thegriffon

Look under Holden in GM's media gallery for photos of the concept being built.

GMC Concept Showcases GM Design Capabilities GM Holden’s global design capability was showcased today on the world stage when GMC took the covers off a stunning concept vehicle at the 2008 Chicago Auto Show. The GMC Denali XT was designed and constructed at GM Holden’s design centre in Port Melbourne, Victoria (you know, the one PCS wants to shut down). GMC drew upon General Motors’ global resources and expertise in Australia to produce the show stopper. Lead Designer, Warrack Leach - who also recently led the VE Ute design - created the Denali XT’s new, muscular form in a performance-styled, hybrid sport-utility truck (SUT). “This was a great program to work on as I was given the opportunity to really stretch the limits of the Global Rear Wheel Drive architecture and create a truck with unique and bold proportions,” Leach said. “GMC has such a rich heritage of producing great trucks and it was essential we kept that in mind while at the same time exploring how far we could take this concept.” The Denali XT has a unibody architecture and rear-wheel drive which enables its distinctive design and efficient performance. Denali XT’s new, more efficient 4.9L version of GM’s small-block V8 features fuel-saving technologies such as direct-injection technology, Active Fuel Management and includes the first combination of GM’s two-mode hybrid system with an E85 ethanol-capable engine. The engine is matched with GM’s unique two-mode hybrid propulsion system, giving the powerful SUT exceptional fuel economy and uncompromising capability – including all-electric drive at low speeds. The Denali XT boasts an estimated 50-percent fuel economy improvement over comparable small pickup trucks when running on petrol. Jim Bunnell, GMC General Manager, said although just a concept, the Denali XT was perfectly suited to a variety of active lifestyle activities, such as hauling skis and snowboards to the mountain or towing a sport jet boat to the lake. “Like all GMCs, the Denali XT is functional and capable, but it blends those traits with a more efficient, sporty driving experience,” said Bunnell. “It is a vehicle that exemplifies GMC’s engineering excellence, as well as GM’s commitment to hybrid and advanced technologies.” True to its GMC Professional Grade heritage, the Denali XT is filled with technologies and features that maximize its flexibility, including a cargo space-enhancing Midgate® and height-adjustable suspension. The Denali XT’s carefully design proportions are framed around a high cowl configuration that enhances the vehicle’s truck functionality, but packages it in an efficient, unibody architecture that enhances fuel economy while giving the vehicle a sporty driving experience. Exterior The Denali XT features a muscular form and wide, firmly planted stance giving the vehicle a confidently capable road presence. Minimal overhangs, huge 23 inch wheels, custom Kumho tyres, sleek headlamps and a low roof profile deliver an aggressive, performance-oriented appearance. The Denali XT’s design includes a new take on GMC’s iconic grille, with a prominent, four-bar element in addition to the large, red GMC logo and signature Denali background. The wide road stance is accentuated by flared fenders and enhanced further when the Denali XT is lowered on its air-adjustable suspension, creating a sleeker appearance that simultaneously improves aerodynamics. Ed Welburn, Vice President GM Global Design, describes the concept as a robust yet tailored design statement that is unlike anything else on the road. “It has the youthful look of a custom automobile that incorporates the capability customers expect from a truck,” Welburn said. The exterior colour "Battle" is described by GM Holden’s colour and trim team as a cool mid tone liquid gunmetal which is balanced against the polished aluminium details. Interior Warrack Leach, Lead Designer, says inside the Denali XT blends mechanical functionality with leather-trimmed comfort. “Billet-metal surrounds, controls and instruments convey the cold precision of an aircraft cockpit. This is balanced by the warmth of bespoke saddle-leather trimmed seats and other contact surfaces,” Leach says. “The form language is smooth and structured to characterize GMC’s power. The details have a deliberately contrasting mechanical aesthetic to mark GMC’s engineering sophistication.” A feeling of luxury is created with soft grey microsuede finishes while keeping the integrity of a functional product with the hard saddle, workboot brown leather. The interior features innovative instrumentation with “floating” red-illuminated numerals backed by surface chaplets in the clusters and a large integrated vehicle interface screen. The Denali XT seats four comfortably as the high-cowl vehicle architecture enables higher seating positions, allowing the distance between front and rear occupants to be reduced without compromising knee room. This packaging efficiency creates generous interior and cargo bed dimensions within a more compact package. Truck capability With stiffness that is greater than most conventional, body-on-frame trucks, the Denali XT’s unibody structure supports a very capable truck platform. It also serves as the mounting point for a four-wheel independent suspension that gives the vehicle its performance feel on the road. In short, it’s a truck that hauls more than cargo on twisting roads. The rear cargo area is wide, deep and flat, with no suspension or wheelhouse protrusions with dimensions that create the space to haul a wide variety of lifestyle accessories. Functionality is enhanced with an easy-to-operate Midgate that can be lowered to extend the cargo-carrying capacity inside the vehicle. The Denali XT has an estimated payload capacity of 499 kg (1/2 tonne) and a towing capacity of an estimated 1,587 kg. This capability is delivered through unique vehicle and powertrain integration. New 4.9L SIDI V-8 and two-mode hybrid system For the first time, GM’s rear-wheel-drive two-mode hybrid transmission is paired with a smaller-displacement version of the small-block engine. The new V8 4.9L E85-capable engine powers the Denali XT with an estimated 243kW. It uses direct-injection technology to produce the power of a larger engine, but consumes less fuel and produces lower emissions. The functionality of GM’s Active Fuel Management system has been expanded through the use of hybrid technologies, enhancing the cylinder-deactivating feature to further improve fuel efficiency. The Denali XT’s two-mode hybrid system uses an electrically variable transmission to enhance fuel efficiency in city and highway driving. In city driving, all-electric propulsion is used at low speeds; on the highway, fixed-gear operation enables efficient performance even when towing a trailer. The GMC Denali XT concept will be on show at the Chicago Motor Show from 6 – 17 February 2008.

