General Motors
297 articles in this category
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Today at a media briefing, General Motors unveiled their next-generation EcoTec engine family. The family will go into production later this year and promises to be more refined and efficient than before. The engine family is made up of eleven different three and four-cylinder engines ranging in displacement of 1.0 to 1.5 liters. Both naturally-aspirated and turbocharged engines will be on offer and the engines have been designed with hybrid and alternate fuel configurations in the future. Powe
GM's Next-Generation EcoTec Family Gets Detailed
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Both the U.S. Justice Department and the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee announced this week they would start investigations into General Motors' ignition switch recall. The recall which affects 1.62 million vehicles worldwide has been linked to 31 crashes and 13 deaths. The Detroit News reports that the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New York is heading up the Justice Department's investigation. This is the office that has been investigating Toyota's unattended acceleration recall since 20
The Latest On General Motors' Ignition Switch Recall
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Another twist in the General Motors' ignition switch recall story. Automotive News reports that the company may have a possible legal shield from lawsuits stemming from the recall. During the restructuring process, GM negotiated with state attorney generals and consumer groups to carry product liability on vehicle faults after it left bankruptcy in 2009. Those faults prior to 2009 would need to take it up with old GM. So far, any lawsuits brought against the company for pre-2009 faults have gone
Another Twist In The GM Ignition Switch Recall Saga
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General Motors' problems with the 1.6 million vehicle recall over a faulty ignition switch are growing. This week, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has sent a 27 page document with 107 questions asking about the recall and the timeline. Questions range from how the investigation process on the ignition "was not as robust as it should have been" to when GM decided to start investigating crashes with the 2005-2007 Chevrolet Cobalt and 2007 Pontiac G5 where the air bag di
NHTSA Issues 107 Questions To GM Over The Ignition Switch Recall
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Yesterday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced they would open a formal investigation into the timeliness of GM's ignition switch recall. The recall affects over 1.6 million vehicles which are, 2005-07 Chevrolet Cobalt 2006-07 Chevrolet HHR 2005-07 Pontiac G5 2006-07 Pontiac Solstice 2003-07 Saturn Ion 2006-07 Saturn Sky In a statement, NHTSA says “opened an investigation into the timeliness of General Motors’ recall of faulty ignition
The Hot Water GM is Currently in Over the Ignition Switch Recall Has Just Gotten Hotter
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Two weeks ago, General Motors announced a massive recall that involves 778,562 Chevrolet Cobalts built between 2005 to 2007 and Pontiac G5s built in 2007 because of a faulty ignition switch that slip out of the run position if jostled or if any weight was applied to the key in the cylinder. Now this problem has caused 22 accidents and claimed the lives of six people since the air bags didn't deploy since the key was turned away from the run position. Now a GM spokesman pointed out at the time th
GM expands their already big recall concerning faulty ignition switches
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Ford pulled off a bit of coup at the Detroit Auto Show last month with the introduction of the 2015 F-150 which features an all-aluminum body to help meet the upcoming fuel efficiency standards. Now, another truck maker looks to be following in the footsteps of the blue oval. The Wall Street Journal has learned from sources familiar with the matter that General Motors is working on making the next-generation Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra have aluminum bodies. The company has secured contra
General Motors To Ford: We Can Play The Aluminum Truck Game As Well
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Back on Wednesday, we reported that the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky had a sinkhole open up and take with it eight Corvettes; two of those on loan from General Motors. Now, GM is stepping and saying it will fix all of the Corvettes. In a statement, GM says the damaged Corvettes will be shipped to the GM Motors Design facilities in the Warren Tech Center where they will get a look over and be fixed. GM's vice president of global design, Ed Wellburn will look over the proce
General Motors Steps Up and Announces That It Will Fix Up The Damaged Corvettes
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With Ram offering a small diesel and Ford announcing that next F-150 will be considerably lighter, GM is considering all options with their pickups to raise fuel economy. One of those options happens to be a 4.5L Diesel V8 that was planned to go into their pickups five years ago. Steve Kiefer, GM's vice president of global powertrain tells Automotive News that GM is considering dusting off that engine and slip it into their new trucks. "We are looking closely at diesel entrees in that segment.
