GM to consider selling Hummer
By Yoann Besnard on 5 June 2008 | 
(1) Comments | Permalink
GM has officially announced it will re-evaluate the future of the Hummer brand. A sale isn’t excluded.
See also : 4x4 | General Motors | Hummer
GM unveils its restructuring plan
By Yoann Besnard on 5 June 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
GM has announced its plan to close four factories and maybe lay off 10,000 people in an attempt to restructure its business.
See also : General Motors | Industry News
China first quarter saloon sales figures
By Yoann Besnard on 17 May 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Here are the results of saloon sales for the first quarter of 2008 in China.
See also : Buick | Chery | Chinese manufacturers | General Motors | Honda | Hyundai | Toyota | VW
GM buys Detroit headquarters for £313 million
By Yoann Besnard on 13 May 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
GM has announced it has bought the headquarters it currently rents in Detroit for an amount of £313 million.
See also : General Motors | Industry News
GM might switch to unibody for its large SUVs
By Yoann Besnard on 12 May 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
GM might base its future large SUV models on a car-like platform replacing the traditional body-on-frame chassis.
See also : General Motors
20,000 people on Volt’s waiting list
By Yoann Besnard on 12 May 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Despite an unknown sales price, over 20,000 people have expressed interest in buying the future Chevrolet Volt.
See also : Chevrolet | General Motors
Is GM working on a cheap Chevrolet Spark?
By Yoann Besnard on 8 April 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
According to rumours, GM is currently working on a low budget Chevrolet Spark, set to compete with the future Nano, which would cost £1,400 and would be built in China.
See also : General Motors
GM forms joint venture in Uzbekistan
By Yoann Besnard on 22 March 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
GM has set up a joint venture to build Chevrolet cars and sport utility vehicles in Uzbekistan.
See also : General Motors
BMW in talks with GM and Fiat to share engines
By Yoann Besnard on 3 March 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
BMW has entered into talks with Fiat and GM to provide them engines and transmissions according to Automotive News.
See also : General Motors
Daewoo opens a new factory to build gearboxes
By Yoann Besnard on 18 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Daewoo has opened a new facility to build automatic gearboxes at a large scale: 550,000 gearboxes per year. The factory is located in Boryeong, South Korea.
See also : General Motors
Hummer launches two special editions
By Yoann Besnard on 17 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Hummer has announced it will launch two special editions of its current models: the H2 Silver Ice Limited Edition and the H3 Championship Edition.
See also : General Motors
GM to build a Mini competitor?
By Yoann Besnard on 14 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
During a presentation of the Volt’s progress, GM left drawings of what could be a future new Mini competitor sold under the Saab label.
See also : General Motors | Saab [1]
GM to recall 180,000 Chevrolet HHR
By Yoann Besnard on 14 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
General Motors has announced the recall of 181,516 units of the HHR model due to a head injury risk. The problem occurs only with vehicles not equipped with the optional head curtain side air bags.
See also : Chevrolet | General Motors | Industry News
GM announced a £19.8 billion loss for 2007
By Yoann Besnard on 13 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
GM has announced a $38.7/£19.8 billion loss for the 2007 fiscal year. Most of this huge loss is the result of a tax write down realized in the second half of the year.
See also : General Motors
GM to build a Nano competitor
By Yoann Besnard on 11 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
GM will enter the cheapest car competition by launching a Tata Nano’s competitor which will be built in China by Wuling.
See also : General Motors
Hummer and Holden models to be powered by diesel engines
By Yoann Besnard on 1 February 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
The Holden Commodore will soon be powered by a diesel engine as GM as agreed to install the 2.9-litre VMM unit in the saloon. This news doesn’t really come as a surprise. Indeed, the Australian CTS will feature this engine when the car hits the showrooms. The surprise comes from the announcement that the Australian Hummer H3 model will also be available with this engine.
See also : General Motors
Lutz compared tthe Volt to the moon shot
By Yoann Besnard on 28 January 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
In an interview with Wired, the tanned straight talker Bob Lutz likened the Chevrolet Volt project to the moon shot that happened almost forty years ago.
