Northstar

Saw my first MX-5 last night.

I like that idea as well. Chris, if you have time could you possibly chop the all the controls to be piano black and also a version with the area around the vents piano black?

Reuters / April 13, 2006 - 3:00 pm / UPDATED: 4/13/06 4:30 P.M. DETROIT (Reuters) -- General Motors said on Thursday it expects to see net cost savings of about $13 billion over six years from its health-care deal with the United Auto Workers union. GM, in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, said it will begin accounting for its contributions to the Defined Contribution Voluntary Employees' Beneficiary Association, or DC VEBA, during the first quarter of 2006 and will take a $1 billion charge before taxes in the quarter. GM said it will begin to realize a reduction in health-care expense in the third quarter. Under the agreement struck between GM and the UAW last October, hourly retirees will have to pay monthly contributions, annual deductibles and co-insurance costs for the first time, amounting to $370 a year. GM will also have to make a $3 billion donation to DC VEBA over the next six years. GM said it is currently in discussions with the SEC regarding the accounting of its DC VEBA contributions and aims to resolve the issue before it files its quarterly report for the first quarter of 2006. GM last October estimated the deal would reduce its health care liabilities for hourly employees by about $15 billion, or 25 percent, and reduce its annual employee health care expense by about $3 billion before taxes during a seven-year period. The deal remains in effect until at least September 2011, after which either GM or the UAW may cancel upon 90 days written notice. ------------------- I'd like to see them save about $3-4 billion per year, but at least this is a start.

I see it moving to the same people it moves to now. The Camry hybrid doesn't really compete because the Camry hybrid is not geared towards performance at all. The Accord hybrid is basically for people who want to feel like they're doing something good because they're driving a hybrid and also would like a little extra power. BUT, everyone (which I think is very few) who bought the Accord hybrid for fuel economy will certainly buy the Camry hybrid instead (or Aura or Altima when they come).

Chris, can you photoshop the whole HVAC and radio area piano black.

Where's the blue on the Outlook? That's rediculous if they don't have a blue but have a brown (yuck) and TWO whites! The Aura colors are ok.

Saturn is safe, have you seen the new products? Multiple rebadged vehicles? If they all have a different character and target buyer like the Enclave and Outlook, then you can't really call them rebadges.

We need to see the Aura in black with the aluminum instead of wood. The Outlook's interior is class-leading.

The outside sucks (as most cars in the class do), but the interior looks nice (similar to the new Aveo). I think I'd take one over the Yaris.

The Aura and Malibu are both scheduled to get the same system as the VUE. The is scheduled for March '07 and the Malibu August '07 (next-gen model). This is from an old document I have, but they should be accurate within a couple months at least. The VUE, Aura, and Malibu are both "mild hybrids," while the GMT900s are true hybrids (they have a two-mode full hybrid system).

If it goes up much more it's going to be rediculous. I just paid almost $50 to fill up the GTO... it gets 14MPG usually, meaning I can probably go about a week and a half (I don't drive that much). That's not terribly expensive, but it would be rediculous if I was paying about $70 instead.

Well, up until recently they didn't have as much power, and they all just seem to be focused on ride comfort rather than performance. You don't see commercials of Avalons, Azeras, 500s, or Lucernces being hustled around like you do in Maxima commercials.

Maybe EPA estimates will be 113, but that means you're looking at about 70 in real world driving (going by the drop off seen in the current one). 70 is obviously really good, but I highly doubt it will get 113 in real-world driving. One of my teachers has a Prius and doesn't even get 40MPG.

Does anyone else get an ill-proportioned feeling from the profile shot? The back half of the car does not look in proportion to the front half, and it actually reminds me a lot of the ION.

Well, the Tahoe is getting one for the 08 MY, so I would expect the Suburban to follow.

Good catch, I didn't notice that.

Everyone would be bitching if GM "redesigned" a car like this, which is basically a refresh (3 of them in one day for Nissan). The exterior is like a bland version of the current Altima, and the interior, well... + = And what's with the huge dropoff after the center stack and before that big cubby space or whatever? It looks like it was designed for a bench seat and the center console was an afterthough (like some old GM designs).

I like the new headlights, but I'd rather keep the rest of the old front end intact. The rear seems almost indentical, and the interior is also pretty similar. The HVAC and radio controls look really cheap to me. If it was a GM interior, it'd be getting ripped.

I don't see what's so great about the Altima's interior. It looks like a dated knock-off of the current Accord's interior. The front now look like the Maxima with the ugly tooth in the grill.

The Maxima doesn't really compete with those cars, IMO. I realize it's basically int he same class, but those are all focused on driver comfort and the Maxima focuses on performance. I agree the front looks like the old Altima, and what's with the square block in the middle of the grill?

The front end is starting to look really dated, but the rest looks good, and the interior is nice.

The pictures from the show make the wheels look better, but still they take away from the look of the Aura. If the quality of the interior is there, I see the Aura taking some Accord and Altima sales, and even a few Camry sales.

Umm... The front is okay, but the rear is really weird. If Chevy built the Nomad it would destroy this.

Interior and powertrain look great, but the exterior is way too similar to the current one. If Cadillac "redesigned" the STS or CTS like that, they'd get ripped to hell.

Oh, the day when a Saturn is better than an Acura. It has finally come.