturer has to lure a consumer towards their product and hopefully into their showroom. GM knows this and has their websites packed with information. However, if a customer is shopping…

GM CFO Chris Liddell Leaves William Maley - Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com March 10, 2011 Chris Liddell, GM's chief financial officer for fourteen months has announced he will be leaving the company on April 1st. Liddell, who came from Microsoft helped GM through the largest IPO in Wall Street history. In a statement released today, Liddell said, “I came to General Motors to be part of something great. My objective was to help rebuild this iconic company and I am particularly pleased that through this process," His successor is Dan Ammann, GM's Treasurer. Ammann joined GM in March 2010 after a stint as managing director and head of industrials inve…

Suzuki hits the nail smack-dab on the head with new XL7 here very positive review

IF General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye. It won’t go overnight, but its demise will be virtually guaranteed. Without that bailout, Detroit will need to drastically restructure itself. With it, the automakers will stay the course — the suicidal course of declining market shares, insurmountable labor and retiree burdens, technology atrophy, product inferiority and never-ending job losses. Detroit needs a turnaround, not a check. I love cars, American cars. I was born in Detroit, the son of an auto chief executive. In 1954, my dad, George Romney, was tapped…

One of Europe's top executives called yesterday for political action to tackle the damage being done to the car industry by the overvalued euro. Carl-Peter Forster, president of General Motors Europe, said the disadvantage European car manufacturers were suffering because of the high value of the euro against Far East currencies such as the yen and the Korean won had been underestimated by governments within the eurozone. He estimated that the currency difference gave Japanese car makers such as Toyota, Nissan and Honda a 3,000 to 4,000 advantage over their European rivals on each model sold. "It is not understood how big a contribution this makes to our lack of compet…

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=2501639 Detestable import fanboys having a field day over Bob Lutz's GM deprecating comments. Back in 2002, Bob Lutz came out with that "apology" campaign in newspapers, wherein GM essentially said that its past products were $h! but consumers should give it a new look because the new GM is changed. So I actually bought into to that and convinced my family to get a CTS at the time. 4 years later, it looks like we've come back full circle. "Just wait until you see our new products just around the corner, they're nothing like the junk we peddled in the past." The spin is exactly the same: in the past we suck…

Tulsa Transit Enlists GM Hybrid Bus Note: Not actual bus. General Motors reported today that Tulsa, Oklahoma has become the 33rd city to invest in their hybrid bus technology. The benefits of the hybrid bus come in the form of increased fuel economy and lower emissions compared to diesel buses. GM also cites lower maintainence costs, faster acceleration and quieter operation as additional pluses. "This new hybrid bus is a great addition to our fleet,” said Tulsa Transit General Manager Bill Cartwright. “It will serve as a reminder to all of us that we really do have clean air transportation alternatives available. This is important because Tulsa has serious air quali…

Ghosn was responding to questions at an award dinner in NYC. Seems to be slamming management at GM and Ford, without mentioning them by names. "There is no good management with bad results." "When you are in an industry like the auto industry the best practices exist everywhere," says Ghosn. "You can figure out how they [the winners] are doing it. Forget the past, and forget the excuses. Copy those best practices." It was clear that Ghosn was talking about Detroit. "There's a lack of accountability when someone fails and gets promoted." There is trouble when you create a culture where failure is sanctioned. Then he ad…

I don't think it would stop me. If GM or Ford etc. goes bankrupt, its said that it would kill sales. But assuming financing was there, would you feel comfortable buying their car even knowing that they were going under? Discuss the reasons.

The Car Connection on 8/14 reported the following news: GM Saving Billions with Mid-Sizers New mid-size cars from General Motors-among them, possibly the new Malibu posted here on TheCarConnection this week-are significantly cheaper for the company to develop, according to a report in Automotive News. The paper says GM has been refining its development processes and has trimmed $1 billion from the development tab it would have accrued under its former ways. The News says GM is apportioning projects to centers of expertise around the world, eliminating competition within the GM empire, and is cutting its engineering expenses as a result. Nine new vehicles worldwide will…

Isuzu to Leave US Market http://www.leftlanenews.com/isuzu-to-leave-us-market.html

The dealer has been open 100 years. Article here

Love this: http://www.autoextremist.com/page2.shtml#Rant

Happy Birthday to the whole GM Family. Here's to the technology that will carry us through to the next 100 years.

http://www.yahoo.com/s/268025 DETROIT - General Motors Corp. expects to save about $4 billion this year as it implements its North American turnaround plan, Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner said Friday. But he declined to give earnings guidance, saying there are too many outstanding issues facing the struggling automaker. Wagoner also refused to speculate on whether the board of the world's biggest automaker will consider cutting dividends to shareholders. Earlier this week, Jerome York, an aide to billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian, said GM should consider halving its annual $2 per share dividend, which he estimated would save $566 million a year. "We have a lot of top…