See also : General Motors | Industry News
GM cancels its future V8 program
By Yoann Besnard on 7 January 2008 | (0) Comments | Permalink
GM has announced that it has cancelled a $300-million program to build a new V8 engine for its luxury models due to rising gas prices and tighter emission regulations. This is a surprising move for the American group as it shakes up the Cadillac's roadmap as there is now no successor to the V8 NorthStar expected to cease production in 2010. The company had announced last year that the new engine would be built in the Tonawanda factory by 2009.
See also : Cadillac | General Motors
GM will recall more than 300,000 cars worldwide
By Yoann Besnard on 22 December 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
GM has announced it will recall more than 300,000 cars worldwide to fix a faulty seal on the rear axle pinion. The device in question could leak fluid causing the wheels to seize and lock which would lead to loss of control of the vehicle.
See also : General Motors
"I have no plan to retire", says Bob Lutz
By Yoann Besnard on 14 December 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
If GM cars were as efficient and devoted to their tasks as Bob Lutz is, GM would have no problem to sell them. the czar sent an email to Automotive News saying “Read my lips: I am not thinking retirement. The job is better than ever, and so is GM!!!!“
See also : General Motors
Bob Lutz likely to retire in 2010
By Yoann Besnard on 13 December 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
In an interview with Reuters, the car czar, Bob Lutz has revealed he will retire from GM when the Chevrolet Volt hit the showrooms, sometimes in 2010.
See also : General Motors
Hummer to go to Japan
By Yoann Besnard on 11 December 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Hummer is not officially sold in Japan, but among the imported models, the brand is quite a star. For Japanese young buyers, it represents the supreme achievement of the American way of life. Despite the tiny potential market, Hummer CEO Martin Walsh has announced that the iconic brand would go to the sun rising country.
See also : General Motors
GM has opened a design studio in India
By Yoann Besnard on 11 December 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
India appears to get attention from all car makers recently. After Volkswagen which will build the Up! in India, General Motors has opened a new Design Center in Bangalore. The Indian Designer is the eleventh design studio based abroad for GM and is located at the GN technical Center-India, one of the four technical centers GM owns in the Asia-Pacific region.
See also : General Motors
First teaser of the Chevrolet Volt
By Yoann Besnard on 11 December 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Without a doubt, the Chevrolet was the star of the 2007 Detroit Motor Show as GM promised to bring the plug-in hybrid to production in 2010 at the earliest. The American car maker has released a teaser of the front fascia and changes have been made to ensure that the Volt will have a better aerodynamic drag.
See also : General Motors
HX Concept previews the future H4
By Yoann Besnard on 11 December 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Hummer has released sketches of its concept car due to be unveiled at the Detroit Motor Show. Dubbed HX Concept, it is the result of contest between three newly hired designers. They have been given the task of providing a “vision for the future design of off-road vehicles.“
See also : 4x4 | General Motors
Hummer H3 Black edition
By Yoann Besnard on 10 December 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
European Hummer fans can rub their hands as the importer of the iconic SUV has launched a limited edition of the H3 model called Black Edition. Only 50 units will be sold in Europe and, of course, the vehicle will feature a black paint and a black interior.
See also : General Motors
American car makers to stop building large pick-up models
By Yoann Besnard on 9 December 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Due to a big sales slump in November, Chrysler, Ford and GM have announced they will stop producing temporarily the large pick-ups in order to avoid having a whole stock of them.
See also : Chrysler | Ford | General Motors | Industry News
GM recalls 90,000 vehicles
By Yoann Besnard on 22 November 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
December means Christmas and GM thought at its customers in its own way! The American car maker will recall 90,000 vehicles to operate several fixes.
See also : General Motors
Is GM the future leader of hybrid cars?
By Yoann Besnard on 20 November 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
In an interview given to the CNBC, GM CEO Rick Wagoner declared that the American carmaker will release a new hybrid vehicle every three months until 2011. He said: “We will have one new hybrid coming out every quarter for next four years. We've got four on the market right now. We are getting in the game with a range of technologies.”
See also : General Motors
Big Three lose majority market share
By Yoann Besnard on 6 August 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
It looks like an revolution. For the first time in 102 years, the Big Three American carmakers have lost their majority market share to imported brands. According to Automotive News, American carmakers sold 629,569 vehicles while imported brands delivered 679,523 vehicles in July. This gave the latter a 51.4% market share.