The 4.5L Diesel V8 Could Be Coming To GM's Pickups
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As we reported a couple weeks ago, General Motors has decided to pull Chevrolet from Europe to give Opel and Vauxhall some breathing room. But with this pullout comes a problem for GM in South Korea. The continent produced most of the Chevrolet models for Europe. With Chevrolet saying pulling out in late 2015, production volume is expected to drop 20 percent. This has GM thinking about cutting jobs. Reuters reports that GM Korea is planning to launch a "voluntary retirement" the 6,000 salaried
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com December 10, 2013 January 15, 2014 will be an important day at General Motors. Current CEO Dan Akerson will retire and Mary Barra, the executive vice president for global product development, purchasing, and supply chain will become the company's CEO. This announcement just comes a day after the U.S. Treasury said it had sold all of its shares in GM. Akerson planned to stepped down from the automaker sometime in 2014, but pulled ahead his succe
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com December 9, 2013 'Government Motors' is no more. Today, the U.S. Treasury sold its remaining shares of General Motors, ending a four-year ownership of the automaker. The Treasury says it recouped $39 billion of its original $49.5 billion investment into GM. “The U.S. Treasury’s ownership exit closes just one chapter in GM’s ongoing turnaround story. We will always be grateful for the second chance extended to us and we are doing our best to ma
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com November 14, 2013 General Motors' current CEO, Dan Akerson, could be stepping down as early as next year, according to a report from Reuters. Sources tells Reuters that Akerson hasn't formally notified GM's board of directors of any plan to step down, but could come to fruition some next year. "I assume at some point he (Akerson) will decide he has done what he has wanted to do and will step down, but no one has a date for that," said a source
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com November 8, 2013 Forbes had the chance to talk with General Motors' North American president Mark Reuss this week. Reuss talked about key gaps that he sees in GM's lineup and what could be done to fill them. We'll start with the Chevrolet Cruze. Since going on sale in the U.S., a lot of us have been wondering why there isn't a hatchback version. Especially considering the number of compact hatchbacks that are on sale has been growing and that C
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com November 5, 2013 October was a very good month for GM's pickup lineup. With the new Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra in the mix, GM was able to move 59,163 trucks this past month. Still that wasn't quite enough to beat the Ford F-Series which sold 63,803 units in the same timeframe. Part of the reason is that Ford has been laying on the incentives as a way to keep sales up. But Kurt McNeil, GM’s chief sales analyst tells Wards Auto there is an
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com October 31, 2013 More and more vehicles are coming equipped with elaborate infotainment systems that can do pretty much everything from giving directions to playing music off your phone. But these systems aren't always user friendly. A number of OEMs saw their ratings drop in Consumer Report's Auto Reliability survey because of their infotainment systems. General Motors wants to change that and is asking their 4,300 dealers about adding a custom
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com October 27, 2013 General Motors' rollout of their new pickups has hit a few bumps. There was story that GM was cutting back on orders of pickups equipped with the 5.3L V8 due to supplier issues and the concern of dealers not being able to move as many trucks because of GM's decision to not pile on incentives. Well here's another bump in the road. Automotive News is reporting that GM has cut back production on regular and double cab version of th
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com October 23, 2013 The alliance between General Motors and PSA Peugeot Citroen was supposed to help out the two companies with number of new vehicles and powertrains, and lower costs. But since the alliance was announced last year, it has been fraught with disappointment. Now it appears the alliance is scaling back a bit. According to Automotive News, the two companies are slimming down the alliance as the two companies pursue other ways to rever
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com October 22, 2013 Last week, General Motors announced they would be raising the prices on the new Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra by as much as $1,500. This week, dealers are giving the company a piece of their mind with this decision. They say sales of the two trucks are getting beaten up by discounts and rebates being offered by Ford and Ram to clear out their stock of 2013 models. "We all know that it's a great truck. But [GM's] position
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com October 15, 2013 When General Motors introduced their next-generation full-size SUVs last month, some people were expecting some major changes to the powertrains. What was introduced were the next-generation of V8 engines and that was really about it. However, GM's chief engineer for trucks says changes are coming. "We've got some interesting powertrain technologies coming on the SUVs over the next few years," said GM's executive chief engineer
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com October 1, 2013 2013 has been the year of the pickup truck with sales reaching levels that haven't been seen since the recession. If you're a truck manufacturer, the last thing you want to have happen is a hiccup when you're launching a new pickup. Unfortunately that is happening with General Motors. According to Bloomberg, General Motors is facing a shortage of the 5.3L V8 for the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra due to a unnamed supplier no
