Since announcing the Volt concept a few years ago, the voltmeter of information regarding Chevrolet's green machine has been all over the chart. As of late, information about the hotly-anticipated EV has become more steady and consistent with a few important dates leaking out of GM in the past few days. General Motors has recently told dealers than November 1, 2010 is Job #1 for the Chevrolet Volt. As you can imagine, production dates regarding vehicles containing the newest technology are often the best-kept secrets of many an automaker. This is, of course, due to uncertainty of internal schedules. Such internal documents are ...
Last week, a mysterious video appeared on Chevy's YouTube channel. It wasn't an ad and it wasn't a video from a recent auto show. No, it was something much, much better: a brand new web series by the folks at Chevrolet featuring quality control engineers from Department 180. The short clip (available after the break) features a group of real engineers putting Chevys through the paces - freezing, heating, crashing, and performance testing their products, all while having a great time. The technicians even threw in a few fake tests just for fun! There's no word on when to expect the first (next) episode, ...
A few months ago, I posited that - contrary to popular belief - the Chevy Equinox does not compete in the compact CUV segment with the likes of the Toyota RAV4 or the Honda CR-V. My main contention had to do with the size of the Equinox (187.7 inches long) compared to the RAV (181.1) and CR-V (178.3). I argued that the Equinox was more of a Toyota Venza (189), Nissan Murano (188.5) and Ford Edge competitor (185.7). Since that time, I've presented this idea to a few friends, colleagues, and online "folk" and came away with the following: the Equinox ...
GM has agreed to extend the deadline for the sale of Hummer to Sichuan Tengzhong until the end of February. According to Reuters, The General allowed Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. - a little-known maker of heavy machinery in southwestern China - to have some more time to complete its purchase of the legendary SUV brand. Tengzhong signed a contract with GM to buy Hummer back in October 2009 and has been waiting for a green light from Beijing to approve the deal. This original contract expired January 31, 2010. Rumor has it that Chinese powers-that-be aren't content to acquire a ...
Built on GM's Gamma 2 platform, the Opel Meriva is the king of flexibility. And it has the monikers to match. Opel lists among its advertised features FlexDoors, FlexSpace, FlexRail, and FlexFix. The most striking difference between this car and its competitors is its rear-hinged rear suicide doors. In response to accessibility questions of yesteryear, Opel emphasizes that the Meriva's doors open nearly 90 degrees. The design also facilitates helping young children fasten seat belts as parents can stand where a traditional door would be hinged. Finally, the doors allow parents and children to get out ...
While this may not be as sexy a topic as a Zeta-based four-door sedan for the U.S., the North American market is heating up for non-pick-up work vehicles. Ford is leading the charge with its Transit Connect commercial van, having sold just over 8,000 units since bringing the compact vehicle Stateside in mid 2009. While GM has its Chevy Express/GMC Savanna full-size vans (that may soon be replaced) to go against Ford's Econoline, The General has nothing to offer the compact utility van buyer. But General Motors can become a serious competitor in this market very quickly and with minor investment ...
European plumbers, carpenters and electricians will be delighted to read this: GM's European units Opel and Vauxhall - in collaboration with Renault - have developed an all-new four-wheeled tool. The Vauxhall Movano is Europe's latest full-size van built from the inside-out with function in mind. According to the presser, the all-new Movano is set to offer a choice of 29 different body variations (count 'em!), a total payload of up to 2.5 tons, class-leading cargo space, and even be available in either front or rear wheel drive depending on payload category, with the rear-wheel drive models having the option to be ...
Chevrolet recently announced that the nation's capital will join liberal California and struggling Michigan as a test-bed for the Volt, GM's new plug-in hybrid EV. As part of its cooperation with local utility companies, GM has partnered with DC area utilities Pepco and Dominion, which will facilitate the launch by helping to establish charging programs and ease the electric vehicle transition for consumers. Jim Campbell, Chevrolet General Manager, said the the initial launch is limited in scope in order to give early adopters the highest quality experience possible. The three initial launch markets were chosen for a combination of their ...
Alan Batey, chair and managing director of Holden, recently indicated that a hybrid Holden Commodore was not a high priority and would not be seen before 2013, although he was notably tight-lipped about development plans in the interim. Holden, a subsidiary of GM since 1931, heads The General's vehicle operations in Australia. The announcement comes as Toyota prepares to launch its locally-made Camry Hybrid in the next couple of weeks. The news represents a reversal of previous statements by Nick Reilly, GM's Asia Pacific division president. In May 2008, Mr. Reilly indicated, That [Commodore] could be one ...
