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Filed under: Minivans/MPVs , Etc. , Plants/Manufacturing , Chevrolet , GM , Pontiac The last aardvark inspired minivan has passed through the doors of GM's Doraville, GA assembly facility. The plant, which opened in 1947, has four developers vying to get their hands on the 165-acre parcel. About 1,500 workers have been idled due to the closing, which was a long time coming . The Doraville plant's closing is an unfortunate consequence of the old GM, and its divestiture is intended to aid General Motors as it continues clawing its way back from the brink. We can't say the U-Platform vans will be missed. Though significantly changed from its inception as the Lumina APV with its odd styling, the Uplander was a swing of the pendulum to the other side of weird. Smack dab in the middle was the normal, yet lackluster, Venture. None of the platform's iterations managed to ignite buyer passions, coming up short against the competition, and lately completely crushed by the Odyssey...
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Filed under: Etc. , Plants/Manufacturing , GM , Canada Sure, the Chevrolet Impala and Buick LaCrosse are not the most exciting models in GM's lineup, but the Oshawa, Ontario plant that's been cranking out well-assembled W-platform vehicles for years has won a rare honor from J.D. Power and Associates. Power's Founder's Award is reserved for people or corporations that J.D and friends feel are uncommonly dedicated to continual improvement for customers. Oshawa has racked up plenty of Gold and Silver plant awards, and J.D. Power's senior VP for US automotive practice, Gary Dilts, was on hand to present the award to plant manager Dan Hermer and Chris Buckley, president of CAW local 222. It's a scarce bit of positive news about a domestic automaker, and the fact that the plant has demonstrated such a drive to turn out high quality products bodes well for the Camaro, which is set to start rolling out of the Oshawa complex soon. [Source: J.D. Power] Continue reading GM...
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Filed under: Etc. , Cadillac , Chevrolet , Dodge , GM Click above for a gallery of the Top Gear crew in the U.S. The blokes from the real Top Gear are back in the States to test what us 'Mericans do best - big V8s, rear-wheel-drive and powerslides. Clarkson, Hammond and May flew into San Francisco on Wednesday and then made a B-line for Reno before heading south, reportedly to test the out a trio of American muscle at the Bonneville Salt Flats. If you're just as obsessed as us, you don't have to look at the photos in the gallery to know who snatched the keys to a Corvette ZR1, Dodge Challenger and Cadillac CTS-V. But we'll spoil the (lack of) surprise for you anyway. Clarkson grabbed the 'Vette, Hammond is getting his retro kicks in the Challenger and May - the consummate stately sedan man - is piloting the CTS-V. Top Gear is rumored to be back on the air towards the end of October, and we're hoping this segment kicks off the next season. Thanks for the tip, Ben...
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Filed under: Etc. , Tech , GM The continued pursuit of adding lightness and cutting costs has led General Motors to a new material developed by Wilmington, Massachusetts company Quantum Leap Packaging. The liquid crystal polymer could be used in applications that traditionally require metal, including body panels. Plastics tend to have a larger coefficient of expansion, as anyone who's checked the door gaps on a Saturn SL1 will tell you, but this new material combines dimensional stability comparable to steel and strength on par with titanium. Quantech, as the material is known, is similar to Kevlar and could be used for support brackets, body pieces, and even underhood parts where the weather's always warm. While resins and exotic materials are no bargain, the price of steel has been increasing too, which makes a better case for trying something new. A fast-track plan may see Quantech hitting production cars in six months, though the timeline could protract to two years if the...
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Filed under: Etc. , Buick , Cadillac , Chevrolet , GM , GMC , HUMMER , Saturn In a move that might frost your cupcakes, General Motors has dropped the heated windshield washer fluid option on all models. The feature was a big part of Buick advertising in the recent past, but GM has either not had enough takers, or there are issues with the OEM for the system components. Either way, you're going to have to chip the ice off the windshield of your brand new Traverse the same way we've done it since the invention of the wheel: cold, freezing, wet, and swearing. In all honesty, heated washer fluid is better in theory than in practice. It may help a little bit, but the windshield has a lot of "thermal inertia" and the glass is what really needs to be warmed up. Those of us who thought we were smart wrapping the washer fluid line around a radiator hose back in the day discovered this, and now it seems GM has found out the same thing. Maybe Tata could hook The General up with...
