General Motors

Star Tribune Story Editorial: When General Motors sneezes ... Detroit's health-care costs are symptoms of a bigger problem. Last update: November 28, 2005 at 5:54 PM Like many Americans, Barack Obama was stunned last week when General Motors announced plans to lay off a quarter of its manufacturing workforce -- some 30,000 people -- and shutter a dozen North American factories by 2008. But Obama, a Democratic senator from Illinois, was in a position to do something about the latest sign of U.S. industrial meltdown. He has introduced legislation that would relieve American automakers of part of their retiree health-care costs if, in exchange, they promise …

Bob Lutz told Jamie LaReau of Automotive News that GM needs fewer brands and more marketing for what's left. (I don't have a subscription to AN, but) Advertising Age's website reproduced the article, which you may read here.

Monday, December 12, 2005 John McCormick The case for hydrogen as an industry transformer Wondering where the automotive industry is headed? Spend time with General Motors Corp.'s research and development chief, Larry Burns and you will come away with a pretty good idea. I was fortunate enough to catch up with this far-sighted Detroit executive at a recent auto show. Our conversation ranged far and wide, from the ramifications of Hurricane Katrina, to the hegemony of the energy companies, to the major progress GM is making towards a commercially viable hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. Like any large automaker, GM is concerned about the effect on sales of higher fuel…

http://fastlane.gmblogs.com/archives/2008/..._a_cr.html#more

Link: http://www.autoextremist.com/page2.shtml#Rant Detroit. On Monday, the Motor Press Guild announced the results of its first independent national survey of automotive journalists ranking the public relations operations of major automobile manufacturers. MPG, a non-profit organization headquartered in Los Angeles, is the nation’s largest professional association of automotive journalists and public relations practitioners. The survey was conducted among MPG’s more than 400 journalist members plus another 100 nationally recognized automotive writers who are not MPG members – and it represents the largest and most comprehensive study of automotive public relations per…

Sorry If already posted.... Kerkorian Calls for Drastic GM Overhaul The Daily Auto Insider Thursday, January 12, 2006 January 2006 Jerome York, investor Kirk Kerkorian's top lieutenant, urged General Motors to speed up and expand its restructuring, The Wall Street Journal reported. York, an adviser to Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp., which owns 7.8% of GM, said GM should immediately do the following: Cut its $2 a share annual dividend in half to save $566 million a year; cut pay significantly for top executives and directors; drop salaries for lower-level employees; trim GM's lineup of more than 80 U.S. models; and get rid of the Saab and Hummer brands to focus on cor…

Cadillac BRX Crossover: Cadillac, Saab Crossovers Coming in 2008 Date Posted 11-21-2005 DETROIT — The Cadillac BRX and the Saab 9-4X, as suppliers are calling the new vehicles, are expected to go into production in mid-to-late 2008. GM has indicated that it wants to assemble the vehicles at its Ramos Arizpe plant in Mexico. A third model, which may go to Buick, could join the Cadillac and Saab in production for model-year 2009. The 9-4X would be Saab's first crossover vehicle. It would fill the void left by the stillbirth of the 9-6X — Saab's proposed derivative of the Subaru B9 Tribeca. The 9-6X was scrapped at the eleventh hour when GM elected to sell its s…

http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosinsider/0.../C01-330449.htm Do you agree with the proposal, or disagree?

This is interesting. Something we probably all already figured (for Caddy). http://www.thecarconnection.com/blog/?p=815&DID=RSS

Billionaire Kirk Kerkorian is not the "rapacious raider" he is often portrayed to be, and the Las Vegas investor has taken a 9.5% stake in General Motors Corp. because he believes the company is ready for a turnaround, GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said Thursday. Kerkorian's investment company, Tracinda Corp., said last week it might seek one or more seats on GM's board of directors, but Lutz disputed any assertion that Kerkorian was making demands. "We are seeing so far, it would be fair to say, none of the behavior that the press ascribed to Kirk Kerkorian," Lutz told reporters after a news conference at GM's proving ground in Milfo…

I've been carefully considering Bob Lutz's recent comments on Zeta and the GTO. What follows is part fact and part opinion. But it's my take. I've doublechecked several sources over the past couple of days, and as of yet, there is simply NO indication that Pontiac's G8 and GTO programs have been restarted, since their cancellations over a year ago. So what are these GTO comments really about? My opinion, the "Camaro Effect". Lutz saw how absolutely fervent, Camaro enthusiasts were about their car. That's me and you bub. He was able to effectively direct our intensity - in order to bludgeon bloody - the GM decision making process, until they finally acquiesced to a new C…

Interesting article in the January 7th edition if the San Francisco Chronicle. History is indeed a revelation. Nazis rode to war on GM wheels. And everyone makes mistakes!

