Section: General Motors
Written By: Winding Road Staff
May 9th, 2008 4:12 PM
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Now that GM has given a hybrid powertrain to the new-for-2008 Malibu, Chevrolet’s mid-size runner has a lot more to bring to the table and offers a real stiff competition for the Toyota Camry. We like the Malibu’s styling and interior refinement, but after a week in our test fleet, we’re having doubts about the Chevrolet competing with the likes of Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive.
Click through the jump for our full driving impressions and click the images below to open a gallery.
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Written By: Seyth Miersma
April 30th, 2008 4:00 PM
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It seems as if the ball was called just a bit too early on a set of spy shots sent to us recently by Brenda Priddy & Company, as the MPV mule that had been spotted on its way out of the General Motors proving ground has since been discovered to not be a GM product at all.
Initial speculation had it that the mule seen here was the first look at GM new global MPV preparing for a future of battling with such worldly people movers as Mazda’s 5, Volkswagen’s Touran, and Opel’s Zafira. That seemingly good guess was given a healthy dose of probability by the car’s being spotted just leaving GM’s Milford, Michigan test facility.
(Click through the jump to read more including Priddy’s new take on the mysterious MPV.)
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Written By: Seyth Miersma
April 29th, 2008 3:30 PM
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It’s been well established that the 2008 Chevrolet Malibu has been a sales leader for General Motors, easily surpassing the popularity of the out-going model. Interestingly though, J.D. Power and Associates is reporting that a fair amount of import owners are opting for new Malibu’s as well. Nearly one-fifth, 19.8 percent, of all trade-ins for the new car were imports. That number is up significantly from 12.5 percent for the last generation car in 2007.
Malibu is claiming conquests from the Japanese brands at a 4.6 percent better rate than last year. The combined percentage of trade-ins from the likes of Honda, Toyota, and Nissan was up to 9.7 percent in the first quarter of the year.
Overall Power ranked the Malibu as number 17 among the top-selling 20 models for the first quarter of 2008, and the fifth- best-selling midsize conventional sedan.
Click through the jump to read the full break-down of the J.D. Power Malibu trade results.
+ J.D. Power
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Written By: Seyth Miersma
April 25th, 2008 3:15 PM
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It looks as if Cadillac is preparing to bring drivers the CTS wagon they never knew that they always wanted, as evidenced by these new spy shots of a sport wagon variant from the lens of Brenda Priddy & Co.
Priddy tells us that General Motors will start production of the wagon at the Lansing Grand River Assembly Plant in the spring of 2009. Sales targets for the car will be in the neighborhood of 10,000 to 12,000 units per year, with untold numbers of groceries, camping equipment, and dogs set to be hauled.
Even in this bulky cladding we can’t help but feel that the edgy lines of the CTS will make a handsome translation to wagon form. Have a look at the spy images in the gallery below or click through the jump to read Priddy’s thoughts. Make sure to leave us your thoughts on the CTS wagon, in comments.
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Written By: Seyth Miersma
April 21st, 2008 11:00 AM
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Two General Motors brands were at opposite ends of consumers shopping lists during 2007, with new sales statistics showing big changes in segment popularity.
GM’s Saturn brand was tied for the greatest jump up in new vehicle registrations per franchise last year, up by 55 over 2006 to a total of 479 registrations. BMW showed the same improvement for the year.
Meanwhile Hummer had a less auspicious sales year, with the average franchise registering just 285 new vehicles in 2007. That number was a drop of 90 from 2006, just beating out American Honda, which recorded a drop of 89 registrations per franchise, for the worst year-over-year performance.
Saturn’s success can be partly attributed to an influx of new vehicles, the brand’s greater fuel economy across the range, and rising fuel costs. Conversely Hummer’s slack sales can be attributed to a general decline in the large SUV segment in the U.S.
(Have a look at the popular Saturn Sky in our gallery below.)
+ Automotive News: Hummer plummets, Saturn soars in sales per franchise (subscription required)
If you’ve got an idea for Question of the Day, a funny photo for Caption It, or just want to share a news tip, let us know at windingroadtips@gmail.com
Written By: David Yang
April 20th, 2008 12:00 PM
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General Motors China’s mini-commercial vehicle joint venture with SAIC and Wuling Motors, introduced the new Wuling Rong Guang minivan today on its stand at Auto China 2008.