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Filed under: Etc. , Ford , GM , Humor Click above to enlarge Credit Ford with a classy move yesterday when it strategically left the blinds open in certain offices at its World Headquarters in Dearborn. The effect was a building-sized birthday card congratulating its cross-town competitor, General Motors, on making it 100 years in the automotive business. Ford celebrated its centennial a few years back, so knows how much fun the big 1-0-0 can be. And though they're technically competitors in this grueling business, both Ford and GM often find themselves in the same boat when it comes to battling imports for market share, appealing to the federal government for loans and generally doing their best not to make Detroit an embarrassment. Did you know that GM almost bought Ford back in the day? The man responsible for making GM what it is today, Billy Durant, made Henry Ford an offer of $8 million to buy his six-year-old car company on October 5, 1909... and Ford accepted. Unfortunately...
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Filed under: Wagons/Estates , Etc. , Euro , Cadillac , GM , Rumormill Click above for high-res gallery of the 2009 Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon Put your checkbook away. As desirable as a CTS wagon in hot-rod V trim is, it's not here yet. The CTS Sport Wagon was developed as a way to offer the European market a configuration that's sure to sell, and it's headed to North America by the end of next year. When the Caddy wagon finally gets here, it will have the excellent 3.6-liter V6 providing power. Wagons aren't great sellers here, though, so the CTS Sport Wagon will likely be a niche model, dashing most of our hope that Cadillac will put its hottest powertrain in the two-box car just like BMW, Mercedes and Audi do. The hardware port would be mostly a snap. The supercharged V8 is ready to go and the CTS-V has been developed around that engine, so there's suspension and drivetrain parts already on the shelf, and the V has already set the style direction for bodywork tweaks...
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Filed under: Etc. , Plants/Manufacturing , Chevrolet , GM , Earnings/Financials Giveth, and taketh away, isn't that always the story? On the taketh away side, GM has recently lost a serious chunk of change. On the giveth side, The General received a $56 milion package of tax credits and grants to keep an SUV factory open in Ohio. It has also just received another package of tax credits from the city of Flint, Michigan to aid its investment in a factory that will build engines for the new Volt and Chevy Cruze. Approved over some constituent disapproval by the Flint City Council, getting GM to build the factory there will keep 300 jobs in the city. GM is now looking to the state of Michigan for more tax incentives. [Source: Detroit News via Green Car Congress ] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Coupes , Etc. , Buick , GM The car you see here is not a GNX. Hell, it's not even a Buick. You'd be forgiven if you thought it was, though, and it does sport a turbocharger underhood. David Morad was so enamored with the 6.6L LB7 Duramax diesel in his truck that he wanted to put it into something lighter and more fun. He decided to build a Grand National around the engine, and started buying up whatever applicable Buick body parts he could find -- right down to legit GNX dash plates. Next, he bought an '82 Buick Regal diesel that was to be the subject of the transformation. Unfortunately, that car literally self-immolated as he drove it home, sending Morad straight back to square one. He subsequently found and bought an '81 Olds diesel and got to work. The car was cut in half so that a Regal rear end could be welded on, and then a laundry list of major modifications followed. To retain the stock Buick exterior appearance while incorporating the new powertrain...
