Nik J Miles

Posts Tagged ‘GM’

Now Older GM Vehicles and Other Makes Can Add OnStar

The popular General Motors OnStar communication system is now available on General Motors vehicles that didn’t have the service installed at the factory and on vehicles built by other manufacturers.

Starting in the spring of 2011 More than 1,600 retailers, including all nationwide Best Buy locations, will sell OnStar’s new $299 retail mirror that offers key safety and security features such as Automatic Crash Response, Hands-Free Calling and Turn-by-Turn Navigation. Read the rest of this entry »

Follow the journey at http://Twitter.com/ChevyVolt and http://Chevrolet.posterous.com.

Ewanick packs the Volt charger cable

As one of the two major auto shows in the country each year, the Los Angles Auto Show in mid-November starts of the auto show season.  While most auto execs are catching a plane to the show, . U.S. Marketing Vice President Joel Ewanick is driving past several airports and all the way to the show in a Chevrolet Volt electric car with extended range capability.

“We done a number of these kind of drives and I have missed every one of them for one reason or another,” he said Thursday. “I told my wife I wanted to be able to drive across country. It’s a proof of concept for me. We’re making history here with the Volt. I don’t think I would do this for just any car.” Read the rest of this entry »

According to the most recent Cars.com Consumer Lead Index, Toyota’s recalls continue to have a negative impact on sales activity.

Leads for Toyota vehicles overall declined close to 5 percent year over year on Cars.com, and interest in the brand’s vehicles continues to slip month over month. The Toyota RAV4 topped the list of vehicles experiencing the largest month over month decline in leads, followed closely by the Camry.

Read the rest of this entry »

With continued population growth, 60 percent of the world’s 8 billion people are expected to live in urban areas by 2030.  With that, the demand for transportation will escalate toward gridlock, unless more is done to head off the problem.

General Motors and its strategic partner, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. Group (SAIC), share a common vision for addressing the need for personal mobility through a radical change in personal urban transportation.  They are exploring several solutions for tomorrow’s drivers.  Among the most promising is a new vehicle form called EN-V. Read the rest of this entry »

As citizen-stockholders in the company, all Americans will be happy hear that General Motors today announced that the company has made its final payment of $5.8 billion to the U.S. Treasury and Export Development Canada, paying back its government loans in full, ahead of schedule. That’s a precursor to allowing the government to sell its interest in GM and get the company off the public’s hands. Whether you’re a liberal or conservative, this is good news from a major American company and all its employees.

“GM is able to repay the taxpayers in full, with interest, ahead of schedule, because more customers are buying vehicles like the Chevrolet Malibu and Buick LaCrosse we build here in Fairfax,” said Chairman and CEO Ed Whitacre. “We are now building some of the best cars, trucks, and crossovers we have ever built, and customers are taking note. Our dealers are increasing their sales, we are investing in our plants, and we are restoring and creating jobs.”

The U.S., Canadian, and Ontario governments, as part of the launch of the new GM, provided loans of $8.4 billion and took equity stakes in the new company. Today’s payment of $5.8 billion ($4.7 billion to the U.S. Treasury and $C1.1 billion to Export Development Canada) completes the payback of these loans.

“GM’s ability to pay back the loans ahead of schedule is a sign that our plan is working, and that we are on the right track. It is also an important first step toward allowing our stockholders to reduce their equity investments in GM,” said Whitacre. “We still have much hard work ahead of us, but we are making progress toward our vision of designing, building, and selling the world’s best vehicles.

“We appreciate the support the taxpayers have given GM, and our great new products are tangible results of that support,” Whitacre said.

Strong sales support manufacturing, jobs

Strong sales of new Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac products are fueling a steady increase in production as GM works to meet growing customer demand.

Since the launch of the new GM last July, the company has announced investments of more than $1.5 billion at 20 facilities in the U.S. and Canada. These investments restored or created more than 7,500 jobs, and they demonstrate a strong commitment to GM’s future and to the United States and Canada.

At the New York Auto Show, Chevrolet revealed the compact 2011 Cruze Eco. This high-efficiency model is powered by a 1.4L Ecotec turbocharged engine with variable valve timing that achieves an estimated 40 mpg on the highway when combined with a six-speed manual transmission. Cruze models for the United States and Canada will be produced at the Lordstown, Ohio assembly complex. Chevrolet also showed an optional RS sport appearance package for the Cruze LT and LTZ trim levels.

When the fog rolls in choking off your view of the road ahead it is often impossible to drive safety, but that might not be the case in the near future if researchers at General Motors and several universities have their way.

“We’re looking to create enhanced vision systems,” says Thomas Seder, group lab manager-GM R&D.  His team is working with Carnegie Mellon University and The University of Southern California, as well as other institutions, to create a full windshield head-up system leveraging night vision, navigation and camera-based sensor technologies to improve driver visibility and object detection ability. Read the rest of this entry »

General Motors R&D and several universities are working on a system that would use data gathered from an array of vehicle sensors and cameras and project images generated by compact ultra violet lasers directly onto the entire surface of the windshield. The GM team is working with Carnegie Mellon University and The University of Southern California, as well as other institutions, to create a full windshield head-up system leveraging night vision, navigation and camera-based sensor technologies to improve driver visibility and object detection ability.

With Hummer sold off, GMC is back to its dominant position as General Motors’ rough and ready truck and SUV brand. That dominance is boldly asserted in the new 2010 GMC Terrain.

 The Terrain shares a lot of parts with both the Cadillac SRX and the Chevrolet Equinox. So what’s different about the GMC? Mostly visual and touch factors. GMC gifts their vehicles with a more businesslike luxury feeling, as opposed to Cadillac’s opulent luxury and Chevy’s family-oriented economy styling.  Read the rest of this entry »