thegriffon

The name, not the model, is among those being considered for new Saturn/Opel models. It fits, Vectra, Astra, Antara, Electra etc., and of course nobody in Europe thinks of the Buick.

The Chinese cost advantage, and their technical ability, is over-rated, but there is immense pressure on suppliers to come in with the lowest possible quote, so as you go further down the food chain, the pressure and temptation to cut corners creates situations like these. Many enterprises are on the brink of going completely pear-shaped, operating for years with unsustainable losses. In many cases Chinese companies may have missed their opportunity—the cost of shipping products long distances is about to skyrocket—if you haven't already eliminated local competition in export markets, you will no longer be able to compete with them.

This is because unlike most Chinese automakers (especially the truck brands always being touted), SAIC has: a) bucketloads of money to spend on vehicle development (the typical SUV and pickup brands are really CKD assemblers, often with a capacity of less than 30K pa and sales much less than that—is it any wonder they still build 20+ year-old Japanese trucks with 20+year old pushrod, often carburetted engines). b) a modern UK technical center set up by Ricardo and staffed by many former Rover engineers c) a half share in GM's PATAC technical center, responsible for the Park Avenue, LaCrosse, Excelle and SLS etc. What they can't seem to do is keep experienced managers, the joke being that none of the experienced staff SAIC hires can understand the Shanghai dialect.

Electra will be a Saturn, sorry.

No-one thought of it because they knew it wasn't.

Quite possibly it was penned in Italy.

Ahh, you mean if it was a Chevy!

Lacetti is the J200 Daewoo name. Nubira is the name of the previous (J100) model, still used in the UK. Optra is the global J200 Chevy name. New model (J300) may be called Cobalt globally. New Gamma sedan (T300 Aveo) will be base compact.

Looks like a kit car.

GM Daewoo Celebrates Production of 10 Millionth Engine, Start of Production of New Ecotec Gen Ⅲ Engine Press Release Seoul — GM Daewoo Auto & Technology (GM Daewoo) held a ceremony today at its Bupyeong headquarters to celebrate the production of the automaker's 10 millionth engine and the start of production of its new Ecotec Gen Ⅲ family of engines. “The production of our 10 millionth engine serves as an important milestone,” said GM Daewoo President and CEO Michael A. Grimaldi. “It confirms how far the domestic automotive industry has come and the important role that Korea and GM Daewoo are playing in the global industry.” Road to 10 Million Engines GM Daewoo and its predecessors have played a key role in engine development in Korea. In 1971, Shin-Jin Motors built the first automobile engine manufacturing facility in Korea. It began production of gasoline engines a year later. The company, which later changed its name to Daewoo Motor Company, built its first passenger car diesel engine and the first engine with electronically controlled fuel injection in 1980. The first multiple-injection engine was introduced and the first inline six-cylinder engine was manufactured by Daewoo Motor in 1989. In 2000, Daewoo Motor (which became GM Daewoo in 2002) was responsible for Korea's first locally developed inline six-cylinder engine. GM Daewoo's 10 millionth engine rolled off the production line in January 2008. … Go to full release at AutoReport Gen II current DOHC Family 1 engine—1.8 recently added to GM Daewoo production line (c2005), replaces GM Holden 1.8 L family II. Gen III new, more compact, lighter block first produced in Sventgotthard Hungary. 3-cyl M-Tec, 4-cyl S-Tec upgraded Suzuki F-series (mo power). S-Tec II new DOHC B-series engine also produced by SGMW—1.0 L version to follow. New compact due later this year will add Dual-VVT Gen III 1.8 L already produced in Europe for Astra etc. and new 6-speed auto.

Only if you can get a new fuel economy bill passed that restores or increases the credit for biofuels. the current meager credit is going away, remember?

Almost as many Saabs are sold in Australia as the US. Ok that's not so many.

Not the latter, and probably not the former.

Suzuki platform, 2.8 m wheelbase (swb Epsilon is 2.675 mm, mid 2.7 m, lwb 2.83/2.85 m). As for the XL7 it went from 8K p.a. to more than 20K p.a., but it's a big V6 in a market that wants small 4s and even the Pilot lost more than 20% of it's sales last year (more than the TB).

How about a 5-year stint at Colmotores in Bogota?

Bye-bye Crown Vic, it was nice knowing you … not. This is the type of vehicle that scares the s— out of LTI (London Taxis International). A group of ex- Ford engineers and executives have also founded Carbon Motors to build a purpose-design police cruiser. I've saying for ages, GM needs to revive Yellow Cab and Coach and introduce a purpose-built cruiser/taxi cab—FlexDoors or power sliding doors, high roof, wheelchair access, diesel-hybrid powertrain etc.

It's either this or risk the ire of naive congressmen and senators who think cars should have their cylinder count and power limited. Of course they could agree with their competitors no to claim more than 278 hp (no matter how much it really has) for their performance engines, as they used to do in Japan. ("Psst, can you keep a secret? It's got a bitchin' mad V8, but we don't want Hillary to get wind of it.")

Sad to say this is not in even the top three (or should that be bottom three?) worst-looking unveilings at New York.

Too soon to say. If there is a GXP it will have the stick as an option, but given the volumes it may not be thought worthwhile.

Lancia is the paradigm for two-tone paint jobs, although Maybach is another offerer. Both are considerably more expensive. A Lancia Thesis, comparable in size to the LaCrosse, is priced between the E-Class and CLS-Class—between 43 and 49,000 Euro in Germany (although not offered in China it would be more than twice the price of a comparable LaCrosse).

The perfect triumph of form over functionality.

"After an eight year lull in production, General Motors is reintroducing the Buick Riviera as a concept vehicle. The car, which made its U.S. debut March 19 during the New York International Auto Show, is a mid-size luxury concept coupe that integrates the company’s new Buick Hybrid System. Company officials indicate the vehicle is scheduled to make its international debut in China prior to the start of the 2008 Beijing Olympics." (Source: GM Global) Of course the concept has already had its international debut in China.

The engine setup now goes to a third party for certification, hence the normal bump in output over the always conservative GM figures. At this point most other companies don't do that unless they have a hight output engine they are really confident about.

It's still there as far as I can see.

Then compare Sienna sales to the Highlander, or Odyssey to Pilot—they're pretty much even. Are you saying the Terrazaor Uplander are even close to being competitive minivans, on par with the Lambda crossovers?