It's over, done, finito! After months of negotiations, protests from Saab owners, and numerous ups and downs, General Motors just confirmed that it has reached a binding agreement to sell Saab Automobile AB to Spyker Cars NV. Spyker has outlasted all other negotiators in this deal, including Koenigsegg, Genii Capital (backed by Bernie Ecclestone), and Merbanco. What's more, Spyker's persistence in tirelessly trying to work out a deal and submitting revisions upon revisions of bids - sometimes at the last minute - have all paid off. Ironically, Spyker also outlasted GM - which began winding down Saab in late 2009. As part ...
Last week we reported that the next-generation Chevy Camaro will utilize the Alpha (global A) platform, a move that’s widely expected to decrease the bow-tie pony car’s heft. We’ve received information that sheds light on why GM chose to do this.
It’s no secret that Chevy is looking to increase its European sales to one million units per year as early as 2015. To put these numbers in perspective, that’s roughly a 100 percent increase in volume in under five years. Chevrolet is planning to attain this goal by completely revamping its European lineup, a move that calls for bringing global vehicles such as the Aveo, Cruze, Malibu, Orlando, and Equinox. Currently, most of the European Chevy line is made up of (lackluster) Daewoo and Suzuki rebadges.
From discussions with our sources, we’ve understood that the next-generation Camaro will play a significant role in achieving this one million sales goal and will join the rest of the global Chevy line-up overseas. That’s right – GM is seriously looking to bring the next-gen Camaro to Europe! Simply put, the current Camaro is just too big and heavy to appeal to European tastes. By utilizing the global A architecture, GM will be able to realize significant reductions in weight and cut a few inches in the Camaro’s length.
Seeing how the current Camaro is unnecessarily huge and heavy, this makes sense. In fact, for a (two door – rather than a four-door) coupe, it’s down right fat. It’s heavier than the 2010 Mustang by almost 400 pounds – and that’s not taking into account the weight savings the 2011 ‘Stang’s new 3.7L V6 will bring. Compared to Korean competitors (Hyuindai Genesis Coupe with the 3.8L V6), the Camaro is a full eight inches longer and over 400 pounds heavier. So there’s no debating that the present-day Camaro is on the heavy side of the pony car continuum. This extra poundage and length won’t help in Europe or with the impending CAFE laws.
Moreover, our sources indicate that GM is also looking at the next-gen Camaro as an image-building vehicle in Europe. I will take the liberty of saying that this will go a long way towards changing perceptions of the bow-tie brand and its currently anemic European line-up. Chevy will also use the Corvette to accomplish its European image goals, a vehicle that’s soon to make a comeback across the pond.
We’ll keep you updated as we find out more. Meanwhile, stay tuned to this week’s GM Authority Weekly Podcast for an in-depth discussion of this and other GM topics.
Click me to watch the video!
Needless to say, GM has been a figure of much ridicule over the past few decades, especially the past few years. Many articles, tons of blog posts, and a few documentaries have all cast The General in many different lights. And even though we are a fan site that would rather give General Motors the benefit of the doubt, we think it’s important to remain critical and unbiased at the same time. But we digress.
The last GM documentary was Roger & Me, filmed by Roger Moore in 1989. In this film, Moore pursued then-CEO Roger Smith to question him about The General’s downsizing, a move that drastically affected the economy of Flint, Michigan (Moore’s hometown).
And today, GM is the subject of a similar documentary. This time, HBO is the filmmaker and the documentary focuses on the closing of GM’s Moraine Assembly, which was shuttered immediately before Christmas 2008. Most recently the plant produced the GMT-360 mid-size SUVs, which include anything from the GMC Envoy XUV to the Saab 9-7X monstrosity.
HBO’s The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant receives high praise and has been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary short (trailer after jump). What, exactly, is the purpose of documenting the closure of a plant that used to produce discontinued and outdated products is somewhat interesting if not irrelevant… so you can probably guess whether or not we’ll be checking HBO’s schedule for air time/dates.
Ask any car enthusiast (and probably any driver) what he or she believes to be the most popular police vehicle and the answer will inevitably be the Ford Crown Vic. While many debate Ford’s Panther platform cars (Crown Vic, Grand Marquis, Town Car) are still in production, the conclusion always relates to massive fleet sales of at least two of the three old-school sedans.
In recent years, however, GM and Chrysler have infiltrated the police vehicle game with cars such as the Chevy Tahoe and Dodge Charger. A recent study by Vincentric, a company that studies and analyzes vehicle life cycles, shows that the Tahoe Police 2WD has the lowest life cycle cost (in most situations).