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September 26th, 2013 Drew Dowdell Managing Editor - CheersandGears.com Patent Drawings published on September 19th reveal that General Motors has filed a patent for a 7-Speed Dual Clutch Transmission. While there has been talk about a conventional GM 8-Speed automatic for a while, a 7-Speed DCT could give GM an upmarket transmission to offer in premium products from Cadillac or the Chevrolet Corvette. At the moment, the 2014 Corvette Stingray will be shipping with a 6-speed auto when the bu
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com September 23, 2013 Tesla has apparently gotten under the skin of General Motors' CEO Dan Akerson. As we reported back in July, Akerson created a group to study Tesla and how it could effect the company. Now, Akerson wants to take on Tesla with Cadillac. “If you want to compete head-to-head with Tesla, and we ultimately will, you want to do it with a Cadillac,” Akerson said to The Detroit News. Akerson went on to indicate that he would like to
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com September 23, 2013 General Motors is considering whether or not to do off-road-focused versions of their next-generation full-size SUVs. "We are looking at, for this generation, a more off-road variant," said Jeff Luke, GM's executive chief engineer for trucks. Luke explains that off-road capability is a major reason why buyers go to full-size SUVs and not crossovers. Owners "just love off-roading with these vehicles. They look at this vehicl
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com September 19, 2013 It seems diesel mania is hitting truck manufacturers. Ram has the 1500 with a diesel option; Nissan has announced a diesel V8 for the next-generation Titan; and Toyota is considering whether to do a diesel option for the Tundra. Now a new report says General Motors is ready to join the diesel fray in half-tons if it proves to be popular. According to AutoGuide, GM can use the same 3.0L Diesel V6 found in Ram 1500. This is due
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com September 17, 2013 It's no secret that General Motors has been keeping a very close eye on Tesla. Back in July, we reported that CEO Dan Akerson created a group to study Tesla and how it could effect GM. Now it seems GM wants to take Tesla on. According to the Reuters and the Wall Street Journal, General Motors is working on a electric vehicle with a 200 Mile range and a pricetag of $30,000. This information came from GM's vice president of glo
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com September 12, 2013 General Motors has unveiled today its next-generation of full-size SUVs, including the 2015 Chevy Tahoe, Suburban, and the GMC Yukon, Yukon XL, and Yukon Denali. Much like the Silverado and Sierra, the Chevrolet and GMC SUVs have different styling on the front ends with different front clips and headlights. From the A-Pillar back, the SUVs are the same with inlaid doors that tuck into the door sills to provide better aero an
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com August 5, 2013 Some surprising news coming from General Motors today. The Detroit Free Press reports that Cadillac's vice president of global strategic development, Don Butler resigned his post today. In a email, Butler explained that his departure is “a personal decision.” “As I've told others, I just need to take a step back to recalibrate, reassess my priorities. I know it’s time for a change but I don't know what’s next. I'm trusting that G
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com July 30, 2013 In India, General Motors hasn't issued a recall since 1995. That trend ended this past week as GM announced the recall of 114,000 Chevrolet Tavera utility vehicles built from 2005 to 2013 and are equipped with the 2.5L and 2.0L engines. The reason? According to India's Economic Times via Automotive News, GM employees deliberately fudged emission inspections to meet the standards. "Over a period of time some employees of the compa
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G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - CheersandGears.com 2014 GM Fleet Roll Out When I first got my invitation to attend the 2014 GM Fleet roll out I asked myself, besides traditional fleet purchasing and fleet options including the new Crew Cab CNG truck and police Caprice, what could really be worth my time of spending a day at this function? Boy was I glad I went as this is what I call a NEW GM FLEET! Let’s start with the fact that GM has reorganized the way they do fleet
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com July 22, 2013 Electric automaker Tesla has been a tour-de-force over the past year. Sales of the Model S have exceeded expectations; profits are though the roof; the company has been implementing free charging stations across the U.S. for owners and other things. These success have caught the attention of General Motors. More specially, GM CEO Dan Akerson. According to Bloomberg, Akerson has created a small team to study Tesla and how it could
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com July 11, 2013 A new report from Reuters cites France's La Tribune story that General Motors is in talks with PSA Peugeot-Citroën about possibly selling vans in the United States. The report doesn't say which vans are in consideration, only saying that van would be sold under ofne of GM's brand, most likely Chevrolet. This news doesn't come as a surprise. GM currently has some of the oldest full-size vans on the marketplace and with fresh models
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com June 18, 2013 In a effort to help out its struggling European operations, General Motors will further intertwine Opel/Vauxhall engineering efforts with Buick. "What we're trying to do is bring together the product development teams much more closely," said GM CEO Dan Akerson, so that "there will be all sorts of synergies, I believe, between Opel-Vauxhall and Buick." Currently, Buick sells three different Opel models in the U.S.: Encore (Opel M
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com June 5, 2013 The U.S. Treasury said today it plans to sell an additional 30 million shares of General Motors stock (about 12 percent) in anticipation of GM's return to the S&P 500 on Thursaday. In addition, the UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust announced they would be selling 20 million shares. During the first three months of the year, the U.S. Treasury sold off about 20 percent of its remaining GM stake. Currently, the Treasury holds 16.
