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Earlier this week, GM Authority’s own Erik Bentley had a rather unfortunate accident working with an aluminum can of brake cleaner. While doing his thang at his South Florida performance shop, Erik hit the can, causing it to rupture. What transpired from there involves the top of the cracked can flying dead into poor Erik’s forearm.
At the end of the day, Erik’s forearm and stomach got some grisly gashes, with the forearm requiring two sets of stitches (10 total).
The takeaway? Be careful with those high-pressure aluminum spray cans, folks. Be very careful! Hit the jump for the picture of Erik’s stitched-up arm. Warning: those afraid of slight gore may think twice about clicking.
One million sales per year. That number is commonly tossed around by automotive manufacturers as the be-all-end-all sales target for a mainstream global vehicle. In fact, very few models have been able to achieve that kind of volume… well, ever!
But even before the (very mainstream and very global) Chevrolet Cruze becomes available to the biggest automotive market in the world come September, the bow tie compact has already been on sale in 60 countries around the world. And it’s been very successful as well, seeing average sales increase 18 percent per month. Continue reading.
iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, and iChevrolet? No, Apple isn’t working with The General to create a car for Chevrolet, but GM has created a new app for the iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad called Chevrolet Dealer that allows salespeople to show customers Chevy cars, trucks and crossovers, trim levels, options, financing, search dealer inventory, and submit and retrieve quotes on vehicles. Continue reading.
ALG, an industry benchmark for residual values, has just released estimates for July/August and is forecasting a rise in residual values for the entire 2011 CTS range. Continue reading.
Most GM fans are very much aware that the reason the automotive Grim Reaper passed by Buick and left it unscathed is the brand’s tremendous success in China. In fact, the reason Buick is still around has nothing to do with its old man reputation in the States… if that were the deciding factor, we all know what would have happened. Luckily for Buick, the Chinese market is booming and the Tri-Shield brand is one of their favorite marques in the Middle Kingdom.
On that note, one of General Motors’ – and Buick’s – most acclaimed new models, the LaCrosse, is celebrating an important milestone very early in its lifetime in the Chinese market. Less than a year after its launch, the LaCrosse is already celebrating the milestone of having sold 100,000 units in China. In fact, the LaCrosse is the fastest growing model in the “premium upper-middle sedan” segment. During the first half of this year, the 3.0L SIDI variant (that has been discontinued in the U.S. market) made up nearly 80 percent of the segment (upper-medium sedans priced over RMB 300,000 – approximately $44,200 USD). Continue reading.
As we get closer to the launch of the greatly-anticipated Chevy Volt, more than 600 Chevrolet dealers in California, Texas, Connecticut, Michigan, New York, New Jersey and the Washington, D.C. area have signed up to become Volt Certified. To certification requires dealers to go through extensive training of selling and servicing the Volt.
Dealers that have been Volt certified are also required to keep a Volt on their lot for potential customers to test drive. Volt Certified Dealers can be found at http://getmyvolt.com.
“About 90 percent of our Chevrolet dealers in launch markets to date have requested to become participating Volt dealers,” said Tony DiSalle, Chevrolet Volt product marketing director. “The response exceeded expectations given the extensive training requirements. There’s obviously a lot of enthusiasm for the Volt’s arrival later this year.”
As expected, Buick has launched its Moment of Truth website, where the Tri-Shield brand invites “consumers to experience the 2011 Buick Regal through an interactive online experience.” The website is a non-traditional web-based effort by Buick that serves as an online aggregator, pulling in content from a variety of online sources and giving users the ability to share said content on their social networks of choice. Continue reading.
Just yesterday, we reported that the Chevrolet Volt will require premium 93 octane fuel for its seemingly docile 80 horsepower engine-generator. It should also be noted that the engine-generator never turns the Volt’s wheels directly. Instead, it only powers the electric motor and battery system after the Volt’s battery pack has been depleted. A few were shocked by the fuel requirement, others were puzzled, while some even conspired that The General is forcing consumers who would already be forking over $33,500 (after a full federal tax credit) to pay extra for the high-end stuff at every fill up. But let’s face it, filling up a Volt is not the same as filling up a Suburban.
When the news broke, GM seemed to be fairly tight-lipped on the matter. But over the course of the night (because that’s when we at GM Authority seem to get most of our work done), a few e-mails emerged with an official (yes, official) statement from General Motors: Continue reading.
Buick has released the second commercial for the 2011 Buick Regal. Titled Discover Beauty, the ad outlines the finer details of the vehicle, including the 12-way power driver’s seat, the LED-lid interior, USB, Bluetooth, and the beauty that one discovers once behind the steering wheel of the all-new Regal.
Discover Beauty joins Autobahn, the first Regal commercial released a few weeks ago, and is part of a series of traditional and non-traditional promotions for the Regal’s launch. Make the jump past the break for the video.
It’s no secret that Chevrolet is hitting all the right notes with its lineup of crossover vehicles – the Equinox and Traverse. In fact, we gave the Traverse a perfect five-star score several weeks ago when it resided in the GM Authority Garage (our review here). And it looks like crossover buyers at large are taking note, since nearly two out of three Traverse and Equinox buyers in the United States traded in non-Chevrolet vehicles. Continue reading.
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