General Motors of India is reportedly set to unveil a new mini car this coming December. The codename for the mini car is M300, a car that is undergoing its final round of testing and will be officially displayed at 2010 autoexpo in New Delhi. Production is set to commence at the Talegaon plant and may be priced somewhere in the Rs 4 lakh category. This car will go in line with the Chevrolet Spark and follows the recent launch of the Chevrolet Cruz.

(Source) Express India

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The board of General Motors will start convening on the fate of the embattled German unit Opel, an issue that has been unsettled to this day. Though many critics speculated that GM would retain Opel despite that various bidders for the company, nothing clear has been seen on what the actual route Opel will really take.

The board meeting is slated for two days as the board meeting aims to tackle this German unit which employs over 25,000 people in Germany alone. Among the bidders who showed interest in acquiring Opel included Magna International Inc. and Russian state-backed bank Sberbank. A third bidder in RHJ International of Brussels is also in the mix although it has shared that it will not be keeping as many employees if it does acquire Opel.

(Source) Metro News

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General Motors is busy looking for buyers for their German subsidiary Opel and it looks like it will take some more time before they find a worthy buyer. GM is reportedly against the inclusion of Russians to take over the Opel brand which has so far raised some eyebrows which include that of technology takeover.

For the record, Berlin favors Magna and GAZ, the Russian state-owned car builder, and Sberbank to succeed the Opel brand. And this was said to be one reason why the Magna bid was turned down although GM had openly denied it had a hand on this. The plot for the future of the Opel brand continues to be befuddling but from the looks of it, there may be a chance that GM is playing possum and probably hold on to the Opel brand. That is if rumors hold true!

(Source) AFP

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Established in 1984, this Toyota plant situated in Fremont, California was a joint venture between them and General Motors. Apparently the plant was aimed to aid in Toyota’s experiment on building cars for the North American market and General Motors’ way of studying efficient car production techniques. Sad to say, that same plant which employs over 4,700 United Automobile Workers has been closed down by Toyota as voted upon by its board of directors.

The decision was expected since General Motors went bankrupt. This officially becomes Toyota’s first experience in shutting down a manufacturing plant in the U.S. despite the effort of California lawmakers to come up with an amicable package.

With the closure, 40,000 jobs stand to be lost. But lawmakers are still hoping for the best to keep the plant up despite the decision handed down by the Toyota execs. There were two vehicles being manufactured at the California plant; the Toyota Corolla and the Tacoma pickup truck.

G.M. stopped building the Pontiac Vibe, a small crossover vehicle, there last week.

(Source) The NY Times

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If you are looking forward to the coming of the Crossover Buick, we are sad to inform you that it has been officially cancelled by General Motors. The supposed vehicle garnered a lot of negative feedback from the media, employees and dealerships, considering the direction that the company is planning to take. And in the end, GM just shelved the program and decided to transfer the Vue’s plug-in hybrid powertrain to another vehicle by 2011.

There is no word on which vehicle the plug-in hybrid powertrain would be transferred to. But in all, it seems that this development coincides with the new outlook that GM is envisioning. And from the look of it, it is back to the drawing boards for GM, a move that may be one of the wisest they may be making to date.

(Source) Autoblog

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It is back to the basics for General Motors! With a handful of marquee brands left under its wing, this is the best approach they are going to have to take. General Motors has been on rocky waters and apparently the need for a new strategy to gain its competitive nature once again is seen as the best choice.

At the moment, their remaining brands include the Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC. With four brands under its wing, the best thing to do is re-study the state of these brands and highlight the features that can make them marquee models once again.

Given a new lease of life, General Motors may do well by showing how its vehicles perform and by staking out stronger identities for the brands. In short, the new GM can be likened to starting out their business as if it was their first day of operations. This includes planning as well to make sure that this time around, the new GM will be deadlier and better than the old one.

(Source) Fox Business

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Sure, GM hasn’t been doing so hot lately, but at least they have OnStar’s success under their belt. What you see above is a map taken from an OnStar command center that shows just how many users are using the service.

In case you don’t to count each dot there are 59,445 (or more) users using the service each and every day.

Below is a break down of all the uses for this particular day:

Blue button presses: 55,416

Emergency button presses: 3,939

Airbags deployed: 28

AACN (Advanced Automotive Crash Notification): 62

Total interactions: 59,445

This leads to the question, why haven’t other automakers stolen GM’s idea yet? I guess it’s only a matter of time now.

via Jalopnik

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The GM fiasco is far from settled. There is a new GM but it doesn’t end there. While many are hoping that their status will improve, it looks like there is another issue at hand which has forced General Motors and union reps to meet.

For sure, this has something to do with the reduced pensions and possible loss of health coverage. The issue was sparked last Wednesday when Delphi surrendered its hourly pension plan to the federal government’s Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation.

This development, if true, could mean that most retirees will take a devastating hit as far as these benefits are concerned. At the moment talks and negotiations are in the works.

(Source) Press

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General Motors is exhausting all means possible to make the “New” GM as flexible as possible. And from the looks of it, they will be making use of the online methods of eBay as far as auctions and selling is concerned.

Now the question is will it work? Well it does address a wider market considering the web covers practically the whole world and the people who can afford to buy a new vehicle. But you have to wonder if people would actually buy a car online?

Another area for consideration is nothing has been mentioned yet for people who may avail of financing plans. This is of course assuming that GM will not include it in their online sales methods. As far as “Buy It Now” options, it may not really be the proper time to do so.

If struck, the deal will allow customers to buy cars online, purchasing and auctioning them like they do on any other goods. This will fundamentally change the existing auto sales model, and may become a future direction.