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By William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com April 30, 2013 General Motors is hoping to reverse a trend of losing market share by introducing new models over the next few years. Since 2002, GM has seen its market share decline at a steady rate, losing 10.5% in that time. This is due to competitors such as Chrysler and Japanese automakers roaring back in sales. GM believes a onslaught of new products can help them claw back some market share. The Detroit News reports that 70% of GM's p
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By William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com April 10, 2013 Its nice whenever spy shots show a group vehicles undergoing some testing. Its even better when the group has the all the different models in one group. Case in point, Automobile Magazine has some new spy shots featuring the new 2015 GM full-size SUV lineup. The test mules in the pictures look to be wearing the production-ready bodies. The differences between the mules are dependent on the headlights and grilles. The Escalade
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By William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com April 4, 2013 General Motors announced today a new investment of $331.8 million in four manufacturing sites to produce more fuel-efficient engines and transmissions. GM said in a press release today that some parts of the investment will help prepare its factories to produce a new eight-speed automatic transmission and increase capacity for an existing six-speed gearbox. Other parts will go towards support the production of a new V6 engine (
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By William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com March 20, 2013 Edmunds has learned from industry sources that General Motors is considering a three-cylinder engine for the Cadillac ELR and Chevrolet Volt. The reason for the three-cylinder is to help reduce fuel consumption and vehicle weight, something CEO Dan Akerson mentioned during a speech at a Houston energy conference a couple weeks ago. The proposed idea would have the 1.4L four-cylinder that is used in the Volt and ELR to be repla
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By William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com March 7, 2013 General Motors CEO Dan Akerson made some ambitious announcements at a energy conference in Houston, TX on Wednesday. For starters, Akerson said General Motors has a goal of reducing vehicle weight by 15% by 2016. This will be accomplished by using lightweight materials like aluminum, carbon fiber, and magnesium. Akerson says the move to lightweight materials could improve fuel economy by more than 6.5%. Akerson also said the c
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By William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com February 28, 2013 Before the Chevrolet Volt was launched, General Motor executives were making some very bold claims on production numbers, throwing numbers like 60,000 or 45,000 Volts a year. Since going into production, GM has sold 7,671 Volts in 2011 and 23,461 in 2012. Combine the Opel and Vauxhall Ampera and then you're looking around 30,000 plug-in vehicles. Now for 2013, General Motors looks to be boosting their production number, albe
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By William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com February 26, 2013 The U.S. Treasury has began to sell off its remaining shares in General Motors, with a goal of selling it all by next March. Currently the U.S. Treasury owns more than 300 million shares in the auto maker, or about a 19% stake. In a statement, the Treasury said it "intends to sell its shares into the market in an orderly fashion and fully exit its remaining GM investment within the next 12-15 months, subject to market condi
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com December 27, 2012 In the past few generation of its full-size SUVs, General Motors used pretty much the same interior design across all brands. That looks to be changing with the next-generation SUVs. “In the past we shared SUV and (pickup) truck interiors. That is not the case going forward,” said Chris Hilts, creative manager of interior design at General Motors to Car and Driver. Hilts cites two reasons for this change. One is that SUV owne
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com December 21, 2012 The folks at Camaro5.org got their hands on General Motors service document on decoding VIN number on 2014 model year vehicles for dealers and found some interesting information. First is the 2014 Camaro which features a listing of the 7.0L LS7 V8 engine from the current Corvette Z06 (505 horsepower and 470 lb-ft of torque). Speculation has it being for a new Camaro model, the rumored Z28 model. Next, the document references
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com December 19, 2012 General Motors announced today that they will be buying back 200 million shares of stock from the U.S. Treasury. The buyback will cost GM about $27.50 per share - about $5.5 billion in total. GM says the $27.50 share price represents a 7.9% premium over the closing price on December 18. The share buyback is expected to close by the end of December. After this buyback, the Treasury will still hold close to 300 million shares o
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com December 18, 2012 GM's full-size hybrid pickups, the Chevrolet Silverado Hybrid and GMC Sierra Hybrid have offered the best fuel economy in the class since being introduced in 2009. However, they haven't been a sales success as GM had expected. Last year, GM sold 3,114 Hybrid trucks and SUVs, from a high of 8,797 vehicles in 2009. Last week at the press introduction of the new Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra, GM North America President Mark
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com December 17, 2012 While GM showed off the new full-size trucks this past week, they are still busy working on the new full-size SUVs. GM North American President Mark Reuss told the Detroit Free Press that redesigned versions of the automaker's full-size SUVs - Chevrolet Tahoe, Suburban and GMC Yukon and Yukon XL will be arriving in 2014. Reuss didn't give an explanation as to why there is a delay to the full-size SUVs. While the popularity o
