GM to Launch New CNG Bi-Fuel Pickup Truck in Late 2012

General Motors will soon increase its commercial offerings of CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) models with the addition of a new bi-fuel pickup truck that is scheduled for launch early in the fourth quarter of 2012. Read more »

Bob Lutz Says General Motors, Volkswagen and Hyundai are the World's New Big Three

It's fall again, time for Bob Lutz to make headlines. Less than a month after "Maximum Bob" made his official comeback to General Motors as a consultant, the semi-retired car executive and onetime Marine pilot gave an in-depth interview to German monthly Manager Magazin.

Lutz was questioned about a variety of subjects that mainly concentrated on Opel and its relationship with General Motors, but he was also asked about the future of the industry in general, and whom he sees as being the major players.

According to Captain Lutz, the new big three in the automotive industry are General Motors, the Volkswagen Group and –wait for it- the Hyundai Group. And what about Toyota and the rest of the Japanese carmakers like Honda? According to the GM exec, Japanese automakers have lost it… Follow the jump for his (translated) response as well as the original Q&A.

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GM Debuts Automotive Industry's First Front Center Air Bag

Someone once said that in the future, the inner works of our vehicles after a crash will look like a balloon party – sans the bright colors. And true enough, after the front, side, roof, knee, rear curtain and seat-belt airbags, automakers have now discovered another area of the car that can be fitted with an inflatable bag for our protection: the center.

Following Toyota's presentation of the first production rear-seat center airbag on the Japanese domestic market Crown Majesta in 2009, General Motors is introducing the automotive industry's first front center air bag, designed to protect the driver and front passenger in far-side impact crashes.

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GM Idles Pickup Production Once Again to Reduce Inventory

General Motors announced that it will temporarily halt production at its Fort Wayne plant in Indiana for the week starting November 7, in order to reduce its inventory of pickup trucks models.

This is not the first time that GM has stopped production at the plant where the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra are manufactured. Even though pickup sales in the US have increased from January until August by 9% to 1.1 million units, compared to the same period last year, GM seems to have badly misjudged demand for its models, resulting in an inventory of 122-days.

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Polk Says 2011 Non-Dedicated Hybrid Model Sales Down 1.5% Versus 2010

With the notable exceptions of the Chevy Volt, Toyota Prius and Honda Insight, most of the hybrids on sale today are merely spin-offs of existing ICE models with gas / electric powertrains fitted; take the hybridized Chevy Tahoe, Toyota Camry and Honda Civic for instance.

According to automotive statistics website Polk online, in the first seven months of 2011, sales of non-dedicated hybrid models dipped 1.5% compared to last year. Analyst Tom Libby blames the sales slump on the lack of distinct styling; hybrid buyers want their cars to stand out from the crowd.

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General Motors Reverses Decision to Track Canceled OnStar Subscribers

After General Motors received intense criticism from users as well as lawmakers and privacy advocates on its decision to continue to collect data from drivers that have canceled their OnStar service unless the customer asked for it to be shut off, the Detroit automaker announced today that it is reversing its proposed policy changes.

As a result, GM's OnStar will not keep a data connection to customers’ vehicles after the service is canceled.

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First 2012 Camaro ZL1 Goes Under the Hammer for $250,000

The first publicly available 2012 Camaro ZL1 was sold for a quarter of a million dollars at the Barrett-Jackson auction in Las Vegas on Saturday evening.

The sports car was offered by Fairway Chevrolet-Buick-GMC in Las Vegas and all for a good reason as 100 percent of the proceeds will benefit the YMCA of Southern Nevada.

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Report: New Opel Astra GTC May Make it to the States as a Buick

The sporty-looking Opel Astra GTC was only just introduced in Frankfurt last week, but there are already reports suggesting that it could be one of the compact cars General Motors said it would build at an unspecified plant in the U.S. under the details released Tuesday of its tentative pact with the United Auto Workers (UAW).

According to Auto Observer, in a meeting with journalists and analysts at Opel’s Rüsselsheim headquarters in Germany, the firm's CEO, Karl-Friedrich Stracke, said "I could easily see it as a Buick" referring to the Astra GTC.

It would make sense from a marketing standpoint since Buick would automatically gain a new contender in the small sports car segment against the likes of the Hyundai Veloster, while also widening the reach of the brand to a younger audience.

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GM to Manufacturer New Mid-Size Pickup in Missouri, and Two New Mid-Size Models at Former Saturn Plant

[Chevrolet Colorado Concept from 2011 Bangkok Motor Show pictured above]

General Motors has revealed plans to build a new mid-size pickup truck at its Missouri plant as well as to reopen a former Saturn assembly plant in Tennessee for the production of two new mid-size models.

A GM representative declined to provide further information, saying that the company will not comment on its future products, however, the most likely candidates for the pickup truck model are the successors to the Chevrolet Colorado or the GMC Canyon.

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GM Prepares All-New 2012 Chevrolet Colorado for Launch, but it won't Come to the U.S.

After traveling all around the world in concept format, the new 2012 Chevrolet Colorado pickup truck has entered the final testing phase in Thailand before the introduction of the production model that will go on sale towards the end of the year.

