Bob Lutz is in The Wall Street Journal this week, and the former Vice Chairman at discusses what he sees as the reason for the automaker’s previous failings. His illustrative example? A company Christmas card. Sounds weird, but Mr. Lutz’s example hit home nicely.
Lutz tells the story of then-boss Jim Roche, and a drawn-out mission to get the Wreath and Crest’s Christmas card just right. After countless versions, a simple painting of a boy with a sled turned into a Cadillac driving to a mansion along a snow-covered drive.
The point? Lutz’s example shows in glaring detail the level of corporate waste and inefficiency that characterized GM through much of the post-war period. That culture, and the lack of an iron-fisted leader, are what Lutz blames for dragging the company down. Check out Lutz’s full thoughts .
has said that the company is no longer interested in being the world’s largest automaker in sales, according to Automotive News. Satoshi Ozawa, executive vice president for Toyota, was quoted as saying that there was no meaning behind the brand being in the top slot, and that customer service and satisfaction were more important to his company. Ozawa also said that he believes that Toyota will never have the goal of being number one.
In the past, the Japanese automaker had said that it intended to carve out a 15-percent slice of the global sales market. That would have made the company first in sales by default.
Toyota eclipsed as the world’s largest automaker in 2007, but a recent rash of recalls, quality and reliability concerns have been attributed to the company’s quick expansion. This year, Toyota expects to see compared to last year due to the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disasters of March of this year.
2012 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 – Click above for high-res image gallery
The will go into production in the first quarter of next year, and now, Al Oppenheiser, ‘ chief engineer on the , has confirmed a few details about what we can expect with the range-topping muscle coupe.
During the Camaro homecoming at GM’s Oshawa pant, Oppenheiser stated that in addition to an automatic transmission option, the ZL1 will be available with the same Performance Traction Management system found on the . In the Corvette, PTM incorporates launch control, as well as the normal traction control, active handling and selective ride control systems.
What’s more, Oppenheiser stated that the ZL1’s output numbers will be higher than the originally estimated 550 horsepower. The ZL1 is powered by the same supercharged 6.2-liter V8 as the .
In an effort to attract more car buyers to , and dealerships, will now offer two-year, 30,00-mile standard vehicle maintenance package as part of its Certified Pre-Owned Vehicle program. The no-cost maintenance program includes free oil changes whenever the Oil Life Monitor system says one is needed, tire rotations and multi-point inspections.
The announcement, which is now in effect, comes in addition to a one-year, 12,000-mile overall warranty, a five-year, 100,000-mile powertrain warranty and a 172-point inspection. GM will also continue to offer a free trial of OnStar and XM Satellite Radio.
GM sales director Jennifer Costabile says that the move will give customers more for their money, adding that the program “offers our customers an outstanding experience from the moment they drive their Chevrolet, Buick or GMC Certified Pre-Owned vehicle off of the lot.” The General hopes that the program will increase the value of the Certified Pre-Owned Vehicle program, while also lowering the total cost of vehicle ownership. to read over the GM press release.
It’s a car you can’t really drive, but expects that a 1939 with a Plexiglas body will go for anywhere between $275,000 to $475,000 at the St. John’s auction that’s being held as part of the in Plymouth, MI this July. The Pontiac was built for the 1939-1940 New York World’s Fair and appeared as part of General Motors’ “Futurama” exhibit that showcased how the immediate pre-World War II imagination pictured 1960.
See-through cars were not part of the prediction, but a tough new transparent material that could be molded into such a complex shape was certainly something worth showing off. The Pontiac’s body was created by , inventor of Plexiglas, to show off its revolutionary new material, and this particular car is the only one of two such vehicles that’s known to survive.
This Poncho is unrestored, so there’s some visible damage that’s been accumulated over the years, but this impressive artifact is the first full-size automobile rendered see-through and therefore deserves a place of prominence in someone’s collection… or living room. Either way, it will be a conversation piece.
New Cadillac Dealership showroom – Click above for high-res image gallery
has unveiled the new look for the company’s dealerships. The luxury arm’s designers partnered up with Gensler architects to create a new showroom design. Extensive use of high-quality materials like English oak, matte porcelain tile, limestone tile, brushed stainless steel accents and plenty of high-quality lighting are all part of the mix.
According to GM, over 200 Cadillac dealerships have committed to the upgrades. In addition to the new materials, each showroom will boast custom art and designer furniture, including an array of photography designed to highlight the company’s design philosophy and Knoll Barcelona lounge chairs. Expect to find a fully-functional coffee bar on your next visit to a Caddy dealer, too.