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com November 16, 2012 General Motors CEO Dan Akerson told Opel employees this week that the company will not sell or "simply close up shop and leave". "As a global auto company, GM needs a strong design, engineering, manufacturing and sales presence in Europe. There's room for Chevrolet in Europe but Opel fulfills that role," Akerson said in a speech. "Recommendations that we 'cut and run' show you that some people simply do not see how important O
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com November 14, 2012 During an event in San Francisco, GM's product chief Mary Barra announced the company their green-car will focus on plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles. "A major focus for GM's electrification strategy will center on the plug," said Barra. She went onto say that plug-ins offer "a unique opportunity to change the way people commute.” GM's original strategy for green cars included the development of different powertrains, inc
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com November 14, 2012 The talks between General Motors and PSA-Peugeot/Citroën have come to halt. According to Reuters, the talks were stopped due to worsening finances and a government-backed bailout. As we have been reporting since February, General Motors and PSA have been in talks about expanding their alliance. Rumors have ranged from 50/50 deal, selling Opel to PSA, buying up PSA's auto division, and putting Citroën, Opel, and Peugeot into on
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com November 12, 2012 Motor Trend is reporting that General Motors and Aisin have come to an agreement dealing with transmissions. The report says General Motors is working on eight-speed transmissions for longitudinal (RWD/AWD) and transverse (FWD/AWD) applications. A source tells the magazine that the eight-speed transmissions for longitudinal applications aren't quite ready. The source goes onto say that General Motors have reached an agreement
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com October 25, 2012 In a not surprising announcement yesterday, General Motors and PSA Peugeot-Citroen said they will be co-developing four new platforms that are part of the Global Strategic Alliance between the two. The platforms will primarily be for Opel/Vauxhall, Peugeot, and Citroën. Those four platforms are, A new low-emissions city car Midsize car (sedan, hatchback, and wagon) Small Multi-Purpose vehicle Joint program for compact
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com October 14, 2012 When General Motors and PSA/Peugeot-Citroen announced their alliance back in February, questions were brought up of what this deal would bring and if there was more this to the deal. This past week, French Newspaper La Tribune reports that the two companies have been in talks to possibly extend their partnership to a 50/50 deal, with General Motors adding more cash. Neither company commented when asked. Reuters has learned fr
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com September 18, 2012 Buick and GMC have announced to their dealers today that the two brands will collectively launch nine new or revised products over the next 12 months. Some of the products have already been shown. Those products include, Buick Enclave Buick Encore GMC Acadia Others have either been talked about and/or been caught in spy shots. Those vehicles are, 2014 Buick LaCrosse 2014 Buick Regal 2014 GMC Sierra 20
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com September 18, 2012 The U.S. Treasury said no to a plan from General Motors to sell their remaining shares in the company according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. Earlier in the summer, GM floated a plan to the Treasury department to purchase the remaining 200 million shares the Treasury hold. Under the plan, the Treasury would sell the remaining shares through a public stock offering. The Treasury wasn't so thrilled with GM's plan,
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com August 12, 2012 General Motors CEO Dan Akerson is not happy with the media this past week. During the company’s Thursday employee meeting, Akerson criticized leaks to news media. "We have to stop leaking in this company. It's an act of treason — it really is," Akerson said. Akerson used the Ewanick departure as an example. As we reported last week, Ewanick was thrown out of GM due to internal frictions and failure to disclose the full $559 mil
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com August 8, 2012 Last week, we reported on the departure of GM's global marketing chief, Joel Ewanick. The reason given out at the time was Ewanick not meeting up to expectations. A day after his departure, a report from Bloomberg said Ewanick's departure was due to a review of a recent sponsorship agreement that didn't meet company policy. A week later, a new report from Bloomberg sheds some more light on why Ewanick was kicked out. The recent
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com August 4, 2012 "In recent weeks, you have seen that we do not hesitate to act when change is required to make the business stronger." Those words coming out of General Motors CEO Dan Akerson during a conference call with reporters this week. Akerson was referencing the recent outings of Global Marketing Chief Joel Ewanick and Dave Lyon, who was to become VP of design at GM Europe. Akerson went on to say, "from time to time, it will mean partin
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com August 2, 2012 General Motors released their second quarter earnings report and the results are a bit disappointing. The company posted a net income of $1.5 billion and a revenue of $37.6 billion. Those numbers are significantly down from the same figures in the second quarter of 2011, when GM posted a net income of $2.5 billion and a revenue of $39.4 billion. That's a drop of 40% in income and a 4.6% drop in revenue. This announcement comes a
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com July 29, 2012 Automotive News reports General Motor's global marketing chief, Joel Ewanick is leaving. The reason according to General Motors is Ewanick didn't meet expectations. GM hired Ewanick back in May 2010. Prior to this, he worked at Nissan for two months. Before Nissan, Ewanick worked at Hyundai where he was the chief of marketing and is credited with creating Hyundai Assurance, which allowed owners that lost their jobs to return thei