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/bailout-w...money-or-worse/

No story, just some pictures, but I think they speak for themselves. It's obvious that it's another Holden Commodore-based car... for Daewoo? More at: http://www.netcarshow.com/daewoo/2007-l4x/

http://wardsauto.com/ar/auto_lutz_warns_hazards/index.htm

The leaders of General Motors and Ford say this summer's employee discount incentives worked well, but automakers can't continue offering huge discounts. Ford chief executive Bill Ford says such incentives aren't healthy for the industry and aren't sustainable. GM's Rick Wagoner says he doesn't regret GM's starting the incentive war in June but says it hurt profits and helped Asian automakers, which typically have lower incentives. Incentives have gone as high as $4,500 per vehicle or more. A Merrill Lynch analyst says the average incentive in September was $2,600 per vehicle, but $1,600 for Asian brands.

Anyone? I heard one person besides me mention it.

MUCH MORE HERE Igor

OK, more rumor, more newspaper chatter. BUT, if true this indicates that the President's Task Force is marketing savvy. Ask yourself, if you were starting a brand new auto company today, would you have a duplicate truck brand? Would you invest in a duplicate "performance" brand? Probably not. And we see that no one else around the world is rushing to duplicate the GM brand model either. The other one that needs to drop is Buick, as much as I love her. Toyota changed the branding model for the industry and now buyers expect entry-level luxury at the premium brand. LaCrosse and Enclave should be restyled and sold for slightly more as Cadillacs. The margins and to…

GM's new key fob can check fuel level, tire pressures Posted 11/15/2006 1:00 AM ET The new fob will be a $150 option next year with Cadillac Escalades and other GM vehicles. By Chris Woodyard, USA TODAY For sleepless car owners who decide they need to check their tire pressure in the middle of the night, General Motors has a solution. GM (GM) plans to introduce a remote-control key fob next April that will allow drivers to not only determine the pressure in each tire, but also check the odometer reading, see if there's enough fuel in the tank to make it to work in the morning, change the radio station settings and see if they remembered to lock the car doors, to n…

http://www.leftlanenews.com/bob-lutz-to-st...nd-of-2009.html

EXCLUSIVE FREE PRESS INTERVIEW: Wagoner: GM's very much alive Don't write off carmaker yet, CEO says September 10, 2006 BY JOE GUY COLLIER Link to Original Article at Detroit Free Press General Motors Corp. Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner has taken his fair share of criticism this year. Some in the business media have called for him to step down. Wall Street analysts put odds on the likelihood of GM filing for bankruptcy. A major investor pushed him into talks with Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co. about forming an alliance. So, after a string of positive developments -- costs are down, operating profits are up -- Wagoner can hardly be blamed for being on the offensi…

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=100...=top_world_news

GM’s New Brand Strategy: Chevy Uber Alles By Andrew Dederer July 31st, 2006 1,000 Views When Alfred P. Sloan took the reins at General Motors, he had a clear vision of the company’s future: “a car for every purse and purpose." Sloan’s business model– offer customers a wide range of vehicles across distinct brands and encourage them to move “up” within the portfolio– was wildly successful. GM soon replaced Ford as US market leader, and never looked back. Ninety years later, the same structure is in place, but the car market has changed. And GM’s portfolio is part of the problem, not the solution. While most enthusiasts recognize the philosophy behind Sloa…