Dealer staff are also getting a bit of a revamp in the form of customer service training from the Ritz-Carlton hotel gurus. So far, Suburban Cadillac of Ann Arbor is the first dealer to finish up the revamp, though more should complete their renovations soon. for a look at the full press release.
Glenn Beck on the gas tax – Click above to watch video
If there’s one thing that is fast becoming true about the , it’s that . So, we will admit up front that this story comes straight out of the “predictable/it’s not news when an idiot says something stupid” file, but it’s still worth something.
What’s the deal? Well, apparently, Fox News’ Glenn Beck and Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain think it’s beyond the pale for General Motors’ CEO, Dan Akerson, to have . Beck got his dander up, saying to Akerson (through the camera):
I’ve seen your crappy new electric car, and no one’s buying it… A 50-cent gas tax would make everyone puke. A dollar might make me puke my heart and lungs. There is a bi-partisan pukage going on here with GM, and that’s what happens when gas goes up.
There’s nothing in the way of context or reasons why a gas tax might be a good thing, but Beck does draw ties between Akerson and George Soros (one of Beck’s favorite targets) and others through the Carlyle Group. See for yourself . The gas tax discussion starts at minute 26:30.
2011Hyundai Sonata – Click above for high-res image gallery
is taking a shot at and OnStar by announcing that every will come with the company’s Blue Link system as standard equipment. In addition to providing a direct connection to emergency services in the event of an accident, Blue Link also delivers traffic and weather updates and allows owners easy access to roadside assistance. Buyers can also pair their smartphones with Blue Link to help locate their vehicle in a crowded parking lot or to play Big Brother to their children. The system can keep track of where the vehicle is being driven and how fast it’s going.
Hyundai has also managed to eek a little more efficiency from the sedan. The base 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine is now good for 24 miles per gallon – a gain of 2 mpg – in the city and 35 mpg on the highway, and models equipped with the company’s 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder now net 22 mpg and 34 mpg highway, up from 33 mpg highway in last year’s car. The Korean automaker says that the small changes mean that the Sonata now leads all mid-sized sedans in fuel economy, excluding hybrids. for the press blast.
2011Cadillac SRX – Click above for high-res image gallery
has announced that it is recalling 47,401 models. The vehicles are programmed to deactivate the right-side roof rail airbag if sensors detect that the right side seat is unoccupied. That means that in the event of a rollover, rear seat occupants may not be protected by the supplemental restraint system. As such, the vehicles fail to comply with federal motor vehicle safety standard 208, which deals specifically with occupant protection.
GM says that dealers will reprogram the airbag system free of charge. Cadillac SRX owners can expect to be notified of the recall on or around June 17 and may call directly for more information on the program. for the full recall notice.
Starting today, dealers in all 50 states will begin taking orders for the . For the 2012 model year, has priced the Volt at $39,995 (including an $850 destination charge) before federal and state incentives. The base MSRP of the 2012 Volt is $1,005 less than the . For the record, GM says that the reduced price of the 2012 model is due to the “wider range of options and configurations that come with the expansion of Volt production for sale nationally.”
For the 2012 model year, Volt buyers will be faced with choosing from a total of seven option packages. A loaded Volt – packed with luxury touches like leather seats, a backup camera, navigation system, premium paint and fancy dancy wheels – comes in at $46,265 (including the aforementioned $850 destination charge).
The 2012 Volt will be offered with two additional interior accents: white and spiced red; and two brand spankin’ new exterior hues: Summit White and Blue Topaz Metallic. Some additional features for 2012 include standard keyless entry with passive locking, OnStar turn-by-turn navigation, Chevrolet MyLink and 17-inch alloys with black inserts (late availability).
Customers across the nation can visit their nearest Chevy dealer to order a 2012 Volt. Of course, ordering a Volt does not necessarily mean that you’ll take delivery of it any time soon. For the Volt’s estimated arrival date in your neck of the woods, refer to the map above. Also, don’t forget to check out GM’s press release .
General Motors has announced that it plans to invest $49 million in the company’s Bedford, Indiana manufacturing facility. The cash will go towards purchasing the tooling and equipment necessary to build a new eight-speed automatic transmission as well as a range of small-displacement engines. GM isn’t saying exactly where we can expect to see the new eight-speed auto, but we do know that the engine program will turn out four-cylinder mills from 1.0 to 1.5 liters. You can probably bet that forced induction will be part of that party, too.
