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If you’ve ever dreamed about a two-door version of the Opel Insignia, you may get what you’ve been waiting for in 2013. According to a report from Car Magazine out of the UK, Opel and Vauxhall are developing a coupe based on the Epsilon II platform that underpins the Insignia and – consequently – the Buick Regal. The design takes cues from the 2007 Opel GTC concept.
The project is known in house as “New Calibra,” borrowing its name from a coupe Opel built from 1989-1997. The Calibra was the most aerodynamic car in the world at the time of introduction, with a drag coefficient of 0.26 cd.
As is all too often with two-door variants of existing models, the problem lies with a minimum of 30,000 units for Opel (and The General) to make profit. Here’s where the possibility of a Buick version comes into play. According to a GM source, “We would feel a lot more confident about some of these projects if Buick, Chevrolet in North and South America and Saab were sharing volumes and risk.”
As we reported last December, Opel has been rumored to have been working on a Regal coupe due around 2013. So, will there be an Insignia Coupe and will Buick get a coupe variant of the Regal? Only time will tell…
In the meantime, let us know in the poll below!
[Source: Car Magazine]
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For Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Today, Manoli, Alex, and William discuss the Chevrolet Orlando and the Volt MPV5 Concept. Specifically, should the Orlando have been canned for the U.S. market?
We also discussed the Buick Excelle GT that surfaced earlier in the day and – in usual GM Authority Debate fashion – went off topic!
Listen to the show and cast your vote after the break!
It’s finally official – General Motors has just announced that the OnStar mobile app for the Chevy Volt will get two new features on the Google Android smartphone platform. The features were debuted and are being demo’ed at the Google I/O conference in San Francisco, CA this week.
First is a new “navigation” tab on the home screen of the existing Android Chevy Volt mobile app. By going to this tab, users will be able to see the current location of their Chevy Volt on Google Maps – as well as their location relative to the Volt. From there, users have the option for voice-guided directions to the Volt from their current location using Google Maps Navigation on the Android.
Second is the OnStar app’s ability to use Google voice search to vocally search for a destination with the Android handset. Users will be able to see where that destination is relative to the current location of the Volt and then send the destination from the Android phone to their Volt (also known as OnStar eNav Destinations). From there, OnStar Turn-By-Turn will be waiting for them when they start the vehicle, providing directions to their destination.
The new functionalities won’t be available on the Volt mobile app at the app’s launch. Instead, OnStar is planning to include them as part of version 2.0 of the smartphone app.
The features aren’t quite what we expected last week, when the rumormill did its thing in bringing us juicy rumors about a deep Google-GM-OnStar collaboration. Perhaps such a partnership is still in the cards, but – as we like to say – only time will tell. We have GM’s presser after the jump.
Just last week, we were fortunate enough to stumble across some spy photos of the upcoming (and not yet announced) Buick Excelle sedan. Today, we got our hands on a whole slew of pictures of Buick’s compact sedan straight from China. Interestingly, the photos look as if they were taken at a photo event for the vehicle.
What’s more, the newest addition to the Buick lineup will officially wear the Excelle GT nameplate in China and will join the Excelle XT, the hatchback version of the same vehicle. In North America, Buick is expected to use the Verano nameplate for the same vehicle. It will most likely be powered by a choice of GM’s global Ecotec four-bangers, including the 1.6-liter turbo four (180 hp, 170 lb.-ft. of torque) or the 1.8L naturally aspirated Ecotec (139 hp, 130 lb.-ft. of torque).
So, what do you think? Does this vehicle look worthy to compete in the premium compact sedan segment? Lets us know in the comments below!
[Source: China Car Times]
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For May 15, 2010
The General has been served!
Do you have $355,000 burning a whole through your pocket? Would you like to own a piece of General Motors racing history? If so, an Ohio seller has a deal for you. The seller has chassis #2 and #3 of the Cadillac Northstar LMP02 race car. According to the seller, both cars run with electronic packages still in place. The auction lists only one of the chassis up for sale, although the seller states that both are available.
Produced in 2002 for Cadillac’s third season in LMP1 competition, the LMP02 were designed by Nigel Strand to beat the Audi R8 LMP1 car during the 2002 season. The LMP02 was powered by a twin turbocharged 4-liter Northstar V8 producing 600+ horsepower and 550 lb.-ft. of torque.
The 2002 season was a big step for Cadillac, with chassis #2 placing ninth and chassis #3 placing twelfth at Le Mans. The team also finished second at ALMS Miami – its best finish in history. Unfortunately, General Motors canned the Northstar LMP project at the end of the 2002 season, stating that their goals were met and that they would like to place an increased amount of focus on Corvette racing. The more likely reason? Perhaps the car didn’t get enough race time or resources to become an Audi LMP beater.
All that leads to today, when a piece of GM racing history is up for sale. It does make us wonder what would’ve happened if GM put more effort and time intothe LMP02 project. Now if you excuse me, I’m going to see if the GMAuthority War chest has enough to purchase a Cadillac race car. If I come up short, anyone want to go halfsies?
As you may already know, General Motors is a leader in developing fuel cell vehicles that use alternative energy as a means of propulsion. In fact, hydrogen fuel cells rival electric propulsion systems as the next-generation energy source for vehicles. The biggest fuel cell effort in the world is GM’s Project Driveway. It has required $15 million since 1995 in hopes of having the system ready for production by 2015. Most recently, GM reached a milestone in one of the major hurdles for the viability of hydrogen as a fuel.