One intriguing prospect of GM's upcoming Voltec technology -- the drivetrain used on the 2010 Chevrolet Volt -- is the ability to drastically alter the vehicle's dynamics through a software update. Such improvements will be implemented on the fly and they won't need to wait until further versions of the vehicle are introduced. Future implementations of the Voltec powertrain will likely appear in higher-end vehicles, as foreshadowed by the Cadillac Converj concept from this year's Detroit Auto Show. When the time finally does come to introduce a second generation of the Chevy Volt, the biggest area of improvement may be made to the battery pack. In lieu of crafting a pac…

Link To Article

TOKYO (AP) - Toyota Motor Corp. Chairman Hiroshi Okuda said Tuesday he believes General Motors Corp. will likely receive support from the U.S. government if it faces further trouble. "I have the feeling that GM is in a difficult situation," Okuda was quoted as saying by Hisako Komai, a spokeswoman for the Nippon Keidanren, Japan's most influential business lobby. Okuda heads the lobby. "But the auto industry is a symbol of the United States, and if GM faces further difficulty, I don't think the U.S. government will leave it," he was quoted as saying at a press conference for the organization. Okuda's remarks came as Japan's top automaker tries to overtake the strugg…

Isuzu pulls out of 2006 North American Auto Show. http://www.autoblog.com/entry/1234000273060268/

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060330/ap_on_...DNqBHNlYwM3NDk- DETROIT - Auto supplier Delphi Corp. is expected to ask a federal judge to cancel its union contracts Friday, an action that could lead to a devastating strike, the United Auto Workers said. ADVERTISEMENT Delphi had set a deadline of Thursday to reach an agreement with its unions and General Motors Corp. that would lower wages for its 34,000 U.S. hourly workers, but it appeared unlikely Delphi would meet that goal. In a message on its Web site Thursday, UAW said Delphi would file motions to void its contracts on Friday morning. A message was left seeking comment from Delphi. The UAW, which represents t…

FORTUNE Magazine) - It is the instinctive wish of most American businesspeople, even those unlikely to be directly affected, that General Motors not go bankrupt. True, some people will say, "They had it coming to them." But the majority will be more practical, telling themselves that the company is so central to the economy, so sprawling in its commercial reach, that bankruptcy--"going into chapter," as restructuring folks say--is ominous almost beyond contemplation. And yet the evidence points, with increasing certitude, to bankruptcy. Rick Wagoner, GM's 53-year-old chairman and CEO, may say, as he did in a January interview with FORTUNE in his aerie of an office high ab…

3 March 2006 By Robert Farago It’s official: bankruptcy is good for GM. In their recent ass-covering exercise for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), The Ford Motor Company listed "adverse effects from the bankruptcy or insolvency of a major competitor" as a significant risk to its financial future. Translation: if GM goes bankrupt, The General will slough off its excessive labor costs and become… wait for it… competitive. So competitive, in fact, that Ford reckons GM’s products would gain an important price advantage. Well how about that? Obviously, there’s more to it than that. Ford’s SEC filing also alerts investors that GM’s Chapter 11 could destroy The B…

FRANKFURT, Germany — Singer-songwriter Tom Waits said Thursday he has filed a lawsuit against a unit of automaker General Motors Corp. and a German advertising agency for allegedly using a soundalike in a series of European ads. The 55-year-old singer, whose distinct, gravelly voice has won him two Grammy Awards, filed the civil lawsuit this week with a state court in Frankfurt, listing Adam Opel AG and the advertising firm McCann Erickson as the defendants. Andreas Schumacher, Waits' German lawyer, said the singer was approached numerous times about doing the ads last year, but declined, citing a policy of not doing commercials. He said the firm then hired a so…

General Motors' increasingly empty coffers could consign the Cadillac Converj show car to 'concept only' status. The Detroit Auto Show coupe has been the subject of production rumors since before it rolled onto the stage in Cobo earlier last week, but now Automotive News is reporting that GM may not have enough money to make Converj a reality. AN quotes GM vice chairman Bob Lutz as saying that the Converj is far from a done deal: Our take? The angularly gorgeous Cadillac was designed around the same extended-range Voltec architecture as Chevrolet's forthcoming Volt, itself a spectacularly expensive research and development effort. GM is clearly committed to makin…

http://www.camaroz28.com/forums/showthread.php?t=648766 A very good read. If you think GM's irrelevant, you better think again.

