24hcar: GM

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Chevrolet Camaro Outsells Ford Mustang by Almost 20,000 Units at Year One, But Loses in May '10

Posted by Mr Dung Thursday, June 3, 2010

Yesterday we learned that the refreshed and more powerful 2011 Ford Mustang sold 10,225 units in May 2010 beating GM's Chevrolet Camaro by almost 1,300 units (8,931 sales monthly total).
The General's reaction? Early this morning, the Detroit automaker came out with a press release stating that from May 2009 (the 2010 Camaro's first full month of sales) to May 2010, Chevy's pony car posted 99,872 total sales, outselling the Ford Mustang by nearly 20,000 vehicles (80,340 units total).
The company added that the Camaro has led the pony car sales race for 11 of the last 12 months/
Of course, now that the Mustang has been upgraded with a pair of more powerful and frugal V6 and V8 engines, the Camaro won't have it so easy as May sales proved. That is until GM introduces a revised version of the Camaro and the cycle begins again...
For the record, Detroit's third pony car, the un-updated Dodge Challenger, sold a total of 3,828 copies in May 2010 recording a 42 percent increase over the same month last year (2,695 units), setting a monthly sales record for the second month in a row.

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2011 Cadillac CTS Coupe U.S. pricing starts at $38,990

Posted by Mr Dung Friday, May 21, 2010

[Cadillac]

GM has just revealed pricing for its all-new 2011 Cadillac CTS Coupe and its hotted-up CTS-V Coupe sibling that both go on sale in the United States in early August.

The standard CTS Coupe comes with a 3.6L Direct Injection V6 engine that delivers 304-horsepower and is available with a six-speed automatic or six-speed manual transmission as well as rear-wheel and all-wheel drive.
Pricing, including destination charges, starts from $38,990 for the RWD model and from $40,890 AWD. That's a few thousand dollars less than one of its closest competitors, BMW's 300HP 335i Coupe and xDrive Coupe that start from $42,650 and $44,550 respectively.

Cadillac said that the CTS Coupe will be available in two suspension-tuning levels – 'Performance' with 18-inch wheels and all-season tires and 'Summer Tire Performance' with 19-inch wheels and summer tires.

The Detroit automaker's M3 chaser, the CTS-V Coupe starts from $62,990 including destination charge, meaning it's $4,590 more expensive than the less powerful BMW M3 Coupe (414HP V8) that begins from $58,400.
The CTS-V Coupe is powered by a 6.2-liter supercharged V8 pumping out 556HP, which propels the 2+2 coupe from 0-60 mph (96km/h) in 3.9 seconds.

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Detroit 3 Closing Worker Pay Gap with Foreign Competitors

Posted by Mr Dung Tuesday, May 11, 2010

[AN/AP]

Sean McAlinden, an economist working for the Center for Automotive Research, says that due to shifts in UAW retiree / health planning US auto manufacturers may end up with a labor-cost advantage in the next few years. GM is used as the prime example.

Here's a look at the timeline:

In 2007, per-vehicle labor costs for GM were $1,400 more than Toyota, its largest international competitor. $950 of that was for retiree benefits.

In 2008, Detroit's Big 3 manufacturers (Ford, GM and Chrysler LLC) were reportedly paying their hourly employees $69,368 per year on average versus $70,185 being earned by employees at foreign-owned plants. Salaried employees at the Detroit automakers were making $122,963 versus $81,506 earned by foreign-based counterparts.

Now, after all the re-negotiations, GM is working towards a new goal: "[hiring] more workers at the lower wage and it [hiring] fewer skilled-trades workers, who make more money than other factory workers".

With 2,300 new employees working under the revised wage/retirement plans, GM's employees are only $2 more costly than Toyota's. McAlinden predicts that over the next 5 years, GM may even undercut Toyota's pay by up to $10.

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Buick LaCrosse rebadged as GM Daewoo Alpheon in Korea

Posted by Mr Dung Saturday, May 1, 2010

[GM Daewoo]

More evidence that GM has no intention of replacing the Daewoo brand in Korea. The U.S. automaker has introduced the Daewoo Alpheon at the 2010 Busan International Motor Show - a rebadged Buick LaCrosse.

