SoCalCTS

I hate this car so much. This rear end of this car is ridiculously high. All GM needs to do is look at the Converj concept to see how this car could be fixed. If Cadillac builds this thing, it will be a huge waste of taxpayer money. This car is FUGLY.

Chances are that anyone would have improved the fit and finish of GM's cars. They could not have got any worse. The days of huge body gaps were long gone by the time GM got around to changing. The Solstice interior is ass, the previous gen Malibu nearly turned everyone away from Chevy for good, the G8 comes to us with ridiculous hood scoops and navigation is not an option, the new Camaro interior is borderline tacky, the Volt pre-production interior has cheap white plastic galore... Sure Bob Lutz didnt ruin GM but if Lutz and Wagoner were gone sooner maybe GM could have turned around. Bob needs to have a reality check. I personally could care less about Priuses, Carollas and all that. (I drive a CTS for God's sake and had to pay a tax penalty for the gas mileage). When you look at the current line-up of small cars at GM, you can see the contempt that Lutz has had for his customers. Apparently only people who drive large cars or SUV's deserved anything in terms of design or comfort and anyone in a medium or small car deserved whatever GM was willing to give them. So yes I do fault Lutz for the evils at GM. More than once, it was decided to delay car programs to push SUV's. Why do the SUV's have great interiors, bluetooth, navigation etc and the cars are still playing catch up?

yup. soy is for chicks. Why would you eat soy with all those protein rich almonds in Fresno? Also, Fresno is like the turkey capital of California. My favorite wings place in the San Diego area is Wings and Things. I think I have been to a place near modesto called Buffalo Wings and Rings and it was pretty good too.

So what if a few rotten peanuts got in that peanut butter machine.... This GM event may be inconsequential but it needs to be documented. The laws are there to protect us.

Its obvious how much contempt Lutz has for the potential buyers of the Volt. Are we to believe that he is the mastermind behind this car and give him all the credit??? He may be pushing the Volt now but somewhere there's someone with an "invisible shotgun" forcing him into this marriage of convenience. The fact that he doesnt believe in global warming shows how he misses the bigger picture. If GM were a niche company making niche products, his views on anything wouldnt matter. Lutz never was able to understand that Yes a large portion of the population despised SUV's. He could have cashed in like Toyota did and built vehicles that appealed to both sides of the debate. Instead, he chose to take sides in a cultural war that had devastating consequences for GM.

What you say about Lutz is "a crock of s#@t!", oh wait thats what he said about global warming. The GTO, G-8, LaCrosse, Solstice and Sky have some serious shortcomings. If the best that Lutz could do was to make GM nearly competitive then I judge him as a tremendous failure. Seeing him on 60 minutes gave me a peek at who he is as aperson. I mean seriously, if you dont have the time to get your own rotten teeth cleaned then certainly you will never figure out how to get a car interior to look decent. I guess you are all right GM is still the number one car maker, GM is ranked highest with consumers, all GM's products are second to none, GM is the volume leader in every category... and we all owe it to Bob Lutz! You all are delusional.

This is an interesting bit of revisionism. I would like to point out that VW is actually 70 years old. The first VW was delivered to Adolf Hitler on April 20, 1938. Only the war postponed mass production until 1948. The project began in 1934 as Hitler requested that Ferdinand Porsche design a "People's Car." (Hence, Volks Wagen).

Good Riddance! I saw this guy on 60 minutes once and was not impressed. We need to get these SUV loving anti fuel efficiency types out of GM ASAP.

Most liberals that I know are into conservation, recycling, preventing disease by eating right and exercising, don't smoke, car pooling, volunteering, etc. Conspicuous spending is not quality I would ever associate with a liberal. Spending is what the wealthy do. The real people ruining this country are the upper classes with their conspicuous consumption and desire to make a buck at any cost. They just happen to be conservative types from my experience.

The southern part of the state is in a desert. If we were next to a great lake there wouldn't be a problem. There's whole parts of this country that are in droughts and they get 6 or 7 times as much rain in a year as Southern California does! I can't recall anyone ever running out of water out here. Our water infrastructure is solid and desalination is coming online soon.

California ranks 4th in the nation in Automobile related jobs. Thats 61,674 auto jobs. That includes parts, design, and the 7,430 tht assemble cars here. Only Michigan, Ohio and Indiana rank ahead of us. We have 15.6% of the nations crude oil supply. How many of your states have oil reserves? We have the third largest oil refining capacity. Only Texas and Alaska beat us. Our refineries our the cleanest and most sophisticated in the nation. California leads the Nation in electricity generation from non-hydroelectric renewable energy sources, including geothermal power, wind power, fuel wood, landfill gas, and solar power. California is also a leading generator of hydroelectric power.

Its not the liberals spending all the money. Republicans spend far more and the siphon it off to their home states. Places like Alabama are getting $1.85 back from the feds for every $1 they pay in federal taxes while California gets only 80 cents back from the same dollar. It looks like the south needs to stop electing "spend and spend" Republicans. That 20 cents on the dollar that California lost would have more than covered any budget shortfall that we have.

I got news for you. Being broke in California, is like the best day ever in Detroit. The state could be a trillion dollars in debt and it would never be as bad as living a day in Michigan. That's how I really feel. Its the defeatist attitude of you people out there that keeps you down.

ok so Kentucky is actually Toyota-land... Its like the whole Airbus/Boeing tanker competition. Republican senators... do what is right for America. Support American industry NOW.

What kills me is the way that the southern senators are fighting the bail-out and the buy American provisions. Senator McConnell from KY (aka Nissanland) is against helping the American manufacturers. Funny how Nashville gets their panties in a ruffle over some comments by the Dixie chicks but a southern state elects a senator that is not Pro-American.

And her father used to work for Saddam Hussein. He's going back to be some kind of security guard over there. And the father of the kids is also working for the Iraqis.

Must be a Republican. You'd sell your own mother not mention Sell-Out your own country to make a quick buck.

Give us dollar for dollar what we pay in federal taxes and this never would have happened. All the hick redneck states are subsidized with our tax money. We should get $1.20 in federal spending for the next 8 years to make up for the last 8. Then we'll see who is on the trash heap.

Thank God! That car is ugly as sin. The rear needs to be reworked to look more like the converj concept and less like a stink bug.

Ummm, yes they do. This has always been a part of California's air quality regulations.

I love how everyone blames Obama and the liberal left. The CARB is a bipartisan state agency. These environmental standards are being pushed by the REPUBLICAN governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Yes, the same Arnold Schwarzenegger who never misses a Republican photo op. Could it be that conservatives like Rick Warren and Arnold Schwarzenegger also want to save the environmet? I dont think this issue is so one sided. So please stop blaming Obama. The federal government has let California set its own pollution standards for over 30 years. This is just a return to normal. It only shows you that Richard Nixon was more enlightened than George W. Bush.

Necessity is the mother of invention. Maybe my future CTS will be a high performance electric or fuel cell vehicle that can go from 0-60 in 4.5 seconds.

OMG clean air! The Sky is falling! Its the end of the world as we know it!!! This will have ZERO effect on your daily lives! get over it. I swear you people in these other states just like to bitch and moan. My CTS is no less fun to drive than yours except mine meets California emissions standards...

Its about time. Honda has been building 50 state emission standards cars for a decade.

It would be easier to take Chevrolet up-market than it would be to repair the image of Pontiac or Buick.