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2007/01/05/0...4.w9nxb3pt.html

http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20061122/1042286.asp

Really, we need to ask this question -- why should GM obey the polticians' views and comply with CAFE standards? (1) GM and other car manufacturers should decide -- first and foremost -- what kind of cars they build by what the market demands. CAFE is not a ban, CAFE is a penalty law for not falling in line with the opinions of the political leadership. (2) What CAFE say is [if the average fuel economy of a manufacturer's annual fleet of car and/or truck production falls below the defined standard, the manufacturer must pay a penalty, currently $5.50 USD per 0.1 mpg under the standard, multiplied by the manufacturer's total production for the U.S. domestic market]. Th…

*Subscriber base approaches 4 million in 2005 *Technology Leadership Leads to Expanding Services and Growth DETROIT – Without much fanfare, OnStar by GM has answered the call of millions of drivers with the simple push of the “Blue Button.” In the process, Onstar has become not only a key differentiator for GM cars and trucks, but a highly innovative company with far-reaching influence within the technology sector. With increased usage and strong acceptance, OnStar grew to nearly four million customers in 2005, capping a watershed year in the company’s ten-year history. By leveraging the experience, technology and resources of GM and a host of technology companies, O…

FOR RELEASE: 2006-10-25 GM Reports Preliminary Third-Quarter Financial Results *Reported net loss of $115 million, or $0.20 per share *Adjusted net income of $529 million, or $0.93 per share diluted *Record third-quarter revenue of $48.8 billion *Upper end of estimated Delphi exposure reduced by $4.5 billion DETROIT – General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) today reported significantly improved preliminary financial results for the third quarter of 2006. The company posted a profit on an adjusted basis, excluding special items, and generated its third consecutive quarter of record revenue. GM reported a net loss of $115 million, or $0.20 per share, for the third quar…

http://www.autoblog.com/entry/1234000680056738/

GM CEO put in charge of exploring deal Link to original article @ San Jose Mercury News San Jose Mercury News By Michael Ellis July 08, 2006 General Motors' board of directors Friday issued Chief Executive Rick Wagoner a vote of confidence by putting him in charge of talks with Renault and Nissan Motor on possibly joining the French and Japanese automakers' alliance. After an unusually short meeting lasting about 80 minutes, the board did not follow the suggestion that billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian first aired publicly last week that GM directors form a committee to study the benefits of a three-way alliance. The board instead gave Wagoner the OK to meet wi…

Two weeks ago, General Motors announced a massive recall that involves 778,562 Chevrolet Cobalts built between 2005 to 2007 and Pontiac G5s built in 2007 because of a faulty ignition switch that slip out of the run position if jostled or if any weight was applied to the key in the cylinder. Now this problem has caused 22 accidents and claimed the lives of six people since the air bags didn't deploy since the key was turned away from the run position. Now a GM spokesman pointed out at the time that the lack of air bags weren't the only factor in these fatalities; high speed, alcohol, not wearing a seat belt, and going off the road played a role in the six different fatalit…

News GM moves to replace paint with plastic film; facias, rocker panels are first applications RHODA MIEL | Plastics News Posted Date: 11/4/05 DETROIT -- General Motors is using film rather than paint on parts for five vehicles. Bumper fascia and rocker panels are among the parts involved. Unlike past users of paint replacement film on parts, GM has chosen a thick thermoformed sheet. The company intends to develop a supply base of thermoformers. "This is one of our major efforts," said Charles Buehler, a technical integration engineer in GM's materials group, during an Oct. 11 interview at the Society of Plastics Engineers' Thermoplastic Olefin confer…

Rick Kranz | | Automotive News / April 24, 2006 - 6:00 am NEW YORK - While newspapers have been filled with headlines about job cuts at General Motors, the automaker's design studio has been adding jobs. "The corporation believes in what we are doing," Ed Welburn, vice president for global design, said in an interview this month at the New York auto show. "They realize the importance of design and having choices, design alternatives for the leadership to make those tough decisions. So we are continuing to hire." GM's studios across the globe have been expanding. Welburn was unable to say how many jobs were added, but said: "Last year we hired 14 designers alone …

Will Minicars come to the U.S.? They might if the General gets its way Link to Original Article @ AutoWeek Remember those cool little cars—Trax, Beat and Groove—General Motors showed at the New York show? Michael Grimaldi, president and CEO of GM’s South Korean-based Daewoo Automotive Technology subsidiary, thinks one of those cars, or at least a car like that, will be coming to the United States fairly soon. Speaking to the Society of Automotive Analysts in Detroit, Grimaldi, a GM vice president, said, “GM doesn’t sell a minicar here in North America because there is no market. If there appears to have been a shift and if we can make those vehicles economically, we …