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com June 8, 2012 Ford has been having a resounding success with the EcoBoost option one the F-150 pickup truck. With new full-size trucks on the way, you would think GM would be heading down the same route. Not so fast. "I wouldn't say that's a huge priority. I think there are other answers to that, which they don't have, for us that make a lot more sense," said GM North America President Mark Reuss. Reuss believes the full-sized pickup can't
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com June 1, 2012 General Motors is expected to announce today the closing of the Oshawa Consolidated Line. The line currently builds the Chevy Impala and overflow production of the Equinox. General Motors told workers this morning the closure will happen on June 1, 2013 and layoff around 2,000 people. Chris Buckley, president of CAW Local 222 is not happy with the decision. “GM announced to us this morning their plans to close the plant. We are
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com May 16, 2012 There is a new report from Australia saying Holden will be announcing a new export program to bring the next generation of the Commodore sedan codenamed VF to America as the new Chevrolet SS sedan. If and when this announcement, this could end the long running speculation, ranging from a U.S. trademark filling to an OnStar leak. The report from News.com.au also ties the announcement to it being the replacement for the current N
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Blake Noble Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com May 3rd, 2012 At one point in the past, General Motors held a 49 percent stake in the Japanese automaker Isuzu. Over the years however, as GM’s market share eroded and the Detroit car company began fighting against the tides of red ink, it began selling off its shares in Isuzu until the alliance came quietly to an end. In 2006, it sold off its last 7.9 percent stake in the company for a reported $300 million dollars in order to fund restructuri
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com April 26, 2012 General Motors' CEO, Dan Akerson recently said that he would like to see GM’s next CEO come from within the company ranks. “My preference would be for it to be an internal candidate just because as you might expect, in any company in any industry, it’s less disruptive,” Akerson said at the 2012 Automotive News China Conference. Akerson told The Wall Street Journal earlier this month that GM Vice Chairman Steve Girsky is on th
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com April 12, 2012 The Detroit News is reporting the explosion that happened yesterday at the General Motors Tech Center in Warren was caused by gases venting from an experimental battery pack. The explosion which happened yesterday morning in a battery lab was liken to a natural gas explosion. Gases from experimental battery gathered in the room during extreme testing and ignited. The explosion caused damaged to the at least part of the global
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com April 11, 2012 CBS Detroit affiliate WWJ reports that the GM Tech Center in Warren was rocked by an explosion earlier this morning. Deputy Fire Chief Gary Wilkinson said the explosion happened around 8:50 a.m. at the Alternative Energy Center research center. The cause of the explosion is likely a lithium-ion battery. Wilkinson also said two people have been rushed to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries, although a statement rele
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G. Noble Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com April 10th, 2012 Yesterday evening, we reported on a few statements GM North American President Mark Reuss made to Australia’s GoAuto at this month’s New York Auto Show. Reuss briefly discussed with GoAuto concerns about the Zeta platform’s viability and what could be in store for the Australian Holden Commodore sedan. As it turns out though, GoAuto wasn’t the only auto-centric Aussie establishment itching to get a crack at Reuss. Australian car
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G. Noble Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com April 9th, 2012 Despite its limited application as the basis for the Australian Holden Commodore sedan and Chevrolet Camaro coupe, GM North American President Mark Reuss says the rear-wheel drive Zeta platform is still a relevant global architecture for cars. Speaking to Australia’s GoAuto at this month’s New York Auto Show, the former Holden boss defended what has been called an “orphaned” platform, saying that Zeta would continue as long as sale
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com April 5, 2012 Today, General Motors announcing pricing for the Cadillac XTS and Chevrolet Spark. The Spark will start at $12,995 (includes destination) for the base LS model. The base LS includes 10 airbags, air conditioning, power windows, OnStar and 15-inch alloys. Next up is the 1LT trim, costing $14,495. The 1LT will include seven-inch color touchscreen, USB connectivity, satellite radio, keyless entry, power mirrors, cruise control, Blu
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com March 13, 2012 If you been shopping for a Chevrolet Equinox or GMC Terrain with a four-cylinder and been wondering why there is a lack of them on dealer lots, blame a supplier. Automotive News reports that for the past two months, GM has put order limits on the four-cylinder Equinox and Terrain. That's due to a tier 2 supplier having problems with certain parts for the 2.4L four-cylinder engine. GM spokesman Jim Cain said dealers were told
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William Maley Editor/Reporter- CheersandGears.com March 7, 2012 Last week, General Motors and PSA announced a new alliance that would have the two sharing components and give stronger purchasing power for both. The deal is "an additional tool to the toolkit in Europe" said GM Vice Chairman Stephen Girsky to reporters. When asked what would come next in GM's plan to save Opel, Girsky declined. "We can't tell you what our play is in Europe. We will tell you when it plays out over the next peri
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com February 29, 2012 The rumor of GM and PSA Peugeot Citroën creating an alliance for the past couple of weeks is now true. Today, the two announced a new global alliance in which GM will buy a 7% stake in PSA. The alliance would have GM and PSA sharing vehicle platforms, components and modules. Plus, the alliance would give both stronger purchasing power for sourcing components, raw materials and other goods and services. The vehicle platforms