Today, General Motors released some new photos showing the prototype models being put through their paces as the company prepares to produce the midsize pickup in its Rayong assembly plant in Thailand.

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GM and SAIC to Develop a New Electric Vehicle in China

General Motors Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson and his counterpart at SAIC Motor Corp., Hu Maoyuan, signed an agreement for the joint development of a new electric vehicle in China.

The Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center, which is jointly owned by the two companies, will undertake the development of the new architecture, with GM and SAIC teams working together.

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Chevrolet Orlando gets in a Harlequin Suit for the Sake of Art

We do not know if Belgian design label Quinze & Milan had the famous Volkswagen Polo Harlequin special in mind when it was reinterpreting Chevrolet's new 7-seater Orlando, but the result sure looks familiar.

However, unlike Volkswagen's special edition supermini, Quinze & Milan's one-off creation is not only characterized by the pallet of colors, but also for the fact that the modified parts inside and out are sprayed in the firm's signature foam coating called QM FOAM.

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GM Details 2013 Malibu's New 2.5-liter Ecotec, Says it will Deliver More than 30mpg Highway

As time goes by, General Motors is slowly releasing more information on its upcoming 2013 Chevrolet Malibu that's destined to go on sale in nearly 100 countries on six continents, with the U.S. market launch planned for spring of 2012.

Today, the Detroit-based automaker announced some fresh details on its all-new 2.5-liter four-cylinder Ecotec engine that will take the place of the firm's current 2.4-liter unit as the standard powerplant in the 2013 Malibu's range.

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New Chevy Sonic with 1.4L Turbo gets 40MPG on the Highway, 1.8L Returns 35MPG

General Motor has released the official EPA fuel economy estimates for the new 2012 Chevrolet Sonic sub-compact, which officially joins the 40mpg club.

When equipped with the 1.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine that delivers 138-horsepower and 148 ft.-lbs. (200 Nm) of torque, the 2012 Sonic returns an EPA-estimated 40 mpg on the highway and city fuel economy of 29 mpg. The 1.4 Turbo is offered exclusively with a 6-speed manual.

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IAA 2011: New Opel Astra GTC Takes the Stage in Frankfurt

We've already given you the full scoop on the all-new Astra GTC, but in Frankfurt, Opel held the world premiere of its latest C-segment model that blurs the line between three-door hatchbacks and coupes.

Based on the five-door Astra, the low-slung GTC sports a unique body shell as well as different platform dimensions as it has a 10mm longer wheelbase and wider tracks (+40mm up front and +30mm at the rear).

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Video: GM CEO Mark Reuss Drives us Through the 2013 Cadillac ATS

Following Cadillac's unsuccessful efforts to enter the compact luxury sedan segment and challenge Germany's finest including the Audi A4, BMW 3-Series and Mercedes C-Class with the European market BTS that was a basically a Saab 9-3 dressed as a Caddy, General Motors appears to have learned its lesson about cutting corners.

The Detroit carmaker is now developing a brand new competitor for the 3-Series from the ground up based on a rear-wheel drive platform. The entry level Cadillac is codenamed ATS and it is destined to enter production next summer (2012).

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New Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Rated at 580-Horsepower

In a predictably linear fashion, General Motors has uprated the output numbers of one of its new models just before it launches onto the market.

When GM revealed the new 2012 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at this year's edition of the Chicago Auto Show in February, the company said the coupe's 6.2-liter supercharged V8 would deliver an estimated 550 horsepower and a massive 550 lb.-ft. of torque (745 Nm).

Fast forward to today, and those numbers have jumped to 580-horsepower and 556 lb.-ft. (754 Nm).

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General Motors Takes Over Japan's Import Operations

General Motors has announced that it is consolidating imports to Japan, terminating the cooperation with its local partner, Mitsui Bussan. The move, which will go into effect on November 1, is intended to improve GM's image and, more importantly, streamline the sales process.

Since 1992, Mitsui Bussan has imported a total of 12,000 GM models that were mostly sold through its own dealer network, although some were distributed by GM official dealers. Its sales have been falling since 1995.

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Chevy Small Block V8 “Not Dead”, According TO GM Design System Engineer

Since its introduction in 1955, Chevrolet’s Small Block V-8 has carved itself a niche that could otherwise never be filled. Affordable, lightweight and offering great performance for its size, the Small Block is to the automotive world what the Apple iPad is to tech-heads.

Now, with ever-hardening CAFE regulations and overinflated fuel prices, one would think the Small Block’s time had finally come. Not so, according to Mark Damico, GM’s small-block design system engineer.

Though there’s been no official confirmation from GM itself, Mr. Damico swears that the fifth generation Chevy Small Block is currently under development. In fact, Mr. Damico claims that as much as US$890 million is being spent on its development.

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2012 Buick Verano Priced between $23,470 and $26,850

General Motors has granted us with pricing for its new entry-level Buick model, the 2012 Verano compact sedan, before it goes on sale in the United States later this year.

Pricing for the base Verano starts at $23,470 and tops out at $26,850 including $885 in destination charges, with all three available trim levels powered by a 2.4L four-cylinder engine linked to a six-speed automatic transmission that delivers 180HP at 6,700 rpm with 171 lb.-ft. of torque at 4,900 rpm.

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