Chevrolet has decided to cancel production of its Malibu Hybrid. As shocking as this might seem for a company that claims it is now dedicated to building environmentally-friendly cars, it actually makes a lot of sense. For starters, while the Malibu itself continues to sell well and has received critical acclaim from auto journos, the...
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The 2010 model lineup for the soon-to-be-terminated Pontiac brand will consist of just one model – the Vibe. Recently GM interim CEO Fritz Henderson reiterated the company’s position that the G8 would not carry on as either a Buick, Chevy or Cadillac. The G3 and G5 will also cease production this year, while the G6...
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GM’s interim CEO Fritz Henderson is starting to open up on some of the company’s fuel-efficiency plans and the future involves a pair of turbocharged four-cylinders. The first turbo-four will be offered in the new Buick LaCrosse but won’t be available immediately. Currently the LaCrosse is slated to get a standard 3.0-liter V6 that makes...
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There is hope, be it ever so slight, that the Pontiac G8 may live on even though the brand it’s attached to is most certainly slated for elimination. “I know there’s still discussions on it,” GM’s product boss Tom Stephens told Automotive News, giving some hope to the legions of G8 fans that haven’t had...
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The long list of General Motors dealerships got a lot shorter recently, but it will get shorter still as the company has made known plans to reduce the number of Cadillac dealerships in its network. “Our current footprint of 1,400 Cadillac dealers, most of which are dualed, is out of sync with modern luxury automotive...
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General Motors has reached an agreement with the Penske Automotive Group on the sale of its Saturn brand. An official announcement is expected to be made by both parties later today. The Penske Automotive Group was thought to be one of the front-runners in the bidding war, which also reportedly included Nissan/Renault, Mitsubishi and investment...
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It seems like there is a new update in the Saab and Saturn sell-off every day… so why stop now. Yesterday we reported that the list of Saab buyers was down to three and now that list has been shortened to just two suitors. Saab CEO Jan-Ake Jonsson told Swedish business paper Dagens Industri that...
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With news of a tentative deal to sell off Hummer coming yesterday, GM still hasn’t made any decisions about its Saturn or Saab brands – but apparently it has plenty of offers to entertain. GM CFO Ray Young said that Saturn has as many as 16 suitors, while the Swedish Saab brand has three. The...
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Car sales for the month of May appear to show a certain level of recovery – at least for U.S. automakers Ford and General Motors. Ford posted a loss of 28.5 percent, its best result since July of 2008. As for GM, it declined “just” 29 percent marking its best monthly performance since September. In...
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In a surprising move, a potential buyer for Saab has been found from the company’s home country. Nope… note Swedish automaker Volvo, but Swedish supercar maker Koenigsegg. The news comes from the newspaper Dagens Industri and is so surprising because of Koenigsegg’s mass-market obscurity. Koenigsegg has, however, made a success out of its supercar business,...
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A day after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, General Motors has announced it has found a buyer for its Hummer brand of SUVs. GM has not, however, named the party. Earlier reports indicated that of the short-list of three potential buyers none of the companies were automakers. One is apparently a U.S. company and...
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By solidifying a deal to take control of GM’s European operations, Canada’s Magna International Inc. is eager to start producing Opel cars in Canada. “We want to build Opel cars in Canada,” said company founder and CEO Frank Stronach. “Canada should have its own Canadian company … a truly Canadian automobile industry.” The third largest...
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While President Obama and General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson are both expected to hold press conferences today, officially GM has already filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection. Once the world’s largest automaker and a symbol of the success of free market economics, GM is now a symbol of failure. In the 1950s it employed over...
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Oddly, it seems as though Saturn is far more interesting and far more loved as the up-for auction arm of a doomed for bankruptcy company than it ever was as regular old car brand. To date the Penske Automotive Group, automaker Nissan/Renault and investment firm Telesto Ventures have all been cited as potential buyers. Now...
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Due to the overall turmoil at General Motors these days a lot of projects have been put on hold. Included in that list is the replacement for the current Aveo. A new Aveo, code named the T300, was due out in April of 2010, but now that product has been delayed until January of 2011....
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As a government imposed June 1st bankruptcy deadline looms on the horizon, the UAW is reporting that it has reached a tentative agreement with General Motors and the U.S. Treasury. The specifics of the agreement will not be made public until the contract is ratified, however, the UAW did say that changes have been made...
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The possibility that Penske Automotive Group may in fact purchase the Saturn brand from General Motors has just increased significantly. Penske has acquired the services of former Chrysler President Tom LaSorda as an adviser on the bid. Penske is the second largest dealership group in the U.S. and also distributes the SMART brand of cars...
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General Motors will cut 1,124 dealerships loose by October of 2010. The struggling automaker on the verge of bankruptcy sent letters out to the dealerships last week as it searches for ways to reduce it’s current dealer network of 5,969 to just 3,600. GM says it will not renew dealership agreements with the 1,124 companies...
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Days after General Motors announced it would cut it’s number of dealerships in the U.S. by 1,124, GM Canada is following suit. The number of Canadian GM dealerships being closed may sound much smaller at 292, however, with roughly 700 dealerships nationwide, the cuts represent a 42 percent dealership reduction. GM Canada says the Sales...
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According to a leaked document, General Motors is planning on selling Chinese-built cars to Americans in the near future. The document does not specifically state which vehicle or vehicles could be exported to the U.S., but it does suggest that small cars would be the focus. There is speculation that it could be a sub-compact...
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GM Vice Chair Bob Lutz Kisses a Saturn Astra. Recently he kissed-goodbye to all his stock in the company. In a move that should probably be illegal (but isn’t) six General Motors executives recently sold off all their shares in the company. That’s right, those same guys who helped drive GM into bankruptcy traded in...
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It’s not exactly the sort of news worthy of a celebration, but some cautious optimism is certainly appropriate as word comes that the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky might not suffer the same fate as almost every other fun vehicle under the General Motors umbrella. Fritz Henderson, GM’s new CEO said that the company would...
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General Motors has built a one-off “Hero Edition” Corvette ZR1, which will be raffled-off for charity. The car will be paired up with a 1967 Corvette 427 convertible and will be given away to the lucky ticket holder at the end of the year as a part of the Win The Vettes Corvette Dream Giveaway....
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Thanks to a little investigative journalism, the folks over at Autoblog have uncovered that General Motors will cut the Cobalt SS Sedan from its product lineup for 2010. A sad day indeed. The discovery came about due to GM hosting its Order and Reference Guides online. Look for the Cobalt and noticeably absent is the...
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