With the Alpheon, Daewoo is clearly going after its own fair share of the large sedan segment in Korea with this near-premium offering.

"I am confident that the Alpheon will surpass the demands of the most sophisticated luxury sedan buyers in Korea," said Mike Arcamone, President and CEO of GM Daewoo.

For the Korean market, the Alpheon will come with a 3.0 liter V6 engine - likely the same one as in the Buick LaCrosse which rates 255 hp (190 kW). The power plant is coupled to a 6-speed automatic transmission.

GM Daewoo says the "Alpheon becomes a stand-alone luxury product brand in GM Daewoo's product portfolio." Much like its Korean couterpart, Hyundai, have made inroads into the luxury sedan segment with the Genesis model.

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GM Builds First Pre-Production Chevy Volt EV

Posted by Mr Dung Sunday, April 4, 2010

[Autoscoop]

In an important milestone for GM's much-hyped Chevy Volt project, on Wednesday, March 3, the first pre-production Volt rolled off the assembly line at the firm's Detroit Hamtramck Assembly Plant. The previous examples of the Volt had been built by hand.

These pre-production models will not be sold at GM's dealerships, but will be used to assess and fix any problems in the production system as well as to train the workers in order meet the quality targets set by the engineering team.

"We have a very experienced workforce at this plant and through all of their preparation and training workers here have been given the privilege to take GM into the future with this car," said Detroit-Hamtramck plant manager Teri Quigley.

Expected to go on sale by the end of fall, the Chevy Volt offers up to 40 miles of pure electric
driving before a small-displacement gasoline engine/generator kicks in to charge the car's lithium-ion batteries extending the range to about 300 additional miles.

GM's happy-moment with the first pre-production Volt coincides with Nissan's announcement on the pricing for the all-electric Leaf that will sell for $25,280 ($32,780 minus a $7,500 tax credit).

The General has not released official pricing for the Volt, but unofficially, word has it that the car will be priced somewhere in the mid-$30,000 range with the federal tax credit.

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Corvette C7 to Receive Heavy Redesign, C8 to go Radical with Mid-Mounted V6

Posted by Mr Dung Friday, March 19, 2010

[Autoweek]

A couple of weeks ago, we told you about General Motors' plans for the new Corvette, dubbed C7, that will hit the market by 2012. Now, Autoweek is bringing news on the for the next major model change, the C8, that's expected to be released after 2016.

While the Corvette C7 will essentially be a reskinned version of the current generation C6 with the emphasis said to be on interior quality and making the exterior styling more desirable to younger buyers in the States as well as to a broader international crowd, the C8 will ground-breaking, to say the least, if we are to believe the report.

"That [the C7] will be the last of the traditional, old-style Corvettes," said an unnamed senior GM insider to AutoWeek.

The C8, which would have been the C7 if GM hadn't entered bankruptcy last year, is said to ditch the Corvette's trademark front-mounted, large-displacement V8 setup that has been used in all six generations (though the C1 was also offered with a six-cylinder unit) for a mid-engine layout with a turbocharged V6 powertrain.

The report adds that the C8 will also boast a lightweight alloy body and a more compact footprint.

The question we pose here is this: if the report turns out to be true, and taking into consideration the introduction of the new Camaro with its old-school muscle car charm, is GM's move to turn the page on the Corvette in the right direction?

