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The T-Top once defined an American sports car. In fact, the 1968 Chevy Corvette coupe was the first U.S.-built production automobile to feature a T-Top roof. The T-Top was so successful on the C3 ‘Vette, that it replaced the Corvette Convertible for a good decade. So it’s simply natural for us to ask – since the 5th-generation Camaro is such a hot-selling vehicle, should Chevy make T-Top an option for its all-new pony car?
Before you answer, take a look at the rendering above and think about what would happen to the all-important B-pillar when it’s combined with a T-Top roof.
Thought about it? Vote away!
Here’s another T-Tops chop of the new Camaro – courtesy of Camaro5.com
GM CFO Chris Liddell recently announced financial leadership changes within General Motors that will utilize the strong human capital in GM subsidiaries.
Walter Borst
Walter Borst, a 29-year General Motors veteran, is now Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of Promark Global Advisors, Inc. – a GM subsidiary that manages retirement plan assets and is in charge of GM’s pension fund. Borst will also continue to serve on the supervisory board for Adam Opel GmbH.
Borst will begin in his new position on May 1st, replacing Nancy Everett who will leave on June 1 after assisting with the transition.
Borst has previously served at GM as CFO of Opel and has held multiple positions in the Treasurer’s office in New York City and the Controller’s office in Detroit. He was also on the Board of Directors for GMAC.
Daniel Ammann
Daniel Ammann will get a new job on May 1st as GM Vice President finance and treasurer. He will lead GM Treasurer’s office in New York as well as conduct operations in Detroit, Shanghai, and Zurich. According to GM’s press release, his responsibilities will “include capital markets activities, capital planning, business development, risk management, worldwide pension funding, worldwide banking, and overseas and domestic finance.”
Although familiar with GM, his most recent job was with Morgan Stanley as the head of Industrials Investment Banking. Ammann was the leader of Morgan Stanley’s team that spent time advising GM during the company’s stint in bankruptcy. He comes to GM after 11 years at Morgan Stanley.
Full press release after the jump! (more…)
Amongst all the smack-talk, kitty pictures, and stalking, we came across something that was actually relevant on (gasp!) Facebook. We’re talking, of course, about some rather intriguing teaser photos of the impending (and sexy) Chevy Camaro Convertible.
Sure, anybody could photoshop themselves a Camaro Convertible. We even have the concept to look to for that. But these photos were posted on the Camaro’s official Facebook page by the bona fide folks that run that page. As such, it’s safe to say the pics are official (and safe to show to mom and dad). Thoughtfully enough, the album name with the teasers is dubbed “Anything about this Camaro seem different to you?”
Why yes – yes it does. The Camaro ‘vert is expected to start production in the first quarter of 2011 at the Oshawa plant alongside the hardtop Camaro, Impala, and Buick Regal. And to top it all off, last year we got our hands on some spy shots of the hot-rod convertible sitting outside the Holden plant in Melbourne. Feast your eyes on the picture above (while you can) and be sure to click past the break for a full gallery of the Camaro Convertible concept.
It’s no secret that the fifth-gen Camaro is in popular demand. It’s this demand that led to the recent 100,000 units made production milestone. Over 80,000 Camaros have been sold since the muscle car’s launch in Q2 2009. Sales have beat those of the Mustang for 10 months straight and the recent announcement that the Camaro has won the World Car Design of the Year award definitely can’t hurt.
Announced at the New York International Auto Show, the award was selected by five international design experts and had many nominees, including Citroen C3 Picasso and the Kia Soul. The most storied of the these vehicles, the Camaro has a loyal following that appreciates its emotional design that creates emotion for the brand in Chevrolet’s new markets, achieving the goal of halo cars past and present.
Full press release and photo gallery of the Camaro after the jump!
The great people at GM-Volt.com – an independent website dedicated to the Volt PHEV – recently published a post outlining the recent experience of a few people lucky enough to get some wheel time with the Volt. More specifically, a select few were able to drive, ride in, and inspect the vehicle (lucky ducks, right?). We at GM Authority can’t wait to get our hands on a few pre-production Volts ourselves, but until we do – it’s worth to mention the impressions of the GM-Volt folks.
Overall, GM-Volt drivers had extremely positive reactions about the silver pre-production model in which they graced around a test track. According to each author-driver, the car drove with great stability, solid handling, and sporty sensations. One author commented on good steering with “tight” responses. Acceleration and torque were said to be more than adequate and the level of silence was a hot topic for both writers.
Check out the full post at the link below and then let us know in the comments if you’ve driven the Volt yourself. If you have, what do you think about it from bumper to bumper. We tend like it (but who’s asking us?).