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com February 28, 2012 Last Wednesday, we reported on talks between General Motors and Peugeot-Citroën on a possible alliance. Now, Reuters is reporting the talks have gone into advance stages and General Motors could be buying up a small share. Reuters has learned from a couple sources at both companies that General Motors would purchase 5% of Peugeot-Citroën as part of their alliance deal. The stake could be worth $240 million dollars at Peuge
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com February 22, 2012 Question: What do GM's European arm and Peugeot-Citroën have in common? The answer; both are in dire financial straits and are trying to turn their fortunes around. GM's European arm announced a $562 million loss in 2011. Meanwhile, Peugeot-Citroën's announced a loss of $121 million in 2011 and has cut 6,000 jobs. It seems fitting then that GM and Peugeot-Citroën are talking about an alliance. Reuters is reporting that the
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com February 16, 2012 Today, General Motors announced their results for 2011 and forth quarter. The company announced a profit of $7.6 billion for 2011, a large increase from the $4.7 billion profit in 2010. However, forth quarter results were not as impressive. Net income for the forth quarter was only $472 million, or about the same as Q4 2010. While this makes it eight straight quarters of positive growth, the earnings were weighed down by l
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com February 5, 2012 General Motors and Ford Motor Company are butting heads over a commerical to air on tonights Super Bowl. Today, Ford sent GM cease and decease order to take down the "2012" commercial for the Chevrolet Silverado. Ford also pressured NBC to not air the ad tonight. The ad shows the Mayan prediction that the world will end on December 21, 2012 comes true. With a disastrous looking landscape, the only remaining object to survive
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com February 2, 2012 GM’s Arlington, Texas plant, the place where the current Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Suburban and Tahoe, and GMC Yukon and Yukon XL is going under some renovations. GM announced a new $200 million stamping facility that will produce large stamping components for GM’s next-generation full-size SUVs. The facility will save the company $40 million in logistics and will come online in 2013. Since we’re talking about Arlington a
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com January 25, 2012 Today, the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform's Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs, Stimulus Oversight and Government Spending (gesundheit!) held its hearing on the Chevrolet Volt and investigation done by NHTSA. The hearing titled - "Volt Vehicle Fire: What did NHTSA Know and When Did They Know It?" showed the committee led by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., wasn't here to mess around. First to testify was NHTSA Admi
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com January 24, 2012 The UAW has scheduled a strike authorization vote for Thursday after workers at GM’s Fairfax, Kansas assembly plant voted last Friday to reject a proposed contract at the plant. On Friday, 66% of production workers and 58% of skilled-trades workers voted against a contract. "The UAW is working through issues with the company and is optimistic that we will be able to reach an agreement,” said UAW spokeswoman Michele Martin.
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com January 23, 2012 GM's Lambda Trio; the Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse, and GMC Acadia are still selling very well (sales were up 5% in 2011), but there is no hiding the face that these three models are growing long in the tooth. Outside, the three are still very handsome. But, jump inside or drive one and you realize how old the three are. That will soon change as GM is readying updated models of the Enclave and Acadia, as shown here via s
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V.V. Haldavnekar Administrator - Cheers and Gears January 19, 2012 After turning in profits for consecutive quarters of 2011, General Motors regained the global sales crown for 2011. Buoyed by an upswinging Chevrolet brand that saw growth in many of global markets, GM reported sales of more than 9 million units, a gain of over 7% compared to last year's sales. Chevrolet brand accounted approx. 4.8 million units. General Motors reports that it gained the global market share by 4th of a percent
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com January 15, 2012 Tom Stephens, the Vice Chairman and Chief Technology Officer for General Motors is retiring on April 1st, ending a 43-year career that included leadership of GM's global powertrain and product development organizations. Stephens started at GM back in 1969 as part of a student program. From there he would hold positions at Cadillac, Buick-Oldsmobile-Cadillac Division, and GM Powertrain. Highlights for Stephens include leadin
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com January 12, 2012 GM is retiring one of their workhorse engines. The 2.4L four-cylinder found under the hoods of the Buick Regal and Verano, Chevrolet Equinox, and GMC Terrain will say farewell. In it’s place will be a new 2.5L DI four-cylinder. The new four-cylinder will make its debut in the regular Chevrolet Malibu, due out this summer. The engine is rated at 190 hp and 180 lb-ft of torque. This is a decent size bump in power compared to t
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January 3rd, 2011 by "black-knight" CheersandGears.com Good news doesn't always mean great news, especially if you're in GM's shoes right now. Despite the fact GM is closer to snatching Toyota's global sales crown away, Chevrolet is very close to eclipising its all time sales record, and more new models are on the way, GM's stock has been trading somewhere between $20 to $21 bucks a share the last few days. Compare that to around this time last year when one share of GM's stock would have set
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I am a huge Disney Parks fan - My favorite attraction to visit at Epcot in WDW happens to coincide with my passion for all things General Motors - the GM Test Track (formerly GM's World of Motion pavilion). Mouseplanet's weekly WDW news update reports that the GM Test Track attraction is scheduled to be closed from April 15 through September 21, 2012 for an upgrade to include a name change -Test Track presented by Chevrolet: …Our friends over at TouringPlans.com are reporting that Test Track m