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

History Up in Smoke Fleetwood body works buildings destroyed By TERRY SCOTT REED AutoWeek | Published 01/23/06, 2:54 pm et A factory referred to as the birthplace of car body building, the Fleetwood Metal Body Works in Fleetwood, Pennsylvania, was destroyed by fire Dec. 24. In its heyday Fleetwood installed up to 80 percent of its bodies on Packard chassis, with only 10 percent for Cadillacs, but it is Cadillac with which Fleetwood is perhaps most strongly associated. General Motors obtained the Fleetwood name when it acquired the company as part of the purchase of Fisher Body Co. Fleetwood had achieved worldwide fame as a coachbuilder before Fisher acquire…

GM Promises to Stay in Front of Power and Fuel Economy auto123.com By Alex Law Aug. 31, 2005 In terms of offering consumers the most fuel-efficient models and the most high-performance models, it turns out that no company comes close to General Motors. It further turns out that this is not an accident, nor a temporary situation, nor a mantel (or a pair of mantels) that GM has any intention of giving up. So says Tom Stephens, who should know and be listened to on this point. Stephen is after all GM Powertrain's group vice-president (a capital "S" serious job inside the world's largest car company), and he is the man most responsible for develop…

Per thegriffon's request, I am posting a Turbo Edition revised version of the "Saving the GTO" thread. :) Please vote again in this one, please voice your opinion on this issue as it is a clarified poll, and, well, two polls are better than one to get GM's attention with. :P Are you a Pontiac fanatic at heart? Do you lust over the '69 Firebird like i do. That dramatic nose, the raising strong shoulders, all accuentated by a strong yet shapely rump. Ah, beautiful car. Pontiac really could use a revival. A return to its performance roots and design roots are the necessary steps to give this brand a reason to exist, and a reason for people to …

DETROIT, July 7 (Reuters) - General Motors Corp is rushing to finish the production version of its Chevy Volt and plans to unveil a showroom-ready model of the heavily touted electric car in September, people familiar with the project say. Battered by a deepening slump in sales and concerns about whether it can ride out the downturn, GMis counting on the Volt to break its costly association with gas-guzzling vehicles at a time when truck sales are tumbling and gas prices are near record levels. GM is likely to complete the production version of the Volt by early August and plans to show it off in September, just when the embattled automaker celebrates the 100th annive…

Is this actually on the market yet? It's based on the Holden. Buick Royaum (China):

Thanks to ItaliaSpeed.com for this news tip. http://www.italiaspeed.com/2005/events/peb...pider/2908.html

General Motors has agreed to a $900 million settlement with the U.S. Government over a criminal case dealing with faulty ignition switches. According to Reuters, prosecutors charged the company with wire fraud and scheming to conceal material facts from a U.S. regulator. The company acknowledged that it didn't reveal the issue to safety watchdogs or customers in due course. Along with the fine, GM will have an independent monitor to oversee its recall and safety-related practices for the next three years. If GM follows this along with other obligations, the criminal charges will be dropped. “They let the public down... They didn’t tell the truth,” said U.S. Attorn…

GM'S Rick Wagoner: We can do it 'The future of the company is held in balance by the actions that we all take in a relatively short period of time.' Bill Vlasic and Brett Clanton / The Detroit News DETROIT -- Wall Street is trashing his stock. Analysts are predicting a bankruptcy. Critics in the media say he should be fired as chairman of General Motors Corp. But Rick Wagoner is not about to give up the wheel at GM -- or deviate from the plan he believes can restore it to greatness. "I'm doing what I'm doing because I love General Motors," Wagoner said Tuesday. "I think it's very important what we're doing in the company, and I think I'm by far the most qualified per…

Check this out,(credit to Popular Mechanics) a mini on the lambda platform with real form! a great improvement over the (really) outdated uplander that has been dissapointing to say the least. Great clean euro looking sheet metal, vibe style arched roofline and what seems to be great visability.This shot gives us a glimps of what should prove to be a jump into hyperspace for the twin upcoming people movers.It goes without saying that GM will undoubtably have a world class interior as well. Keep your eyes peeled!!