The move is part of a greater $2 billion investment program currently underway, with funds headed to a number of plants, including Bowling Green, Arlington, Toledo, Bay City, Flint, Lansing and Warren.
GM says that the Bedford funds will create or retain a total of 91 jobs at the plant, which currently has 405 salaried workers. for the full press release.
The Astra is a car of many hats. It’s sold as an Opel in Europe, a Vauxhall in the UK, a in China and a in South America. The previous model was even sold as a in North America and as a Holden in Australia.
Now that’s versatility for you, and its body-styles are just as pervasive. The five-door hatch launched in 2009 has since bred a wagon variant, the last week, and there’s two more to come – including the convertible that’s simultaneously surfaced in these spy shots and in the rendering (below right) released by ’s European design studio.
Whereas the previous Astra cabrio went with a folding hard top, the new model is expected to incorporate a soft roof to save on space and weight. The resulting shape ought to be a bit longer than the hatchback, but maintain a svelte profile. Four seats and a usable trunk are also said to be part of the package, with the roof folding into its own compartment aft of the cabin and below an elegant chrome surround.
The Astra cabrio is expected to hit markets overseas in 2013. But with Saturn long gone, it remains to be seen whether will bring it over to its home market at all.
The rumormill is churning at full steam over whispers that is once again considering selling Opel. According to Reuters, two German magazines have reported similar tales without citing any sources, saying that GM is concerned that Opel won’t be able to return to profitability anytime soon. The General hasn’t commented on the situation publicly, but called the talk speculation in a letter to its employees. That comes after Dan Akerson, CEO of GM, said that Opel is continuing to bleed cash despite selling more vehicles than before.
The murky reports of Opel’s sale claim that the automaker could go to a number of potential buyers. Those include the usual suspects like any one of a multitude of unnamed Chinese automakers or more curiously, Volkswagen. The logic behind a VW purchase of Opel is based on the fact that the people’s automaker has fat stacks of cash on hand and an unwavering thirst to be the world’s largest automaker. Reuters reports that Volkswagen refused to comment on the situation.
The United States government still has a vested interest in the success of . In fact, the U.S. government is sitting on 500 million shares, which are currently worth about $14.3 billion dollars based on current prices. There is a problem, though, as the U.S. Treasury Department was hoping to get a larger pile of green for its GM investment.
When with its IPO, the per-share price was $33. Now, it’s down around $28.78, which doesn’t sound like much of a drop, but across 500 million shares, that figure represents a massive hit to the wallet.
For the time being, BusinessWeek reports that the U.S. government is going to sit on the stock in the hopes that it climbs back to IPO levels.
2011 MEV Hummer HX – Click above to watch the video
The concept was supposed to be ‘ answer to the . To put it mildly, that failed to materialize. General Motors killed as part of its bankruptcy-induced limb severing in 2009, before the HX could be brought to fruition as the H4, as had been rumored.
For those of you who wish the HX had indeed surfaced, we have some excellent news: My Electric Vehicle, or MEV, has appropriated the HX concept, added an electric drivetrain and created the MEV Hummer HX. The MEV HX is a fully electric golf cart resort vehicle, licensed by GM and sporting Hummer wheels and skid plates.
We’re still trying to figure out if the MEV Hummer HX has any practical purpose, which could take some time. While we’re doing that, feel free to to see a video of the $16,000 electric Hummer knockoff in action.
2008 Cadillac BLS – Click above for high-res image gallery
Automotive News is reporting that will begin to manufacture vehicles outside of North America by the end of next year. Dan Akerson, GM CEO, says the move is part of an overall strategy to make the Wreath and Crest a truly global brand. Right now, Cadillac vehicles are manufactured only in U.S. and Mexican facilities, despite the fact that the models are sold all over the world. Expanding production outside of those two countries would help protect Cadillac from currency fluctuations and help the company better manage its supply chain, Akerson said.
As of right now, there’s no indication as to where the new plants will be located, but we wouldn’t be shocked if it turned out to be China.
Akerson also said that GM wants to make Cadillac the company’s global luxury brand just as Chevrolet is its current global value brand. The General hopes that doing so will allow the automaker to emulate the success that Toyota has had with Lexus.
Cadillac has experimented with production outside of North America in the past with lackluster results. The unloved -based BLS sedan and wagon (above) was produced in Sweden from 2005-2009 and Russia from 2009-2010.
