General Motors

  • Chevrolet Volt will need big subsidies

    Producing hybrid vehicles is expensive for carmakers but customers aren’t willing to pay huge premiums to cover the extra cost of the technology especially when they can get a comparable petrol or diesel vehicle for thousands less. The Toyota Prius is the current top selling hybrid but its prices start at $22,000. There’s no way GM could sell its upcoming Volt for that kind of money and still be profitable, which means the General will likely have to heavily subsidize the cost of the car to get it off the showroom floor. GM is targeting a price of around $30,000 to $35,000 for the...

  • Opel prepping Meriva Concept for Geneva
    Opel prepping Meriva Concept for Geneva

    We normally wouldn’t cover cars like the Meriva on this website but Opel has an exciting design planned for the next-generation model as this latest concept sketch reveals. The new Meriva is set to be one of the sleekest and sportiest minicars on the market but its launch is still several...

  • Camaro hybrid possible, other GM RWDs are not
    Camaro hybrid possible, other GM RWDs are not

    The full repercussions of the new CAFE standards have yet to be realized, but already plans are being shaken up and reworked. For GM, the first real casualty is the RWD V8 revival that we've been so anxiously anticipating. Don't worry, the Camaro is still coming - and may even get a hybrid variant...

  • New markets won’t save GM
    New markets won’t save GM

    Dwindling sales in the U.S. has carmakers looking to new emerging markets for the next wave of growth but according to one GM exec that alone won’t help to achieve financial success. GM, like most other carmakers, will have to improve its performance in the U.S., the world’s biggest car...

  • GM could fight Nano with Chinese help
    GM could fight Nano with Chinese help

    SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co. came to the attention of many for the first time thanks to last week's snafu involving the inclusion of 500,000 Wuling-produced cars in GM's corporate tally in an effort to stay at the head of the pack. But the latest word is that the American company could leverage...

  • GM looks to compact turbo engines to improve mileage
    GM looks to compact turbo engines to improve mileage

    It looks like impending CAFE regulations are going to have a bigger impact on GM’s future powertrains than initially thought. Officials have made it clear that V8s will have a limited role in GM’s future lineup and Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said we can all forget about a new Pontiac GTO...

  • GM speeding up hybrid roll out with new global team

    General Motors is establishing a new global engineering team dedicated to the development of its next generation of electrically-driven vehicles. The global organization will have teams working around the clock in locations such as North America, Germany and China, and whose main focus will be to speed up the launch of a new range of hybrid and extended-range electric vehicles. The new engineering team will develop vehicles using a variety of propulsion systems including petrol-electric hybrids as well as the E-Flex architecture. Some of the cars currently in development include a new range...

  • UPDATE: GM beats Toyota for overall sales title - or not
    UPDATE: GM beats Toyota for overall sales title - or not

    UPDATE: It turns out GM may not have edged Toyota out at all - in fact, GM may be the No. 2 auto maker in the world for the first time in 76 years if the most recent reports on sales numbers prove accurate. According to Automotive News the American company's earlier totals of 9.369 million vehicles...

  • GM confirms next Corsa will be built in the U.S.
    GM confirms next Corsa will be built in the U.S.

    Due to rising demand for fuel efficient cars in the U.S., carmakers are keen to increase their respective small car lineups in the world’s biggest market. Few are as desperate for the tiny runabouts as the Detroit 3 but things are starting to change. GM is leading the charge with plans to...

  • Holden prepping new concept car for Melbourne Show
    Holden prepping new concept car for Melbourne Show

    Most of the car-related buzz coming out of Australia at the moment relates to the launch of the next-generation Ford Falcon sedan, which is set to take place at next month’s Melbourne Motor Show. Arch rival Holden, however, isn’t one to sit idly by and let Ford take all of the...

  • GM unveils China-designed hybrid
    GM unveils China-designed hybrid

    Just five years ago GM was selling a little over 100,000 vehicles per year in China, and only two years ago the figure was 500,000. Today, GM’s sales tally in the rapidly expanding market is in excess of one million vehicles and a significant number of these are Buicks. The brand is so...

  • American made Astra in the works?
    American made Astra in the works?

    The continuing story of America's devaluing dollar difficulties is one of ups and downs. While it's certainly disturbing for Americans to see their money worth less and less on the global scene, increasingly affordable American labor is drawing the eyes of many car makers. Already Mercedes-Benz...

