Robert Hall

what is democracy, but a tyranny of the majority? but we're really talking about china as a political entity instead of what this would do to GM's IP, which if china truly is communistic, IP protective law has no place in china. china's position on this should be self evident, which is just as the article says, china wants to know the volt's "secrets" before it's sold there. And of course, rememeber the US is not a pure democracy, it once was a republic or representative democracy...today, it's a corporatocracy where corrupt corporations (often multinational corporations) own the politicians.

Very unusual...too bad they didn't post a side profile photo..

The first 3 colors in the list are probably the top selling color choices in the compact FWD appliance category, so they are conforming to the market.

Interesting mix of cars..the modified '70 and '87 CUtlasses are disgusting. The Pace Car, '78 98, ambulance and Vista Cruiser 442 are pretty interesting...

$15.78/hr is only about $31k/yr w/o ot.

Maybe they can do a sporty version of the iQ.. though I wonder what is cooking with what appears to be an LS F mule on Autoblog yesterday..

gap

A similar trend--I've started noticing shuttle buses built using the Super Duty CC instead of the usual E-series CC...

Also, so many cars today have alot of the 'styling' in the light clusters... Soem trends I've noticed over the last decade is the growth in size of the brand badge, the growth of the size of the grille, and the standardization of badge placement (center of grille) and the standardization of grill shape...various trapazoids.

LOL! Great.

piston speed? Never heard of that measurement...how does it correlate to max RPM?

It is interesting how much of a customizing/modification market they have had...about the only FWD domestic I can think of that had such a following in that space...the HHR to a lesser degree has also had a following in that space, I think...

Doesn't matter. The Prius is a transportation appliance. Prius drivers don't care or have no idea what 'handling' means. It's just a point-A to point-B commuter car.

Happy Birthday!

On the first statement I would agree. It goes beyond the price to image also, a German car has the image of more sophistication (the wine, cheese, and opera crowd), a Cadillac is for old people in Florida or gangsters. Point 2 I am not sure of yet. If GM was so serious, why the front drive vehicles with Chevy underpinnings. GM said they were serious on Cadillac in 2003 when the first CTS came out, and it would be followed by a more rear drivers to fight the Germans, and 8 years later the STS, SRX (rwd) and XLR are in the graveyard. So I remain skeptical that Cadillac is for real serious this time. On the 3rd point, I hope you are correct and Cadillac gets back to the Standard of the World. But as I said, I am not convinced yet. The ATS is step one and it is going after a legend so it better be good. RWD is not the panacea it once was. Quite soon every single major luxury player will have a FWD vehicle for sale. So unless you are implying that BMW, Infiniti, and Mercedes "aren't serious" then you cannot apply that term to Cadillac. The difference is BMW and MB will be using FWD only on the cheap entry-level stuff...the good stuff remains RWD.

Saw another article that indicated Ram could get a version of the Iveco Daily (large van) also...that they may have a 3 van strategy w/ the small Doblo, midsize Ducato, large Daily...

GM has the Opel/Vauxhall Vivaro, which is a JV w/ Renault (Renault Trafic, Nissan Primestar), and the larger Opel/Vauxhall Movano, also a JV w/ Renault (Renault Master).

The ATS will need good marketing. That will be important to bringing in new customers...

I wonder what they will name Ram's versions of the Doblo and Ducato. From what I've read, Ford is planning to replace the E-series w/ the European Transit as well.

The Lancer is supposed to handle quite well. Too bad it's so ugly and has a nasty interior.

LULZ! That's why there is the saying "Never own a BMW that isn't under warranty!". Ask Nick about his 5-series..... VW's are atrocious with all kinda interior bits falling off. My ex's Passat had a smooth engine that ran well... but the rest of the car fell apart around it. I think the key to happiness w/ BMWs or other German cars is the 3 yr lease. Drive it a few years then get another one. That's what friends of mine do that have BMWs and Benzes. That way you never have to deal w/ expensive out-of-warranty issues.

Saw a blue like this one top down a couple days ago..

Not that I've seen..but I suspect the dimensions for the ATS will be close to the that of the current BMW 3-series or Merc C-class...approx 108 inch wb, 179-180 inch length, 70 inch width...maybe 3300- 3500lbs..

The second one is wild..never seen it before..the roofline and rear quarters remind me of an exaggeration of the '71-73 Mustang fastback body. The taillights appear to be '69 Pontiac Le Mans units maybe...the rear end-on view reminds me of the '71-72 AMC Javelin. Interesting car. I've seen that Volare-based sedan in a magazine before..IIRC, the greenhouse is largely unchanged from the stock Volare. It's one of Peter Monteverdi's Mopar-based models, IIRC. No idea about the SUV. It looks like a wierd mix of the 1st gen Range Rover and the Lada Niva.

Not unlike the Leafs (Leaves?) I see around w/ the huge 'ZERO EMISSION VEHICLE' graphics down the side...