“They are trying like hell to resurrect . Well, I might as well tell you, you might as well sprinkle holy water. It’s over.”
So says CEO Dan Akerson, speaking to reporters from The Detroit News. Fightin’ words to be sure, though it seems the suits at Lincoln, Ford’s luxury brand that competes with here in the United States, have declined to comment on Akerson’s statement.
The dismissal of the Lincoln brand seems especially interesting given Akerson’s reported take on the current state of Cadillac. Akerson is said to believe that Cadillac isn’t yet where it needs to be, saying the brand needs another 12 to 24 months of gestation. By that time, there ought to be bookends to the current in place in the form of the (smaller) and (larger, replacing the and ).
Still, Akerson doesn’t expect to “blow the doors off” Cadillac’s competition, saying instead that “they will be very competitive.” We’d think Caddy would be aiming squarely at something more like “class leading,” but what do we know?
The GM CEO also weighed in on alternative powertrains, suggesting that the plug-in extended-range electric will be “old, old technology and old news” five years from now. “In the next 10 years,” he said, “this company has to break the code on advanced propulsion and that’s going to be a multifaceted solution.”
That multifaceted solution will apparently include dual-fuel engines that run on either compressed natural gas or gasoline along with various hybrids and electric drivetrains. What we won’t see, though, are a ton of vehicles running on ethanol or hydrogen. Interesting sentiments (though we don’t necessarily disagree), considering that GM currently has scads of machinery that’s E85-capable and has made it through its fourth generation of hydrogen fuel cell technology.
For the rest of the tidbits uttered by Akerson, check out on The Detroit News.
Talk to most car fans about V8 supercars and they’ll probably start talking and . But to Australians, V8 Supercars is a racing series – one of the most popular touring car series in the world, and one that is only gaining popularity.
The championship pits race-spec Falcons and Holden Commodores against each other on road courses around Australia and New Zealand, but has been known to travel abroad as well. This year’s calendar kicked off in Abu Dhabi, after previous seasons included trips to Bahrain and China. But coming years could see the Aussie series making the trans-Pacific voyage to North America.
Recent developments have given the predominantly Australian championship a more international profile. For one, the FIA has promoted it to international status, as opposed to a national series. For another, a steady stream of world-renowned racing drivers (like multiple Indy 500 winners Dario Franchitti and Helio Castroneves, four-time Champ Car champ Sebastien Bourdais, multiple touring car champions Andy Priaulx and Yvan Muller, and former F1 world champ Jacques Villeneuve) have been flying Down Under to take a crack at it. Speed’s coverage of some of the series’ marquee events hasn’t hurt either, and the series’ – a private equity firm who bought it from a consortium of promoters and teams – may be eager to capitalize on their investment.
While the series’ organizers have previously rejected the notion of coming to North America, with all these factors aligned, they’re suddenly singing a different tune. is apparently keen on the idea, which could come to fruition as early as the 2013 season if all the stars line up just right. Just where such a race might take place remains to be seen, but a West Coast venue would be the smart bet. Organizers could, meanwhile, opt to hold a race as part of a stand-alone three-day weekend event like its home races in Australia, or pair it with an existing spectacle such as an IndyCar or ALMS race.
Bumblebee shills for Chevrolet – Click above to watch video
On July 1, 2011, Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon will hit theaters around the country. When it does, one automaker in particular will be smiling, as its vehicles take center stage in the film. As it did in previous installments of the mega-popular movie series, General Motors cars and trucks make up . Chevrolet is jumping on the tie-in, and a new ad has popped up showing the Bumblebee Camaro in action.
While your own real-life Bumblebee Camaro can’t save you from an invasion of angry, shape-shifting robots, it . to watch the “real” Bumblebee show off the Bowtie badge in Chevy’s new “Getaway” spot – you might even catch a glimpse of a speedster version of the .
2011 Chevrolet Volt – Click above for high-res image gallery
The has , and new tests by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s New Car Assessment Program prove that the earlier results were not a fluke. The Volt scored a five-star overall safety rating, which is the highest-possible score in NHTSA’s new and more strict safety tests for 2011 model year vehicles.
says that a comprehensive system of safety features – specifically the StabiliTrak electronic stability control system and a bunch of air bags – helped the Volt become the first electric vehicle to get five stars.
The “first” part might be simply because NHTSA has not yet tested a . , and we expect the all-electric hatch will match ’s plug-inhybrid for safety – . Until then, we can view with fascination the Chevy Volt crash videos .