http://www.gmc.com/helpcenter/email.jsp Select: "*I would like to make a product suggestion."

Official video (driving and "beauty shots", including interior): http://www.youtube.com/AutoReport1

The first Superbowl I saw when I was a kid was won by the Giants. I'm so happy

What else needs to be said?

@*% mate, the designer has clear Aussie accent. If they build it, it is just as likely to be based on Lambda than Zeta.

Oh dear, apparently someone at pickuptruck.com got overly excited and couldn't hold back any longer. What their girlfriends must think of that …

Or the 730d, 730i, and the A8 2.8 FSI V6. Even the 740i and XJ8 have only 300 hp. The majority outside the US are 730ds, S 320 CDIs, and A8 3.0 TDIs. There isn't even enough volume for the 745d and S 420 CDI in some markets. Mercedes will soon offer a 4-cylinder S-Class.

Ahhh, a 750Li is $79K (less than an STS-V), and an LS 460L is just $72K. If the DT7 with 3.6 DI is even $60K it will be a 7-series competitor, but I suspect it will start a lot closer to $50K (still a good deal more than the MK S). Not even the DTS-L is a lwb Town Car competitor, but the there won't be a Town Car by then, will there? It will be the MK T wagon thingy.

Ahh, the two Zetas for LGR are not both Cadillacs. One is the DT7 (STS/DTS replacement), the other is the Lucerne/Park Avenue. Although a swb DT7, closer in size to the STS, would appeal in European and some other export markets, a standard wheelbase similar to the XJ8-L and an even longer Limousine version are more likely. Both the Buick and Cadillac should survive CAFE on the strength of overseas production and sales and even the Northstar will survive in certain export markets. Note the new designation for the large rwd Cadillac will be DT7, i.e. the D-series (for Deville, also follows A- B- and C- Series), 7-Series competitor, just as the CT5 will be the 5-series competitor and the CT6 the 6-series competitor. That doesn't mean pricing will be comparable, but it should be somewhere between the LS430/DTS and the LS460L.

GM dealer groups you really wanted to be in January: Cadillac, up 8% BPG, up 6% (just 2K shy of Dodge, and so far ahead of Lincoln-Mercury it isn't funny) Saturn, up 12%

Original transcript from fastlane: http://fastlane.gmblogs.com/012308-RAL-World-Congress.pdf

"…and GM has not informed Isuzu of plans to update either platform in the near future. " Fixed. This is GM saying "Excuse me, whose light diesel engineers are you shifting to a Toyota program? Let's see you convince Toyota to sell you rebadged Tacomas then."

The 300 Touring may be made in Austria.

ball

That's what you get from a government which relies on fuel economy standards instead of consumer incentives (e.g. penalizing the use of petroleum-based fuels).

No, they won't. As I keep explaining, automakers will get practically no credit for any flexible-fuel vehicle capable of running on CNG, bio-diesel, ethanol or butanol. Until hydrogen fuel cells power the majority of vehicles sold, alternative fu8els will make no impact on vehicles which can be sold.