See also : Chrysler | Ford | General Motors
Hummer H4
By Yoann Besnard on 6 August 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Despite its rather gloomy current circumstances, Hummer is determined to expand its current range by adding a new model. But instead of a gas guzzler, the new off-road will be smaller than the successful H3. Hummer CEO Martin Walsh gave more information to Hummer dealers. The new baby Hummer will target the Jeep Wrangler.
See also : General Motors
Cadillac lowers its sales target in Europe
By Yoann Besnard on 24 July 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
It is no secret that the Cadillac BLS is a failure on the European market. This a bad news for the American carmaker, who had planned to establish the brand on the continent with the mid-sized saloon. The time has therefore come to review the sales target. At the Cadillac headquarters there is no room for niceties. From the originally planned 20,000 units in 2003, the target will be 10,000 for 2007.
See also : General Motors
No Cadillac Sixteen
By Yoann Besnard on 9 July 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
Bob Lutz announced recently that plans to produce the Cadillac Sixteen have been shelved. Lutz cites GM's will to meet the corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards.
See also : General Motors
Cadillac BLS Wagon
By Yoann Besnard on 4 July 2007 | (0) Comments | Permalink
It would seem that Cadillac still has faith in the BLS despite the low sales figures in 2006. The carmaker revealed an estate variant dubbed Wagon last March that will be finally sold in November, just after an official launch at the Frankfurt motor show.
See also : General Motors
Cadillac and Corvette back in the UK
By Stéphane Schlesinger on 14 October 2005 | (1) Comments | Permalink
After a failed attempt between 1998 and 2003 (only 3,000 cars sold), Cadillac and Corvette are being relaunched in the UK. This time, Cadillac's range seems more competitive, including the Sweden-built executive sedan BLS, the luxury saloon CTS and the huge SRX, an enormous SUV. Even if those brands are still part of GM, they will be commercialised by an independant importer, the Dutch run Kroymans group.
They assume they number of dealers will amount to 20 by the end of 2008, which should allow to sell 7,000 cars over this period.
Prices will start at £20,000 for the BLS (available with an excellent diesel engine designed by Fiat), £24,850 for the 2.8 V6 CTS and £ 29,850 for the 3.6 V6 SRX.
As for the Corvette, it's been separated from Chevrolet and form an independant brand within the GM galaxy. The 186mph 400bhp C6 coupe is priced at £45,850 and the convertible at £51,850.
Fortunately, this time, these cars will come with a right-hand drive (excepted the SRX before 12 months and the Corvette) even if the BLS is not expected before May 2006. Then we'll see if the it can actually take BMW's remarkable 3-Series.
See also : Chevrolet | General Motors
Cadifiat or Fiadillac ?
By Stéphane Schlesinger on 1 June 2005 | (1) Comments | Permalink
Specially meant for Europe, here is the Cadillac BLS. Imitating the angular styling of the CTS, this compact sedan will offer diesel engines, a prerequisite for success in Europe.
Guess what? Its 1.9 diesel unit is called JTD in Italy! Yes, this is the first Fiat-powered Cad’ ever: a remnant of the dead Fiat-GM alliance. This is far from being a bad bet, since Fiat’s know-how in terms of common-rail technology is world widely acknowledged.
Another interesting point: the platform of this new Cadillac is called “Premium”. Does it ring a bell? To me, yes: this is the name given to another platform: the Alfa 159’s! No need to worry anyway: all these components are technologically excellent.
Cadillac hopes to sell 20,000 copies a year of its new front-wheel-drive car, which will be available in Europe only. To achieve this goal, other engines will be offered: a 2.8 turbo diesel V6 and two turbocharged petrol engines, of respectively 2.0 and 2.8 litres.
The American carmaker has not disclosed any horsepower rating yet, but promises the handling and ride will be among the best in class, relying on Mc Pherson front struts and a multilink rear suspension. Of course, the equipment list will match Cadillac’s standards, including a touch-screen operated DVD-based GPS system combined with a Bluetooth telephone.
This is not too much to compete with the Audi A4, the Mercedes C-Class or the BMW 3-Series late 2005.
See also : General Motors