I can only shake my head and sigh. First there was the Equinox Then there was the Torrent. Now the Grand Vitara. I am sure GM must have some logical reason that Suzuki should get a version of the hottest selling Chevy to have come out in years. Please tell me there is. Did Suzuki badger and cajole GM? Did they threaten? Is there some legal reason that GM has to hand the keys to the Equinox over to them? Isn't it bad enough that the Verona and Swift + are already cross-shopped? I can only weep for the future of this company. Clearly, nobody in Detroit gets it. Hyundai and Kia are no longer bit players, let alone Suzuki. This can only serv…

HOUSTON Jan 27, 2006 — American industry and the government will need to address how rising health care costs are hurting companies and the economy, General Motors Corp.'s chairman Rick Wagoner said on Friday. "I want to be clear I'm not saying we expect the government to pick these expenses up," Wagoner said at the Houston Auto Show a day after the world's No. 1 carmaker reported it lost $4.8 billion in the fourth quarter, one of the its most dismal showings ever, and $8.6 billion for 2005. "I think they've made it very clear they don't intend to do that, at least the current administration." The "health care burden" affects every business as well as government and a…

Has anyone else seen GM's new logo? I wasn't sure if this is old news or not....

DETROIT - General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) today announced significant new actions to support its ongoing turnaround plan, particularly in its North American business, to reduce costs and business risks, and to further enhance its financial flexibility. These actions include the following: *Revised health-care benefit plan for salaried retirees in the U.S. that is expected to reduce the company's liability by about $4.8 billion and its annual health-care expense by almost $900 million before tax; *Planned restructuring of the U.S. salaried pension benefit plan; *50-percent reduction in the cash dividend paid to stockholders; *Significant reduction in salary for GM'…

Ultium Platform is the dedicated EV architecture and propulsion system at the foundation of GM's all-electric future, giving the company the capability to not only build retail and commercial portfolio of products, but leverage the technology to expand into non-automotive applications business. GM has planned 30 all-new EVs to be released globally through 2025, two-thirds of which will be available in the North America Market. Ultium will be the key driver of GM's expansion and next phase of growth. This era begins today as General Motors moves forward with deliveries just before Xmas of GMC Hummer EV Edition 1 Pickups and BrightDrop EV600 Vehicles whic…

Ed Wallace, the host of the radio talk show "Wheels," is offering his opinion on GM's present situation, "Can GM Learn From Its Past?." Read the article by clicking on Business Week Online. In his writing, Mr. Wallace draws a parallel to GM in the 1920s. P.S. - Check out my latest signature text.

Oohs and Ahs At Delphi's Circus New York Times 11/13/05 11/13/05 by Gretchen Morgenson c. 2003 New York Times Company It's not every day that investors can view the contortions performed by compensation consultants trying to justify the monster executive pay packages that they recommend to corporate clients. And when these exercises in absurdity are done for executives asking for great sacrifices from workers, retirees, creditors and former shareholders because they manage a company in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the entertainment is unmatched. The ringside seat for this show comes courtesy of the Delphi Corporation, the automotive parts giant that f…

GM swerves, revives March discounts Despite its strategy to limit rebates, automaker adds bonuses to clear out slow-moving inventory. Brett Clanton / The Detroit News DETROIT -- General Motors Corp. has told dealers it will launch a nationwide discount promotion next month that could spark sales but detract from its long-term goal of steering away from big incentives. The "March Madness" event, tied to the NCAA men's basketball tournament, will run from March 15 to April 4. It will be similar to a promotion GM ran last March that included temporarily lowered sticker prices on select models across GM's eight brands and cash bonuses of $500 to $1,500 on models that had…

Nissan To Build New Suzuki Pickup Chicago Auto Show Debut | Fall '08 Production | Frontier-based From Winding Road.

You have an unspecified number of injuries from a non experienced workforce that think the work is too easy. You also have new, younger, untrained employees running slow all day and "in the hole" per say. This is happening at many different plants. There BusinessWeek...I just gave you ammo for another story.