Because the Ute and Sportwagon have a different body structure, certain tests would have to be re-run (especially rollover, side impact …). If the exhaust is unchanged then emissions would not be a problem, and they might skate by front impact, especially if Australian data is similar for each variant. Although sales of the Magnum dropped off after the Charger was introduced the sales split is still 80:20, probably better than a large coupe could manage, and well worth the effort. I have a feeling certain people are deliberately misleading the strategy board by only quoting sales figures for vehicles such as the 5-series wagon, which with limited variants has very few sales at all. The V70 is more popular than either the S60 or S80 (not even counting the XC70 version), and GM certainly finds it worthwhile to homologate the 9-3 and 9-5 wagons, despite very low sales of each. The unfavorable exchange rate is no excuse since the wagon could command higher margins, improving profitability. Although both the Astra and G8 will probably lose money on an activity cost basis, overall they may make money as the incremental cost of building an additional x number of vehicles for the US market may be much lower, due to the better capacity utilization in Antwerp and Elizabeth.

Just because the spokesperson for those opposed to Zeta bases his argument on non-business reasons doesn't mean Zeta is "an extremely viable platform." The original Zeta architecture had to be redesigned to meet the cost objectives of GMNA—a midsize Zeta sedan that cost just as much as a CTS was not going to fly. It may be that Zeta would have to be redesigned again to remain viable under the new CAFE targets. That's no reason to abandon a more affordable rwd architecture for midsize–large cars and crossovers however. CAFE and European CO2 limits may restrict volume in those markets, but India, China, Russia, Australia, the Middle East etc., have no such restrictions. Despite higher fuel prices (roughly $US6 a gallon for regular unleaded, more for E10 or diesel), sales of Commodore V8s in Australia have actually risen. If that means the PA has to be built in China, or half of all Grand Prixs wear Holden badges, then so be it if the development costs can then be spread over two or three times as many vehicles. An affordable range of rwd performance models would cast as big a halo over GM as its green vehicle initiatives. The motoring press is dominated by enthusiasts. A well engineered Pontiac Tempest would inspire more confidence in and enthusiasm for GM than any 600 hp "halo car" ever could. Conversely to kill a brand such as Holden or Pontiac would damage GM's reputation dramatically. Confidence in the remaining brands, in GM's management and engineering ability, in lost loyalty (indeed, the enmity) of disaffected fans would far outweigh the benefits perceived by Wall Street and proponents of brand rationalization within GM.

Call it Sigma or Zeta, whatever, but GM still needs a new mid-large rwd architecture. Weight must be addressed, as botht he Sigma and Zeta architectures are too heavy compared to the competition (let alone the effect it has on performance and fuel economy). I'd like to see at least three different sizes offered, midsize CT5/CT6, large DT7 (Lucerne size) and larger DT7 L; and a truck version to replace the 3-row SRX (sport-crossover) and Trailblazer (off-road SUV). Ideally I'd like to offer an upper midsize Grand Prix and large Bonneville on stripped-down, rebodied Cadillac sedan structure, but C- and D-segment Alpha sedans are far more crucial. Camino, don't expect the Colorado replacement to be any smaller. If anything it should be slightly bigger, to better match up with the Hilux and Frontier. Don't forget that outside of NA these are 1-tonners. The true compact pickup is the Gamma-based fwd Montana (which offers a near 3/4 ton payload capacity itself).

I think we all know GM is going to have to make major changes to it's product programs to meet CAFE and European CO2 regulations, however most of us lament the possible death of performance cars such as the G8, and mothballing of the Northstar replacement, while PCS seems to gloat about it. Too often his tone is "HAHA you lose!", rather than the regret and commiseration that I think more people would expect or appreciate from a true enthusiast. There is apparently no desire to explore what measures may be taken to save the DT7, revive Pontiac, or improve the efficiency of larger, rwd vehicles, rather what we hear (intentionally or not) is "S—w you we're killing everything. We don't want to hear about it, we don't want the strategy board to find out it may actually be possible." Too often his given reasons are not "What's good for GM", but the malicious desire to undermine Holden and get rid of any mid-large rwd program.

The biggest problem is getting people to buy the smaller, more efficient trucks. A good, affordable, fuel efficient Colorado replacement which sells anywhere near the Tacoma is essential, as is a NA version of the Montana (get in quick and corner the market before Chrysler or Toyota can develop something in this class) and a dedicated Chevy LCV like Opel's Combo that will sell in volume, but can use small fuel-efficient engines such as the 1.4 and 1.6 turbos. Other needs—proper midsize crossovers to replace the Equinox and Torrent that addresses the weight issues of both the latest Thetas and the Lambdas, offer much improved economy and sell in the same volume as the Edge and Highlander. A fwd version of the 2.9 L four-cylinder as a more economical base engine in the crossover SUVs, instead of the OHV V6 (note Toyota will be using its 2.7 L in the Venza wagon and midsize crossovers).

Don't forget you probably have inventory left over from last year, so you shouldn't continually be producing more cars than you sell (as Toyota has for several years at least), or that inventory keeps getting bigger and bigger … Despite that Toyota has managed to keep sales growing faster than inventory, which keeps the oversupply to a manageable level, even though it is increasing.