General Motors (GM):

GM and VW nix proton Deal

Proton is the state-owned carmaker of Malaysia. It is also losing money at a rapid rate, needs an infusion of capital, and needs some serious help with technology. Sounds like a deal Cerberus would probably jump at, doesn’t it? Actually, it was General Motors and Volkswagen that were interested. Proton, in addition to the home market, is a potential entre into the burgeoning market in China. Though it does not currently sell cars in China, the line it does sell in (...)
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Could it be the "truth"?

Ever critical and mawkish about the domestic auto industry, the “Truth About Cars” has posted a piece critical of GM’s Bob Lutz, based on an interview that Lutz gave to Automotive News, an industry trade publication. But, this time, it looks as though the “Truth” got it right. In the interview, Lutz did an astonishingly good imitation of Hillary Clinton talking about driver’s licenses. Except Lutz was talking about the Malibu. He absolutely refused to commit, (...)
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GM didn’t make money soon enough

Skip the money saved from the labor contract with the UAW. Skip the new car introductions. Skip the fancy new alternative fuel future. GM lost $39 billion last quarter. In taxes. That’s like getting a lump of coal in your stocking at Christmas. Entirely avoidable, if only you’d been a good boy. In an article published at Economist.com, one mostly drooling over Bob Lutz, they point out that the $39 billion loss does not affect GM’s “cash (...)
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GM wants to build a million hydrogen cars

Yup. GM’s thinking a tad further than the Volt. They’re apparently dead serious about hydrogen powered vehicles. And soon. Speaking from Shanghai, China, one of General Motors’ vice-presidents, Elizabeth Lowery, told Reuters that “"You have to make sure that any of these technologies are out there in great volume to make a difference for the environment.” Her remarks came after Larry Burns, GM’s vice president of research and development, had earlier (...)
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GM - "2008 Car Manufacturer of the Year"

After an exhaustive evaluation of more than twenty five competitive automobiles, General Motors (GM) will take center stage at the fourth annual Sobre Ruedas Awards Ceremony for having a stellar 2008 line-up. Taking into consideration performance, styling, safety, technology and overall driving experience, an elite panel of judges selected GM for top honors in six out of the 13 possible categories, affirming GM’s leadership in innovation and quality. The ceremony will take place at (...)
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GM matches dinky Honda Fuell Cell program

General Motors will offer a fuel cell powered vehicle in 2011, meeting the commitment to putting fuel cell vehicles on the market announced earlier by the Chariman of Honda. But the numbers of vehicles involved in both programs are trivial. GM vice president of research and development Larry Burns has told USA Today Money that GM is working on fuel cell vehicles “for competitive reasons,” not merely as a research project. Burns cited work being done at Honda and Mercedes-Benz as examples (...
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Suspicious minds

The article in the Lansing State Journal reported that the UAW’s members at the Lansing Delta Township assembly plant of General Motors were suspicious. “Is General Motors softening up its hourly workers for a new round of buyouts in order to hire less expensive workers under the new four year contract?” is how the opening line of the story put it. What provoked this? Simple: GM has announced that it is going to lay off workers at the Lansing Delta Township plant – next May. (...)
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"Potentially the dawn of a new era"

Bob Lutz was interviewed yesterday by the Detroit Free Press. He expanded on his view of GM and its future. Lutz said pretty much the same things he’s been saying for the last several years. With one exception, and here’s that exception: “We’re charging full-speed ahead before we know exactly what the investment is going to be, before we know whether or not we can make any money of it or not, before we know how many we’re going to sell. This is unusual. This (...)
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Is GM becoming Chinese?

General Motors has committed to building a new $250 million facility to develop alternative fuels. They are building it in China. The facility was announced today by GM chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner, speaking at a news conference held in Beijing. It will be located in Shanghai, with the first phase of construction to be completed before the end of next year. Wagoner issued a prepared statement, in which he said that “[t]he new GM Center for Advanced Science and Research will (...)
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2008 Cadillac CTS makes Japan debut

The all-new Cadillac CTS made its Japanese debut at the Tokyo Motor Show. Next to it, GM also presented the recently facelifted Saab New 9-3, the Corvette Convertible and the right-hand-drive Hummer H
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