[Source: GM-Volt.com]
A few sharp-eyed readers have uncovered patent filings of a Volt-based MPV. The car in the drawings has the Volt nose, headlights, and grille, while the rest of the body bears a striking resemblance to the Chevy Orlando Concept. According to rumors circulating on the web, the vehicle will be unveiled this week at the 2010 Beijing Auto Show.
It would only make sense that the Chevrolet MPV in question will make use of the same technology found in the hotly-anticipated Chevy Volt, including the Voltec powertrain that consists of a 16-kWh T-shaped lithium-ion battery pack that powers an electric drive unit capable of 40 miles of pure electric range without using a single drop of gasoline. A 1.4L 4-cylinder engine-generator will facilitate extended range capability once the battery charge has been depleted.
In this particular case, it looks like the rumormill is right on the money. Just last week, Micky Bly – GM executive director of global electrical systems, hybrids, and electric vehicles & batteries – said that the Chevy Volt team continues to study additional applications of the Voltec battery-powered propulsion system in future vehicles. He didn’t provide any specific details, but if we put two and two together, we may just get ourselves a Volt-based MPV debut at Beijing.
Who didn’t see this one coming? Most loyal GM Authority readers know that GM is in the process of putting the finishing pieces in place to launch the Chevy Volt – a vehicle that’s cost The General a huge amount of R&D money and time. That being the case, it would really make sense that our favorite automaker will want to spread the development cost of the Volt across multiple models. Let’s just hope that this one doesn’t end up the same way as the Caddy Converj.
Stay tuned as we’ll have more info this week!
Hat tip to Johnz!
[Source: AutoCar]
GM India has set an all-time high sales record by selling 11,330 vehicles in March 2010, representing a 127 percent year-over-year growth. The primary force behind the growth was the recently-launched Chevy Beat (known as the Spark elsewhere in the world, U.S. included) as well as the (archaic but trusty) Chevy Spark (known elsewhere in the world as the Daewoo Matiz).
GM says that the Beat “has become the industry benchmark and a winner among consumers in India, with its best-in-segment design, performance and other product attributes.” This news comes to us on the heels of GM India ramping up production by adding second shifts at Halol and Talegaon plants to meet increased demand. The General’s Indian arm is also in the process of expanding its sales and service network across India and intends to have 300 points of sale and an equal amount of authorized service outlets by the end of 2010 (up front the current 206 points of sale and 200 authorized service outlets).
Here’s a model-by-model breakdown of GM India’s sales results for the month of March 2010. We have GM’s press release below the jump.
| Chevrolet Model | March 2010 |
|---|---|
| Total | 11,330 |
| Beat | 4508 |
| Spark | 3266 |
| Tavera | 1654 |
| Cruze | 715 |
| Aveo | 419 |
| Aveo U-VA | 454 |
| Optra | 135 |
| Captiva | 179 |
General Motors has issued an update on its electric vehicle efforts, stating that calibration drives of the upcoming Chevy Volt achieved 39.9 miles of emissions-free electric-only driving range, which is exactly in line with what has been promised by The General for a few years now.
Andrew Farah, chief engineer for the Volt and Opel Ampera, said that Volt pre-production vehicles have already clocked in more than 500,000 test miles and that Volt production is on track for the fourth quarter of this year.
Lastly, Micky Bly, GM executive director of global electrical systems, hybrids, and electric vehicles & batteries said that GM’s Browstown Township, Michigan battery plant is slated to build more than 300 pre-production battery packs. Putting two and two together, we’re guessing that these will be used in the pre-production Volt units that started pre-production two weeks ago.
These updates come on the heels of GM releasing the official Volt specs and the automaker’s announcement that it will invest $8 million to double the size of its Warren, Michigan battery lab. To date, more than 850,000 miles of customer use lab testing have been completed on the battery pack design for the Volt and Ampera (probably in the battery lab). We have GM’s full press release after the break. (more…)
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For April 11, 2010
The General has been served!
Over the last few months, General Motors has been increasing production by adding additional manufacturing shifts to its best-selling vehicles such as the new LaCrosse, Terrain, and Equinox. Each of these products has seen sales growth of over 100 percent compared to 2009. The effects of increased demand have moved their way up the supply chain, causing Warren Transmission to add 100 jobs to its second shift.
The additional capacity will be for the six speed automatic found in many products made by The General. A four speed automatic – used in the Impala and Lucerne – is also produced at Warren.
The 100 newly-created jobs will add to Warren’s current 660 hourly workers and 120 salaried employees. The new positions will be filled using UAW members currently on layoff, which falls in line with the UAW-GM national agreement.
Workers at Warren are represented by UAW Local 909. Don Sharp, the local UAW Chairman, added that they “are proud to be contributors to GM’s growth in the marketplace.”
Catch GM’s presser after the jump! (more…)
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