Certainly, we hope to get more details on this. As of now, the whole concept seems blurry. But expect this to ironed out some more, if it does push through which seems likely.

(Source) Press

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After a tumultuous couple of months clouding the popular car brand, General Motors is now ready to stand up once again, starting a new chapter with a new and supposedly better GM in the U.S. auto industry. Among the highlights of the new GM include leaner greener models and now 61% owned by the U.S. government.

The debts have been cleared and the business continues. But if GM is not careful in its strategic approach, they may end up falling short of attaining goals they have. Apparently, these are only some things they have to watch out for.

With a grueling economy and people choosing to shy away from new car purchases for now, GM has its work cut out for them. New marketing approaches and wiser cars for the conservative motorists have to be done if GM wants to make the new company fare better than the old one.

“It is the smaller, leaner, tougher, better cost-focused GM,” said George Magliano, an automotive analyst with the consulting firm IHS Global Insight. “But they still have to deal with the problems that they faced longer-term.”

(Source) Yahoo News

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Yesterday, we had posted that General Motors finally got approval for the transfer of assets to the “New” GM. And while many approved and disapproved that piece of news, GMAC issues a statement of their own regarding this development.

In conjunction with the closing of the sale, the contracts GM has with GMAC will be transferred to the new GM entity. GMAC is pleased to conduct its business operations with the new GM entity and to be part of the solution to stabilize and strengthen the U.S. auto industry.

Again this is bound draw some issues. What about the debts and liabilities? What fate does befall them? Technically, we have been talking about the assets or the so-called good sides of the deal. What about the other pieces of the GM puzzle that are totally clueless to date?

Well you can be assured that GM will be in the headlines once again from hereon. There are still some loose ends to cover.

(Source) Press

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General Motors may finally find itself emerging from bankruptcy after reports stated that a bankruptcy judge has approved the sale of its bulk assets to the new company. But while that may seem good news, controversies are still in the air, particularly the debts and liabilities that GM had incurred which forced it to shut down.

U.S. Judge Robert Gerber said in his 95-page ruling that the sale was in the best interests of both GM and its creditors, whom he said would otherwise get nothing.

GM will leave bankruptcy court with significantly reduced debt and labor costs, as well as fewer dealerships and brands. But it’s still operating in an environment where fewer American are buying cars. That means that people injured by a defective GM product in connection with an incident that occurred before June 1 would have to seek compensation from the “old GM,” the collection of assets leftover from the sale, where they would be less likely to receive compensation.

GM’s government-backed plan for a quick exit from Chapter 11 hinges on the sale, which will allow the automaker to leave behind many of its costs and liabilities. The Treasury Department has vowed to cut off funding to GM if the sale doesn’t go through by July 10.

After one good news follows another issue for dispute. Depending on how you look at it, it all makes sense. But one thing that is for sure, the more bickering involved the harder it is to resolve the issues. Then again, no one wants to be left out in the cold with nothing to hold.

(Source) Press

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To most car enthusiasts, only a few would perhaps hear about GM’s Equinox. Well for the record, this is another potential SUV for consideration, another vehicles that GM is pinning its hopes on with regards to the growing market we have today.

The Equinox is rising in popularity and if forecasts holds true, we may see another successful GM variant in the works. In fact, GM is expecting a growth of 60% by 2013, and the Equinox is seen as the SUV that will make it all happen. All of this comes after the much heralded reorganization process that General Motors has been through.

The Equinox will get over 32 miles per gallon on the highway and provide a range of nearly 550 miles. It will also have 5-star safety and six airbags, delivering the best in each of those categories.

(Source) Press

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Controversial General Motors is sitting on pins and needles lately. Bankrupt seems to be their middle name these days although they are pinning their hopes on one car to help bring them some light in the midst of the darkest hour of their legacy. And the car tasked to bring in some glory to the embattled GM brand is the 2010 Buick LaCrosse.

The 2010 Buick LaCrosse is GM’s entry to compete with the likes of Acura, Lexus and Toyota models as far as midsized luxury sedans are concerned. Though it has become a familiar car for gated Florida retirement communities, GM is hoping for one last push for the sagging American car brand.

The car comes with a choice of two V-6 engines or a four-cylinder one that gets up to 30 mpg on the highway. The larger 3.6-liter engine puts out 280 horsepower and should go from zero to 60 mph in less than 7 seconds, according to Buick.

“Buick definitely has a significant challenge,” she said. “It is a brand that for over 100 million Americans, a combination of Generation X and Generation Y, it’s a tainted brand.”

GM, though, isn’t going for the next generation just yet. Its target market for the LaCrosse, according to Bierley, is people in their mid-40s and 50s. Those are people likely to have the money to buy it, with a base price of US$27,835.

(Source) Stuff

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Rough times compounded by retirement has become a concern for most former employees of General Motors who were not part of the United Auto Workers which was responsible for the negotiations prior to the bankruptcy of the famed automotive manufacturer. In fact, not all are covered which only means that more than the ones represented during the talks are likely to be suffering all the more.

Benefits will be slashed severely for these non-members, something that has been able to support them in their daily livelihood. Now, they are left with lesser things to survive on, the only recourse they have of which is to seek Congressional Protection for their losses.

“For people living on a fixed income, the benefit losses proposed by GM are breathtaking,” said Karen DeOrnellas, Director of Communications for GMRA. “These retirees are old. Many are sick or disabled. In almost all cases they cannot make this money back or return to work.”

GM retirees have written GMRA to say the latest proposals for benefit losses will make them choose between paying for prescription drugs and paying for food, electricity, and housing. Many will be unable to replace lost life insurance, jeopardizing the ability of their spouses to remain in their homes.

(Source) Press

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