The seemingly never-ending diesel heavy-duty truck war is back in force with Ford announcing the power figures for the F-Series Super Duty back in the summer. We were wondering when either FCA or GM would strike back. Well GM did this over the weekend by accidently and then subsequently deleting the figures for the next-generation Duramax V8 diesel. Truck Trend got screenshots of GM Powertrain's website where the details of the L5P 6.6L Duramax turbodiesel are there to see: 445 horsepower and 910 pound-feet of torque. Compared the 6.7L PowerStoke V8 found in the 2017 F-Series Super Duty, the updated Duramax produces 5 more horsepower but is slight behind in torque (1…

Lutz Talks Back Part IV "Hey Bob...what's the big deal about the Triplets" In the fourth in what is likely the final installment of GM FastLane Blogs' exclusive one-on-one sitdowns with Vice Chairman Bob Lutz, the public face of General Motors tackles the cognative dissonance many of us have experienced about why Chevrolet unveiled three very progressive minicompacts at the recent New York Intl Auto Show - and even had us vote for out favorite - while dismissing them as products that won't be built either in America or for America a short time later. Mr. Lutz immediately clarifies that, while the Triplets themselves were not designed with American safety standards i…

...as Longtooth suggested the other day. Today I watched the entire Senate Banking commitee hearing as the Big3 testified. As I posted yesterday, commitee member Senator Bennett proposed that the loan legislation be contingent upon GM absorbing Chrysler. It was a long six hours.

Thanks to C&G member Brian Johnson for sending this along. Below is the text from a speech by John F. Smith GM Group Vice President, Global Product Planning. Thank you, David [Cole], and good morning, everyone. It’s a pleasure to be a part of the Management Briefing Seminar, especially on its 40 th anniversary. I’m here today to tell you that General Motors is moving forward, with great urgency and focus, to fundamentally change and improve the way we do business. We understand if you react to that with skepticism, and we realize that the proof will be in the pudding. . . . the product pudding, to be specific. I’m here to tell you that we are ready to r…

Hybrids great on gasoline savings but not expense, study finds Based on $5-a-gallon fuel, Edmunds.com ranks the gas-only Chevrolet Aveo hatchback No. 1 in terms of total ownership cost. Honda's partly electric-powered Civic comes in 10th, while Toyota's Prius is 26th. By Martin Zimmerman | Los Angeles Times Staff Writer June 26, 2008 Beating out hybrids, the Honda Fit made it to the top of Consumer Reports' list of 10 most economical new cars. It ranked third on a similar list from Edmunds.com. (Honda) Hybrids may be tops when it comes to saving gasoline, but they're far from the best choice for budget-conscious car buyers, a new study says. The four-door ha…

GM reregistered the name 'Fiero' in June/06. On October 06/06, the name 'Firebird' will be 'published for opposition'. This is a required step in the trademark process. This republication suggests that the name may be used again.

so im watching the BCS national championship game and i cant help but notice all ford trucks and the dodge truck ads for the ramchallenge.com but then... GM truck ads come on too. calling out toyota and dodge on fuel economy for their full size trucks. i looked on youtube but didnt find them yet. anyone else see those ads too?

An April 13, 2006 article from Business Week gives Bob Lutz the chance to speak on GM's behalf. To view the piece, click here.

TOO BAD GM AND FORD WON'T DO ANYTHING LIKE THIS TO TELL THE TRUTH OF COURSE,THE MEDIA WOULD JUST SHOOT IT DOWN IF THEY DID. WASHINGTON, May 12 (Reuters) - A battle for the hearts and wallets of consumers escalated this week as retirees of the Big Three U.S. automakers launched a campaign to make Americans think twice about buying a foreign car ---even one made in the United States. With Asian automakers shipping about $65 billion worth of autos and auto parts to the United States last year and U.S. automakers shedding tens of thousands of jobs, ad campaigns by Toyota <7203.T> and Hyundai <005380.K> touting the number of Americans they employ have hit a raw …

I'd like to share an interesting piece from U.S. News & World Report, in which Mark LaNeve responds to some questions about GM's present and future. To read it, click here.