DETROIT (AP) - General Motors Corp. is expanding a recall of sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks with possible antilock brake corrosion to include another 553,000 vehicles in six states and the District of Columbia. The recall involves the 1999-2002 model years of the Chevrolet Avalanche, Chevrolet Silverado, Chevrolet Tahoe, Chevrolet Suburban, GMC Sierra, GMC Yukon and GMC Yukon XL. GM said in August that it was recalling about 800,000 of the vehicles in 14 northern states, including Michigan. GM spokesman Alan Adler said Friday the recall will be expanded to include Delaware, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia. Roa…

So, a company called me up last week to ask if I would like to give them my impressions of car commercials - 1 hr, $65. I said sure, why not. So I went today, and they showed me four basic ideas for commercials. They were black and white drawings, some crudely animated, with voiceovers to give me the feel of what the finished commercials would look like. They were all part of a new campaign: "Let's Go: Chevrolet". Included in all of them was the new URL letsgochevrolet.ca, which for now, redirects to gmcanada.com. I'm assuming that they would develop it if they use these ads. Ad #1: Shots of people in an office. A man pops his head into a woman's cubicle, and says, 'l…

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle....GENT.XML&rpc=11 I hope I did the link right.

LORDSTOWN, Ohio -- They were the bad boys General Motors Corp. could hardly handle -- a United Auto Workers local where members had little sympathy for the automaker during recessions and industry downturns and no use for rules foisted on them from Detroit. Workers sparred with management from the moment GM opened the sprawling Lordstown manufacturing complex in 1966. In 1972, as GM was preparing to speed up production of the Chevrolet Vega, workers sabotaged the small cars and eventually walked out. But the wildcatters of decades past are slowly and reluctantly becoming less contrary as GM copes with its worst financial crisis in at least a decade. They've ag…

perhaps this isnt good news, but its news that is better for GM then most the competition... i'll be seriously supprised if toyota loses their consecutive month after moneth improvements... the stock price also might have a shock if this is the truth... link to article DETROIT (AP) - Sales of new vehicles fell 8 percent overall during the first two weeks in February, but there was some indication General Motors Corp.'s new vehicles and lower prices are attracting buyers, an automotive data firm reported Tuesday. Honda Motor Co. was the only manufacturer that saw its U.S. vehicle sales climb in the first 12 days of the month, up 4 percent from the same time a year ago, …

Link - http://bit.ly/fF0ZMs

http://finanzen.net/news/news_detail.asp?NewsNr=360982

http://blogs.automobilemag.com/6283606/gre...eaks/index.html Waa waa, suck it up Toyota. It sure was great when you were getting tax rebates on the Prius and your government was funding your hybrid engine development. Now it's someone else's time to shine.

[source: Motor Authority] Bob Lutz: GM won't abandon sports cars, pickups and SUVs General Motors' vice-chairman Bob Lutz has revealed what the future holds for the struggling carmaker, reassuring the press that despite an impending bankruptcy the firm will emerge as a "powerhouse" in the auto industry and that it will still produce the types of vehicles that are largely blamed for getting it into the situation it finds itself in today - sports cars, SUVs and pickup trucks. There will be dramatic changes, however, including a much greater focus on hybrid and electric vehicles, as well as more conventional cars. But GM's affordable p…

DETROIT -- Now that General Motors Corp. has outlined a painful plan to close factories and shed 30,000 jobs, the big question is whether a raft of vehicles debuting next year can revive its sputtering sales. The automaker will launch about 15 new vehicles next year: A new family of large SUVs, three "crossover" vehicles, a new Saturn roadster and sedan and the next generation of its full-size pickups. The new vehicles -- designed to shore up GM's strongholds and grab share of growing segments -- are critical to Chairman Rick Wagoner's comeback strategy. To quell doubts about its future, GM has allowed dealers, journalists and key analysts to…

Simple question: What would happen if Delphi strikes and sends GM into Chapter 11? Things I think can happen: 1. Immediate renegotiation of UAW contract. 2. Immediate renegotiation of plant contracts. 3. Immediate renegotiation of Delphi and other supplier contracts. 4. Ford declaring chapter 11 also, maybe Chrysler. 5. Court letting some assets be sold off (remainder of GMAC, Hughes). 6. Freeze in product development. Things I don't think will happen but possibly could: 1. Renegotiation of dealership contracts (hoping for this one). 2. Voiding of warrenties. Also how would the stock react? How would GM be better able (or less able) to fight Toyota a…

Rule three of automotive journalism: When a domestic carmaker introduces a new midsize, midprice sedan, reviewers are to write, "They're now as good as Camry and Accord." So here goes. The 2008 Chevy Malibu, which Chevrolet will introduce at the 2007 Detroit Auto Show, looks like it's now as good as the Camry and Accord. Our obligation to the profession complete, it's only fair that we ask you to check back a few months from now to see what we think of the new 'Bu after we actually drive the thing. But, we must say, the completely restyled, more powerful Malibu sedan really does look pretty good. Aura underneath On sale in the fall, the 2008 Malibu sedan still uses GM…