With a length of 157.5 inches, height of 75.5 inches, width of 63.8 inches and wheelbase of 106.3, the Rong Guang offers a much more spacious cabin than traditional mini-commercial vehicle. Its 1.2-liter DOHC gasoline engine generates maximum of 70 horsepower per liter (84 total) and maximum torque of 80 foot-pounds at 4,000 rpm. The Rong Guang consumes less than 5.5 liters of gasoline per 100 kilometers (about 43 mpg) under a constant speed of 50 km/h and is expected to reach Chinese dealers in May.
(Click on the thumbnails below to check out a gallery of Rong Guang images or through the jump to read on.)
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Written By: Seyth Miersma
April 18th, 2008 11:00 AM
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General Motors tipped its hand about an upcoming seven-passenger MPV in the labor agreement it drew up with the United Auto Workers in 2007. Now the spy shooters of Brenda Priddy & Company have come across the first fruit of that agreement with these images of a new MPV mule out and testing.
The vehicle appears to be built on GM’s global Delta chassis, which is an excellent indication that the MPV will be offered in many markets, and under the umbrella of several of GM’s brands worldwide. Priddy expects that the vehicle will be built domestically at the Hamtramck, Michigan plant, though much of the R&D work was likely done at the facility in South Korea.
The new hauler will most likely end up in the hands of Chevrolet, with Opel and Daewoo also being logical recipients. Have a look at Priddy’s handiwork in our gallery below or click through the jump to read the spy shooter’s impressions of the new MPV.
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Written By: Seyth Miersma
April 17th, 2008 3:00 PM
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Members of the United Auto Workers union called a strike this morning at General Motors’ Lansing Delta Township plant. The Lansing plant is responsible for production of a trio of popular GM crossovers: the Saturn Outlook, Buick Enclave, and the GMC Acadia.
While both GM and UAW held back giving a specific cause for the work stoppage, its known that the group that staffs the plant, UAW Local 602, has been working without a local contract agreement with the automaker. The local agreement would cover work rules for the roughly 2,300 workers at the Delta Township facility.
(Click through the jump to read more.)
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Written By: Seyth Miersma
April 16th, 2008 9:00 AM
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Despite recent reports from United Auto Workers officials and industry pundits, General Motors said yesterday that it would not soon run out of axles for its Chevrolet Malibu and Pontiac G6 sedans.
GM’s group vice president for purchasing and supply chain, Bo Andersson (pictured), indicated that the automaker was in solid shape for continued production, responding to a question of when the axle supply would run out by saying, “Based on the way I see it now, never.” Andersson declined to provide the specifics but said that GM has, “a good plan for handling the potential shortage.”
The automaker had been thought to be running low on a key component for the rear suspensions of the Chevy and Pontiac sedans, and shutdowns were predicted for the GM plants in Orion, Michigan and Fairfax, Kansas. With dealer inventories of the sedans running to about 40-days, the prevailing thinking had been that GM would need to step in and broker a deal between American Axle and the UAW.
+ Automotive News: GM doesn’t expect axle shortage for sedans (subscription required)
If you’ve got an idea for Question of the Day, a funny photo for Caption It, or just want to share a news tip, let us know at windingroadtips@gmail.com
Written By: Winding Road Staff
April 10th, 2008 10:42 PM
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If you think Bob Lutz doesn’t pay attention to what people are saying about GM, think again. The GM Vice Chairman recently sat down with FastCompany.tv and went on record for seventeen minutes about social media and what the new age form of communication has done to change the conversation between consumers, manufacturers and the media. Of course, Lutz became one of the first automotive executives to ever pen his own blog; GM’s “Fast Lane Blog” has become a must read for those inside the automotive industry and out.
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Written By: Winding Road Staff
April 10th, 2008 1:00 PM
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The Holden VE Ute is what the Chevrolet SSR could, and should, have been. Fortunately, it seems that the VE Ute is what in the not to distant future the new El Camino will be, albeit with a different emblem on its grille.
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