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com December 26, 2011 With GM's next generation pickups just around the corner, GM is planning a 21 week vacation for their truck plants to update them. GM spokesman Chris Lee told Automotive News the company will begin idling their Fort Wayne assembly plant for nine weeks from January to October. Following Fort Wayne will be Flint assembly which will be idled for seven weeks from June to November. GM’s Arlington assembly is scheduled to shut f
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General Motors Corp., which was 103 years old and was once America's largest company quietly died on Dec. 15, 2011. There were no ceremonies or anyone present to mark the company's passing. General Motors Corp. was founded in 1908, acquired more than 20 other companies in its life, including Oldsmobile, Chevrolet, Opel, and Oakland. It would become the world's largest Automaker from 1931 until 2008 when it was eclipsed by Toyota. For much of the century it was the world's largest company, and a
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Back in September, we reported that GM and BMW were in talks about an alliance. The possible alliance would have General Motors looking at BMW's lineup of gas and diesel engines, while BMW is looking at the Voltec powertrain. Now, a report from German business magazine Wirtschaftswoche says there could be more to this alliance. Wirtschaftswoche reports the two are in talks about jointly developing fuel cell technology for vehicles. The plan would allow BMW to access GM's fuel cell tech. In retu
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With Detroit only a month away, news has began to come/leak out of what will be premiering. Late last week, GM’s senior vice president of global product development, Mary Barra told the Automotive Press Association in Detroit the new ATS would make it's debut at Detroit. But that's not all, Chevrolet will be showing a production version of the Sonic RS and two concept vehicles from their GM North Hollywood Design Center. Buick will have the brand new Encore, a small crossover based on GM’s fron
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General Motors might have figured out what caused the Volt to catch on fire in a NHTSA storage yard back in June. A source tells the Associated Press the cause of the fire is the coolant used in batteries to help keep them cool. The coolant didn't catch on fire, but crystallized and caused a short circuit. But just as that information was coming out, Reuters learned from a couple sources that GM is closing in on a package of proposed fixes for the battery pack. The fixes include laminating the
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Last week, GM's CEO Dan Akerson said in a interview with the Associated Press that the company would be willing to buy back Volts from concerned owners. Well some owners are taking GM up on that offer. Today, GM told The Detroit News that a "couple dozen" Volt owners have asked the company to buy back their Volts. "For those few who have requested repurchase, we're going to move fast" if their concerns can't be met any other way, said Greg Martin, GM spokesman. GM is currently working with Vo
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com December 1, 2011 In a interview today with Reuters, GM CEO Dan Akerson said the company may redesign the Volt's battery in response to a NHTSA investigation. "We want to assure the safety of our customers, of our buyers, and so we're just going to take a time out, if you will, in terms of redesigning the battery possibly," Dan Akerson told Reuters. Back on Monday, GM announced they would offer loaner vehicles to 5,500 Volt owners after NHTS
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Today, General Motors announced that it will provide a loaner to any Chevrolet Volt owner concerned about the safety of their vehicle. The announcement comes a few days after NHTSA announced an investigation into the Chevrolet Volt's batteries after tests done by NHTSA have cause the batteries to catch on fire. GM says they will try to contact every Volt owner to attempt to clear up the confusion. GM has sold 5,329 Volts and each owner should receive a letter within the next few days. “We are
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GM's Spring Hill assembly has been quiet since production of Chevrolet Traverse moved in 2009, with the plant building powertrains and other components. Now, a car is returning to Spring Hill. Today, GM announced a $244 million investment into Spring Hill that will create one of the industry's most flexible production lines. The assembly line will open in the second half of next year building the Chevrolet Equinox, which will help supplement production in Canada. But GM says the plant will be c
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The current Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra are getting shown up by Ford’s F-Series and Ram truck lineup with their improved interiors, ride, and powertrains. But GM is busy at work on the next generation pickup to steal back some of the spotlight. This week, Inside Line got some spy shots of the new Sliverado/Sierra undergoing some testing. The biggest difference between the current trucks and the one featured in the pictures is a new greenhouse. Also, the truck looks to sporting more cues
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Revealed! 2013 Chevrolet Trailblazer Concept By "black-knight" C&G Editor/Reporter 9th November, 2011 Dinosaurs. Sabre-Toothed Tigers. Megalodons. Cheap V8-powered, mid-sized muscle coupes. Large, rear-drive Cadillacs. Truck-based mid-sized SUVs. These are all things that have wound up extinct or virtually endangered to the point of complete extinction. But once in a rare while, sometimes a species can save itself and rise triumphantly from the point of sinking com
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For the first half of this year, General Motors posted a profit of $6.3 billion, making it the best start in over two-decades. However, GM CEO Dan Akerson wants the company to do better. $6.3 Billion is nothing to scoff at, but Akerson points out that figure equates to a 6% margin. He wants to see GM beat out the 7% margins realized by Ford & Volkswagen. So how will GM do it? By cutting. GM has put forth plans to have just 14 global architectures by 2018, a dramatic drop from the 30 archit