  • Mainstream carbon fiber still 10 years off

    Most performance enthusiasts are well versed in the benefits of carbon-fiber, but if GM has its way your mom could be extolling the virtues of the space age material as well. In fact, as GM exec Tom Wallace pointed out in a recent interview, "carbon is one-fifth the weight of a composite, which is half the weight of steel." Wallace is currently in charge of GM’s sports car line, which includes cars like the Chevrolet Corvette, Cadillac XLR, Pontiac Solstice, Saturn Sky and Opel/Vauxhall GT, and he’s also part of a team investigating how high-volume, mainstream models can benefit...

  • GM planning brand superstores
    GM planning brand superstores

    General Motors is one of the most diverse carmakers in the business, commanding up to eight brands in the U.S. alone. Officials now hope to harmonize all of these brands under the one roof by creating new superstores in metro areas, allowing customers to cross-shop all of GM’s brands in a...

  • CAFE rules put new Monaro/GTO and Impala on hold
    CAFE rules put new Monaro/GTO and Impala on hold

    GM’s RWD future was looking rosy until the U.S. government decided to vote in favor of new CAFE rules, forcing carmakers to improve the average fuel economy of their fleets to 35mpg by 2020. We were teased with all manner of RWD, V8 powered muscle cars, including sedans, coupes, and even a...

  • U.S. to get Holden Ute but misses out on sports wagon
    U.S. to get Holden Ute but misses out on sports wagon

    More rumors suggesting Americans will soon be seeing the Australian-built Holden VE Ute Stateside have flared up again, with GM insiders claiming the utility will be sold as the new Pontiac G8 ST sometime later this year or early next year. Unfortunately, these same insiders claim plans for a G8...

  • GM invests in ethanol production...from garbage
    GM invests in ethanol production...from garbage

    Those of us that grew up with the Back to the Future series of movies generally feel a little short-changed when it comes to the innovations promised and not delivered. But GM's doing its best to remedy that by teaming up with Coskata, Inc., a company that has found a way to turn garbage into...

  • GM considering ‘micro-premium’ car
    GM considering ‘micro-premium’ car

    Size no longer matters when it comes to the premium consumers are willing to pay for a little bit of luxury. You only have to look at the runaway success BMW has been having with its Mini range and to a lesser extent its 1-series model to see that there’s big money in small cars. GM is one...

  • GM exceeds 1m sales in China this year

    Despite the recovery plans for GM still in full swing in the United States, the company has managed to have some success in overseas markets. China, in particular, has been an important market where GM exceeded 1m sales for 2007, becoming the first global manufacturer to do so. Just five years ago GM was only selling 100,000 units a year in China, and just two years ago the figure was 500,000. The exponential growth demonstrated in the Chinese market highlight just how powerful the market forces are in such a large developing economy. China has also given new life to the Buick brand, where...

  • GM opens design center for future electric vehicles
    GM opens design center for future electric vehicles

    General Motors is opening a new studio dedicated to the carmaker’s next generation of electrically-driven vehicles. The newly renovated studio is located within GM’s Advanced Design Center, which was responsible for the Chevrolet Volt concept (pictured) revealed back at January’s...

  • Steinmetz Opel GT debuts at Essen Motor Show
    Steinmetz Opel GT debuts at Essen Motor Show

    The Opel GT (Saturn Sky) platform is one the most stylish roadsters on the market despite its budget connotations and combined with a turbocharged powerplant you’d think it would be one of the most popular tuner cars around. Surprisingly, tuner kits for the GT are few and far between, but one...

  • GM will make a hybrid for Chinese market
    GM will make a hybrid for Chinese market

    Slated to be available in time for the Beijing Olympics, which start in August, the new car is likely part of China’s plan to clean up their image - and their emissions - in anticipation of the arrival of all the athletes. Earlier this year Beijing began its clean-up efforts by banning nearly...

  • GM developing one platform for all
    GM developing one platform for all

    Hoping to achieve a truly global platform, General Motors is developing a new front-drive compact architecture to extend over a variety of models. Vehicle line executive for the architecture Peter Mertens said, “we are doing a completely new platform that has a huge bandwidth.” The new...

  • Pontiac to launch G8 wagon and ute
    Pontiac to launch G8 wagon and ute

    After months of speculation and plenty of denials we now have the first sign of support towards the introduction of more variants of the G8/Commodore for the North American market. The new models are claimed to be based on the recently revealed Holden Sportwagon concept and VE Commodore ute already...

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