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Filed under: Trucks/Pickups , Etc. , Commercial Trucks , Chevrolet , GM , GMC It's an epic poem that could have been written by Byron: you suffered a nasty breakup and met a new girl, you dated for a while, things were looking outstanding, you proposed... and then the bottom dropped out of the medium-duty truck business. We've seen it all before. And now that it's happened, Navistar has backed away from it's non-binding commitment to purchase GM's medium-duty truck operations. GM and Navistar only had a memorandum of understanding, so there appears to be no harm, no foul in Navistar getting icy feet. The brief announcement of the dissolution presents it as a mutual affair: "Due to significant marketplace and economic changes, GM and Navistar have decided not to renew the memorandum of understanding to purchase GM's medium duty truck business," but we imagine GM standing at the altar, watching its Navistar groom bolt from the church and hop in a taxi.>...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Sedans/Saloons , Etc. , Green , Chevrolet , GM , Lifestyle Shortly after the Volt Concept was shown, a Volt adherent started a website called GM-Volt.com to show General Motors that it was on to something. After the Volt was approved for production, the site added a feature to allow people to "raise their hands" to show interest in the Volt, much like what was done for the smart fortwo before its arrival on our shores. A little more than a year later, there are almost 34,000 hand raisers in 50 states and 56 countries. While the list is unofficial and doesn't mean that any of these hand raisers are in line ahead of you to purchase a Volt, the site claims that GM is aware of the list and considering making it official in some capacity. California, no surprise, accounts for the greatest interest in the Volt, but even the folks in the dirty dirty -- that's the South -- have put in a strong showing. Alabama's got 86 Volters on the list...
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Filed under: Etc. , Tech , GM We've heard it before: "We're going to collect the information, but it won't go beyond..." The latest take on "Let us help you with technology" comes courtesy of GM's OnStar, which is offering you the opportunity to have your annual mileage tracked. The info will be given to their GMAC arm, which will then see if you qualify for insurance discounts. That sounds good, right? Of course, no one mentions the other side -- that they can also see if you need a higher premium. "You told us this car was just for weekend recreation, Mr. Smith..." Signing up for the OnStar service is voluntary, so it's not going to start watching you until you say so... yet. But if you really do think you're paying too much, then why not. They probably already know everything about you, anyway... Thanks for the tip, Myles! [Source: Top Speed ] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Etc. , Government/Legal , Plants/Manufacturing , GM GM Daewoo has been forced to idle its plant in Bupyeong, South Korea due to strong-arm tactics by tire OEMs Hankook and Kumho. The Bupyeong plant produces the vehicle we know and ummm... tolerate as the Chevrolet Aveo, and possibly (unfortunately) soon as the Pontiac G3 . Rather than pony up the 12% price increases that the tire suppliers want, GM wants a preliminary injunction to force them to end the supply cutoff. For their part, Hankook and Kumho cite higher raw materials costs for their increased monetary demands, even after ratcheting up prices by 5.5% in March. The work stoppage isn't expected to be protracted, so before long, we'll see these little carlets rolling off the line again. GM could always call the tiremakers' bluffs and switch suppliers. We're sure Goodyear or Bridgestone would be interested in talking. [Source: The Car Blogger ] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Etc. , Tech , Videos , Chevrolet , GM Automobile Magazine was invited into General Motors Performance Build Center to watch and lightly assist in the buildup of a ZR-1's internal combustion heart. It takes four-and-a-half hours of real time to go from a bare block to a fire-breathing, supercharged LS9, but through the magic of sped-up video, it only takes seven minutes of your life. You won't come away with anything productive for that time, unlike the people in the video, who get the pleasure of creating a small-block V8, but it's a neat picture of how it all comes together. We just hope that some other poor sucker gets the motor that the magazine intern fiddled with. Video posted after the jump. [Source: Automobile ] Continue reading VIDEO: Birthing an LS9 Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Etc. , GM General Motors honcho, Rick Wagoner, is holding a 9AM (EST) news conference tomorrow at which he will make an announcement (or announcements?) on what changes the automaker will make as it adjusts to current market conditions. GM's press release has no details beyond that. So, what are we going to hear? The fact that GM is being so nebulous leads us to believe that this will be a significant announcement. Is a brand getting killed? Could we hear of a particular vehicle line getting scrapped? Are there going to be more closings? Will we hear that something new is getting greenlit, like the Chevy Beat? This should be very interesting, and we'll have the news for you tomorrow as soon as it happens. So, what do you think the big presser's about? Weigh in below and see how right (or wrong) you are tomorrow. [Source: GM] Permalink | Email this | Comments
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