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2011 Corvette Z06 Carbon Limited Edition with Bits and Pieces from ZR1

Posted by Mr Dung Monday, March 15, 2010

[CS]

GM continues its tradition of special edition Vettes with the introduction of the 2011 Corvette Z06 Carbon Limited Edition that borrows several goodies from the range-topping ZR1 such as the Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes and magnetic select ride control system.
Other features include a set of black 20-spoke 19-inch front and 20-inch rear alloy wheels wrapped in Michelin PS2 tires, enhanced cooling, black headlamps and mirrors, a ZR1-style body color spoiler, body color door handles, carbon fiber raised hood, and black carbon fiber rockers and splitter.
The Corvette Z06 Carbon will be available in two colors, Inferno Orange and the all-new Supersonic Blue featured here.
Inside, the Z06 Carbon gets an ebony leather and suede interior complemented by blue or orange seat stitching to match the exterior color chosen, while other features include a unique steering wheel emblem, sill plate and logoed headrest.
And for those of you that won't be able to get your hands on the Z06 Carbon, Chevrolet offers two separate packages with the same cosmetic and performance upgrades for the standard 2011 Z06.
The Z07 performance package adds the mechanical upgrades including the Competition Gray 20-spoke wheels and all the chassis and cooling mods, while the CFZ Z06 carbon fiber package adds the aero mods like the black carbon fiber rockers, splitter and roof panel with the full-width body color spoiler.
The 2011 Corvette Z06 Carbon Limited Edition, as well as the new Z07 and CFZ Z06 option packages will be available in dealerships late summer.

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GM Wants to Lure More Non-Old, Non-Americans with New Corvette C7

Posted by Mr Dung Tuesday, March 9, 2010

[Autoweek]

GM is about to try something new: making Chevrolet's Corvette appeal to international markets. The General is soliciting designs from all ten of its styling studios, meaning that more than just American-market brains are weighing in.

The goal is to bring in younger buyers from the States, while also help gain sales in the all-important European market, among others.

"We have challenges in the States with the Corvette," Welburn told journalists in an interview at the Geneva Salon. "The average age of the customer is really rising." According to J.D. Power and Associates, the current average age of a Corvette buyer is 54.

"It is a key time in the development of the Corvette," Welburn said. "There is a lot of debate and a lot of study on the bandwidth of Corvette."

However, Welburn added that the sports car "can't mutate into something that gets so far away from Corvette that it is no longer a Corvette."

One major problem, according to GM, is the Corvette's styling, which makes the car appear larger than it really is.

When the redesign hits the market within the next two to three years, GM hopes to have "trimmer, meaner [design] to go along with the incredible performance that the car has."

All together now: Stingray (although that split rear window would kind of block the rear view).

As for getting younger people looking at the Vette, apparently GM wants stereotypes to walk in off the street and make purchases. The fact that GM still thinks "young U.S. buyers...favor imports" is proof positive that the old white men running GM have yet to wrap their minds around who their customers are.

Case in point: Buick, a brand that turned itself around in a hurry and is getting more and more attractive.

Young consumers don't all want "Fast&Furious" Hondas and Guido'd-out Bimmers. It doesn't have to do with "imports", it has to do with good design and quality.

Lastly, the detail that everyone seems to agree on is the Corvette's interior: sub-par for the price bracket. GM Vice President of global design says, "The execution, materials selection--it's got to be a much better interior. Our customers desire that." Doesn't everyone?

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New Corvette Racing 2nd Generation C6.R based on ZR1

Posted by Mr Dung

[GM]

GM has unveiled the second-generation C6.R, which is based on the Corvette ZR1.

Designed to compete in the unified GT class in the 2010 American Le Mans Series and the GT2 class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the C6.R will race against Aston Martin, BMW, Porsche and Ferrari (just to name a few).

As specified by GT rules, the C6.R uses many production-based components from the ZR1. Carry over items include the body design, aerodynamic package, aluminum frame, chassis structure, and steering system.

Power comes from a naturally aspirated 5.5-liter V-8 with 485 hp (362 kW / 492 PS), instead of the ZR1's supercharged 6.2-liter V8 with 638 hp (476 kW / 647 PS). To compensate for the 153 hp (114 kW /155 PS) missing ponies, the Corvette Racing team put the C6.R on a strict diet. It weighs 2745 lbs (1245 kg), which is 579 lbs (263 kg) less than the standard ZR1.

Besides the new engine, the C6.R features a revised suspension, steel brake discs (instead of carbon-composite rotors), a 26.4 gallon fuel tank (29 gallons in ALMS E85R spec), and 18-inch wheels outfitted with Michelin racing tires.