Koenigsegg may have dropped the ball with purchasing Saab but at least somebody has stepped up to take the beleaguered car brand out of GM’s hands – at least some of it. Beijing Automotive Industry Holdings Co. Ltd has bought the intellectual rights for Saab’s 9-3 and 9-5 sedans, in addition to a number of powertrain technologies.
As part of the new deal, BAIC will be manufacturing the 9-3 and 9-5 sedans in China with Saab supplying invaluable knowledge and resource to BAIC as the company begins to improve its future line-up of cars. According to Jan Åke Jonsson, the managing director of Saab Automobile, the sale of the 9-3 and 9-5 sedans to BAIC is a step in the right direction for both companies. "We have developed a good relationship with BAIC and look forward to working with them to integrate this Saab technology into their future vehicles," he said.
Despite the sale of the 9-3 and 9-5 sedans to BAIC, General Motors is still pushing through with selling the entire brand to a number of potential suitors, the most notable of which has become Spyker.
We first saw this car when it made an appearance as Sideswipe in the hit movie Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and while we had an inkling as to what car would eventually be, it wasn’t until a few days ago when GM officially lifted the covers off to introduce its real name: the 50th Anniversary Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Concept.
Developed mainly to infuse and combine design elements from iconic Stingrays of the past to create a more cutting-edge version for the future, the 50th Anniversary Corvette Stingray Concept is an eye-catcher in every sense of the word.
According to General Motors, the Corvette Stingray Concept was a project undertaken with the sole objective of taking the brand to newer heights, all while retaining its iconic legacy. So in an effort to puts some weight behind their goal, GM left no stones unturned in developing a concept that its predecessors can be proud of. Among the features found in the Corvette Stingray Concept is a clamshell hood, scissor doors, rear-view cameras with night vision enhancement, ergonomic seats, and of course, a high-performance hybrid. In addition to that, the car also comes with a state-of-the-art inertactive touch control system that allows drivers to manipulate the cars power and efficiency depending on their liking as well as use their settings to share with other people via the cars advanced telemetrics and in-car system.
With a brand that’s as esteemed as the Stingray, it would’ve been foolish for GM to not exert any and all efforts in creating a car that can live up to the legend of the iconic brand. Fortunately, GM knows better than most of us that preserving the status held by the Stingray in the annals of automotive lore is something that should never be taken lightly, and the 50th Anniversary Corvette Stingray Concept is proof of that.
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General Motors is the only automotive manufacturer to offer OnStar, a service that provides a variety of subscription based communications like: in vehicle security, hands free calling, turn by turn navigation and remote diagnostics systems. However as one lucky California resident learned, the little blue button in his Chevrolet Tahoe can do so much more. Thanks to the advent of Stolen Vehicle Slowdown, only 16 minutes after Jose Ruiz and his cousin were accosted by a carjacker wielding a firearm, The satellite service was able to bring his 2009 Tahoe to a halt, bringing what could have been an exhausting and endangering car chase to a halt.
This occasion marks the first time that the OnStar SVS technology has been activated to help in a carjacking situation. SVS helps take high speed pursuits out of the equation, and reduces the chance that a stolen vehicle will be crashed during a chase. Once a subscriber has reported a stolen vehicle they can call and request the service. The advisor will then use advanced GPS technology to pinpoint the location of the vehicle and notify law enforcement. When police have the vehicle in sight, they can request the advisor send a signal that interacts with the vehicle’s engine, gradually slowing it down, aiding in a safe recovery. So the next time that any carjacker thinks about boosting a new car, they ought to think twice about stealing a GM vehicle.
Press release after the jump.
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After months of negotiations and a few bumps in the road along the way, General Motors has finally reached an agreement with China’s Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery to sell an 80% stake of Hummer to the China-based company.
News of the impending sale have been floating around for months now but for a time, the deal was met with some strong resistance from the Chinese government especially since the proposed purchase of a gas-guzzling vehicle like Hummer goes against the country’s new protocol of becoming more eco-friendly out on the roads.
But now it seems that the road to the sale has been smoothened out and while the deal still needs approval from a number of regulatory agencies in the US and China, it’s looking like it’s only a matter of time before Hummer finds a new home out on the Far East.
For its part, Tengzhong’s foray into the world of consumer vehicles is a step away from its comfort zone of only producing commercial trucks and industrial equipment. Nevertheless, the company is optimistic that it can make a seamless transition into producing fuel-efficient vehicles down the road.
According to Tengzhong’s CEO, Yang Yi: "We are excited about some of the initiatives already underway at HUMMER that we believe our investment will be able to accelerate, particularly related to the creation of the next generation of more fuel-efficient vehicles to meet not only future regulations but also customer expectations."
As part of the deal, GM will continue producing Hummer vehicles in its plants until June of 2011 with a possible one-year extension until 2012.
Press release after the jump.
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Less than two months after General Motors launched a partnership with eBay to sell their vehicles in California, the automakers have decided against renewing the contract with eBay that was supposed to be set up for extension after September.
While the program generated mixed results across the board, GM eventually decided to scrap it after officially launching its ‘may the best car win’ nationwide marketing and advertising campaign . GM spokesman John McDonald made it clear to Automotive News that while the eBay program was an exciting initiative in the beginning; it eventually had to be scrapped to give way to GM’s turn to a new direction.
The GM-eBay program didn’t fare very well as far as online purchases were concerned. But, according to McDonald, the program did generate a ton of attention from prospective buyers, most of which used the eBay program as a stepping stone to eventually buying a car from their local dealerships.
For the meantime, GM is now solely focused on their new ‘may the best car win’ campaign, as well as their new 60-day money back guarantee promotion.