The General reached an agreement with The Gas Company (TGC), Hawaii’s primary gas energy provider with accessible hydrogen on the island of Oahu. Currently, TGC’s 1000-mile pipeline has more than 5 percent hydrogen content. The company will use this pipeline and a proprietary fuel separation processes to deliver the hydrogen to already-existing fuel stations. This infrastructure could service tens of thousands of vehicles if demand becomes great enough.
Since 90 percent of Hawaii’s petroleum is imported, the state aims to reduce petroleum consumption by up to 70 percent. Employing hydrogen-powered vehicles would be a major contributor to reaching this goal. Jeffrey Kissel, the President of TGC, has said that in addition to the 12 percent hydrogen which the company already delivers to gas customers, the firm can also deliver “hydrogen through our existing infrastructure as vehicle fuel wherever we have gas, The Gas Company expands its key role of supporting Hawaii’s clean energy future.” The kicker? The price of hydrogen could be equal to or even less than that of gasoline.
Hawaiian Senator Dan Inouye summed up the announcement by saying that “Every step to reduce our dependency on foreign oil is a move forward.”
And the best part is that this is only the beginning – GM is already developing the second generation of the fuel cell motor.
We have GM’s presser after the jump. (more…)
Remember when we informed you that GM planned on increasing its towing and payload of its new HD trucks before year’s end? Well, that has turned out to be true. After a 25,000 mile, 100 hour road trip of maximum payload and trailer hauling across the mountains of the western United States, GM’s Heavy Duty truck engineers realized they created a monster. A very powerful, capable and best-in-class-everything monster.
“The first set of capability tests confirmed that the team had exceeded the payload and towing targets by a significant margin. Ongoing testing demonstrated a clear opportunity to increase the true capabilities of these trucks. Even pulling a combined weight of nearly 15 tons seems easy behind the wheel of a 2011 Silverado HD 3500 with the Duramax Diesel.”, said Rick Spina, a GM Full-size Truck global vehicle line executive.
The results of the testing are staggering: 21,700 lbs. towing from the fifth wheel, 17,000 lbs. hitch towing, 6,635 lbs. of payload, and the GCWR towers to 29,200 lbs. All that while being accompanied by a colossal 6.6L Duramax Diesel V8 engine pumping out 397 horsepower and 765 lb.-ft. of planet-moving twist. When GM first announced its new Heavy Duty trucks, the HD numbers rated at 6,520 lbs. maximum payload and 20,000 lbs. maximum fifth wheel towing (16,000 lbs. from the hitch). These numbers gave the new Ford F-350 an edge, with a 21,600 lb. fifth wheel towing capacity (16,000 conventional) and a 6,520 lb. payload. Not anymore! (more…)
Compared to rivals Toyota and Honda, General Motors (and Ford) are too well-known for falling behind in supplier relationship. As such, we take pride in reporting that both companies have improved their relationships with suppliers.
A survey of 510 Tier 1 suppliers about 6 automakers found that General Motors (and Ford) have both improved supplier relationships, while those of Honda and Toyota have worsened.
GM and Ford scores improved by 63 and 31 percent, respectively. On the other side of the equation, Honda declined by 11 percent and Toyota fell by 21 percent. Toyota’s decline may have something to do with recent quality problems and the automaker’s abundance of recalls. Ford ended up passing Nissan for the number three spot, with Toyota coming in second and Honda taking the winner’s podium.
Pressure due to pricing and production targets are what make or break a good supplier relationship. Pricing pressure frequently hurts American automakers but could be improved with integrative negotiations that keep long-term relationships in mind. This could improve quality, research, and innovation, resulting in better vehicles for consumers.
At the very least, let’s hope The General can break into the top three spots. Given General Motors’ earnings for the first quarter of 2010, there’s absolutely no reason why our favorite automaker can’t be the favorite of automotive suppliers the world over.
[Source: Autoblog]
We hear it all the time, four soldiers killed today, ten killed last night, ten killed this morning. All this makes it that much more apparent that we all need to keep those men and women in our hearts and in our prayers. This is precisely what Camaro5 member “TheSpyMaster” had in mind when he built his very special 2010 Camaro.
The vehicle began its custom life as most 2010 Camaros do – with just a few exterior modifications – but this was only the beginning. After adding a set of custom wheels, a body kit, and Lambo-style doors, TheSpyMaster decided to have the vehicle wrapped in an array of patriotic and military-inspired artwork. Vibrant reds, whites, and blues can be found over the entire car, which pays tribute to Old Faithful. A silhouette of a soldier saluting the car can be been seen on both sides of the vehicle, while an Airborne banner appears on the roof of the vehicle. The hood depicts fallen soldiers’ rifles turned barrel down with bayonets firmly planted in the ground and helmets on the stock – something that is commonly done in a war zone.
Personally, my favorite part of the vehicle has to be the text that can be found on the hood and side of the vehicle. “All Gave Some, Some Gave All” and “The Greatest Casualty is Being Forgotten.” These really sum up what this tribute vehicle is all about. I am even more proud that a 2010 Camaro received the honor. Horraaah and God bless our troops!
[Source: Camaro5 via Autoblog]
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Rumormill: Next-Gen Lexus ES Will Make Buick LaCrosse "Laughable" 
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