This analysis took into consideration seven different factors, including depreciation, fuel costs, financing costs, opportunity costs, maintenance and repair costs, as well as insurance costs. Due to its strong residual value, the Tahoe fared better than popular choices including the Impala, Crown Vic, and Charger.
In fact, costs attributed to GM vehicles were lower in all aspects of the study compared to equivalent Ford and Chrysler models. This significantly highlights which vehicles provide a better solution for fleet operations compared to their life cycle costs. Not only has GM received praise for the reduced life cycle costs of its vehicles, but the automaker has also earned Vincentric’s award for Best Fleet Value in America over a multitude of years. And to top it all off, we can’t wait to see how the upcoming Chevy Caprice PPV will fare when it’s available in Fall 2010.
Since announcing the Volt concept a few years ago, the voltmeter of information regarding Chevrolet’s green machine has been all over the chart. As of late, information about the hotly-anticipated EV has become more steady and consistent with a few important dates leaking out of GM in the past few days.
General Motors has recently told dealers than November 1, 2010 is Job #1 for the Chevrolet Volt. As you can imagine, production dates regarding vehicles containing the newest technology are often the best-kept secrets of many an automaker. This is, of course, due to uncertainty of internal schedules. Such internal documents are far more detailed than the ones manufacturers release to the public. For this very reason, the Volt’s production date has been a topic of wide speculation – until now!
Dealers will need to let GM know their demand by early September and will be able to begin placing orders approximately two weeks after the November 1st Job #1 date.
The launch date is still far enough in the future that the time frame could change, but it should be noted that GM is very serious about keeping publicly released deadlines – so this should stick. Another interesting side note is that the Cruze, which is currently scheduled to launch in September, is currently listed as TBD. September would still make sense, as the Cruze will be built alongside the Volt, but November could be a possibility as well (as much as we wouldn’t like that).
Stay tuned as it happens and check out our Volt high-res gallery after the break!
[Source: Autoblog via GM-Volt.com]
Last week, a mysterious video appeared on Chevy’s YouTube channel. It wasn’t an ad and it wasn’t a video from a recent auto show. No, it was something much, much better: a brand new web series by the folks at Chevrolet featuring quality control engineers from Department 180.
The short clip (available after the break) features a group of real engineers putting Chevys through the paces – freezing, heating,
crashing, and performance testing their products, all while having a great time. The technicians even threw in a few fake tests just for fun!
There’s no word on when to expect the first (next) episode, but the video ends with a (barely noticeable) blurb (1:18 mark)
that asks the viewer to scan the beetagg code that may result in more information. (Note: I tried to scan the code with the Beetagg Pro app on the iPhone but was presented with an error message that told me that the beetagg couldn’t be found).
While very few of us have to worry about the summer roasting our cars into a pair of baked potatoes, or the winter freezing them Mr. Freeze style, it’s good to know that the engineers over at the bow-tie brand put Chevys through those kinds of tests in an effort to increase the final quality of the vehicles!
Moreover, it’s great to see what has been known as a monolithic corporate giant like GM harness the power of social media. While
Beetagg code
many auto critics and enthusiasts may not see this as a marketing move worthy of discussion, nothing could be further from the truth. Social media, also known as new media, is an emerging (if not yet established) new-age marketing practice that’s very powerful and cost effective. And it usually speaks to
a completely different audience compared to traditional advertising. Not only will Chevrolet reap the benefits of reaching that market through this series, but the brand will also be able to prove itself given GM’s recent trouble such as the infamous bankruptcy and bailout proceedings.
But this isn’t the first time Chevy provides us with some juicy content. Just last month, we got our hands on two Volt videos – one showing the upcoming EV get a 1000-Fahrenheit cookin’ and the other showing the Volt go through the fabled 100,000 mile durability test – all part of Chevy’s quality testing procedures. These cheap, short, yet interesting videos give us a glimpse of the internal goings-on of Chevrolet, something that’s unprecedented in an industry where marketing is usually a multi million-dollar expense. The Department 180 series looks to continue on this path, adding some production quality along the way.
We’ll undoubtedly keep you up to date on the latest developments in the Department 180 web series right on this here website. In the meantime, watch the video for yourself after the jump and subscribe to Chevy’s YouTube Channel.
Click me to watch the video
This ad is one for the books. The Chevy car carrier commercial, by Michael Bay, needs no explanation or introduction. It’s simply awesome – including the part where the SSR pulls a 180 and backs it up into the trailer. Watch the ad that kicked off Chevy’s American Revolution campaign right after the break!