David Barkholz Automotive News February 16, 2009 - 5:06 pm ET General Motors is expected to identify more than $1 billion in savings from additional plant closings and factory work-rule changes when it files a viability plan with the U.S. Treasury on Tuesday, said a source familiar with ongoing stakeholder negotiations. The carmaker and the UAW are expected to bargain deep into tonight. Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, R-Mich., said today that Congress expects a commitment from GM bondholders to let the automaker pay off a sizeable portion of its $30 billion debt with company stock in lieu of cash. "People had better put their best foot forward becau…

The first GM plant to cease production is the Oklahoma City plant that currently makes the extended wheelbase GMC Envoy XL, Chevy Trailblazer EXT and Isuzu Ascender EXT. Also, the re-engineered Envoy and Trailblazer has been pushed back a few years. All eyes turn to the Lambda crossover architecture which may very well replace GM’s body-on-frame mid-sizers. There are currently 2400 employees at the plant, a plant in which GM spent millions to rebuild after a tornado destroyed parts of the building in 2003. Is a Lambda crossover in the future for Chevy? http://newsok.com/article/1697250/?template=home/main

How can GM compete with Toyota when GM says in their TV ads 30 or what ever EPA miles per gallon Highway vs Toyota's 31 "mpg rated" Camry or the 36 "mpg rated" Corolla or the 23 "mpg rated" Sienna the 25"mpg rated" Tacoma etc. GM loudly says Highway miles while Toyota's deceives people in to thinking that theirs is City miles. I have seen Hyundai do something similar. Hyundai also say things like fuel efficient on their SUV ads without mentioning what the miles per gallon are. Gm and Ford and Chrysler are going to lose the Mpg battle even more with these miss- leading ads.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article...5/1002/BUSINESS MARK PHELAN Lutz says GM won't sweat the small stuff Carmaker to focus on high-volume, big-profit products BY MARK PHELAN • FREE PRESS COLUMNIST • July 16, 2008 Read Comments(19)Recommend (3)Print this page E-mail this article Share this article: Del.icio.us Facebook Digg Reddit Newsvine What’s this? The troops need something to fight for, not a feeling of endless retreat. General Motors Vice Chairman and retired Marine pilot Bob Lutz gave his beleaguered company that goal Tuesday, saying the company will concentrate its engineering and design efforts on vehicles it expects to sell profitably a…

Look at what the head of the UAW Local 602 Bargaining Chairman Steve Bramos had to say , HE STILL THINK GM IS A MONEY TREE.What a dumass.

Linkity Cadillac World Thorium Fuel Car Concept Here's another one from the world of unlimited conceptual design: the Cadillac World Thorium Fuel concept. Otherwise known as the Cadillac WTF. Created by Loren Kulesus, everything about the WTF has been created to last 100 years without maintenance. That's the reason for the element number ninety, thorium: to act as a nuclear fuel powering batteries that would power the car. Elsewhere, every major system is redundant in case of a failure. And the wheels don't have individual tires - in fact, what's located at each corner is one combined unit made up of six individual wheels. That gives you 24 wheels in to…

Follow the money Merging the two sickly car firms makes little sense—except for one thing OBJECTIONABLE, but necessary. The description by Hank Paulson, America’s treasury secretary, of the federal rescue package for America’s banks, is a mantra that may soon be repeated in boardrooms across the land as recession-hit firms survey their dwindling options for survival. Few areas of the economy have been battered harder or for longer than the car industry, especially Detroit’s Big Three. So the news which surfaced at the end of last week that General Motors (GM) and Cerberus Capital Management, the private-equity outfit that was paid $700m by Daimler to take Chrysler off …

General Motors Corp is prepared to nearly halve the number of Buick models it offers in the United States as it tries to reestablish the luxury brand in its home market, GM's chief executive said on Tuesday. Rick Wagoner, speaking to reporters at the unveiling of the 2008 Buick Enclave, said the automaker would also reduce Buick sales to rental car companies as it shifts toward targeting more profitable retail sales with upcoming new designs. Although Buick has offered as many as seven models in recent years, Wagoner said GM was prepared to accept lower unit sales with about four models in order to try to capture more showroom traffic and shun lower-margin sales to car …