You may be a late night-er and have caught one of the talk show hosts doing a bit about Toyota’s latest nightmare. For decades, Toyota has had a market perception which GM could only dream of. People bought a Toyota because they were safe, reliable and had a high resale value. Maybe that was true but obviously, that reputation has taken a major blow to the nether region.
What does this all mean for GM? Well as far as GM’s current business strategy, hopefully nothing at all. You see, the old GM would have been jumping for joy at this latest set of unfortunate events. Some old GM folks may have felt that they could “loosen the belt” a notch or two, sit back and watch the customers come calling. In today’s market however, this attitude will never put GM back at the top.
Instead, GM must look at Toyota’s setback not as a victory, but rather as an event which brought the one opponent within sight. Companies such as Ford and Hyundai (watch out) will continue to rapidly improve their products and service to the point where they will surpass Toyota. Don’t think so? Take a walk into your local Hyundai dealership and check out the panel gaps – they are shockingly narrow. Now compare them against anything Toyota or Lexus has and you’ll see what I mean.
The battle for product and service improvement must be continuous and irrespective of what setbacks a competitor may have. In that regard, GM still has a lot of work ahead and hopefully, the folks at the New GM will run this race more determined than ever and they better - the Koreans are bringing up the rear and gaining ground fast.
After 3 years of collaboration, NASA and GM recently unveiled the result in Houston: Robonaut 2. The humanoid robot, comically nicknamed R2, is lauded for its precision. It comes nearly a decade after Robonaut 1, a joint effort between NASA and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
With help from Oceaneering Space Systems, a Houston-based spacesuit supplier for the US space program, GM and NASA have declared Robonaut 2 “faster, more dexterous and more technologically advanced” than predecessors of all sorts. Version 2 is capable of not only holding, but also lifting 20 pounds in each arm, four times more weight than previous humanoid robots were capable of, according to NASA. The robot also comes equipped with opposable thumbs. Engineers often appealed to human analogs to solve flexibility problems with packaging constraints, although even they had to admit that they could not beat the human thumb in efficiency.
The name, a combination of ‘robot,’ and ‘astronaut,’ perhaps conceals the great potential the machine has for The General. Robonaut 2 strongly resembles the human form from the waist up. Below that, a variety of propulsion systems, from legs, to wheels, to a single leg have been considered. Deployed on a GM assembly line where the mobility requirements are far less, Robonaut 2s might simply be anchored to a base. But what really sets them apart is that they fit in the same space that humans do, and can work side-by-side with humans. (more…)
According to a revealing article from Motor Trend, the next-generation Chevy Camaro and Cadillac CTS will use GM’s forthcoming global RWD-based platform as early as 2013. This means the two cars will shed the hailed Zeta and Sigma platforms, respectively. The move is seen as an effort by GM to make its models more global and fuel efficient, something that will help in meeting the forthcoming Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards that will be in full effect by 2012.
Unofficially dubbed Alpha, the platform is GM’s all-new compact RWD architecture that will also underpin the upcoming Cadillac ATS range. The ATS will go head-to-head with luxury C-Segment stalwarts such as the BMW 3-Series and Audi A4. Using a single platform for the ATS, CTS, and Camaro will give GM the ability to build these models under one roof, much like GM’s Oshawa plant is slated to build the Buick Regal and Cadillac XTS – both of which utilize The General’s Epsilon II platform. The move could also give GM increased flexibility in tuning the production of all three models based on demand.
According to Motor Trend, the new ATS is due out in 2014, while the new CTS could come as early as 2013. The all-new Camaro is slated for the ‘15 model year.
The versatility of the Alpha platform is also going to be quite impressive. It will have to ability to stretch the CTS nearly six-inches from its current generation model to better size up to the class leaders such as the BMW 5-Series and Mercedes-Benz E-Class. The move gives reason to suspect that the segment will grow in length for the future. At the same time it will be compact enough to support the needs of the ATS and rival the numbers of the BMW 3-Series.
As part of the transition, the Camaro will likely be downsized to better spar with its best nemesis in the middleweight Ford Mustang and other models such as the upcoming Toyota FT-86 and Hyundai Genesis Coupe.
In effect, this could spell the end of the Zeta and Sigma platforms for GM. Though both platforms are hailed by many enthusiasts and still fairly new, it doesn’t change the fact that they seem to be too stout to find a place within GM’s future lineup going into the next decade, where efficiency will be the defining factor. The move will also hail the discontinuation of the CTS wagon and coupe variants, but hopefully not permanently.
[Source: Motor Trend]
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