You know the one GM ad that REALLY impressed was the one a few years ago (was it for the Avalanche?) that featured catchy music, a bunch of the vehicles with people opening and closing doors, reconfiguring, etc. -- in synchronization, like a drill team. Not only an entertaining commercial, but a great way to illustrate the utility of the vehicle.
What is GM really offering for the 2008 model year that may reverse its fortunes? I know that the 2008 Malibu is expecting to be big seller. Is there anything else coming out that will be exciting? I know that Honda is introducing a new Accord, Mazda a new Mazda6 so the sedan area will still be a battleground. But maybe I missed the news releases, but it looks like GM is looking at the 2008 model year as small improvements to existing models, not treading new ground. Am I wrong? Oh, I forgot the new Cadillac CTS, that's all new also, right?
New GM Models for 2008: Chevy Malibu Pontiac G8 Buick Enclave Cadillac CTS Saturn Astra Saturn Vue
Mid Cycle Enhancements for 2008: Chevy Corvette - New Base Engine, Revised Interior Buick Lacrosse - Revised Front End, 'Super' model with V8 Saab 93 - Revised Front/Rear, 280HP Turbo 2.8 V6, AWD Hummer H2 - New Engine, Interior Cadillac STS - Revised Interior, Revised Front End, 300HP V6
Hard to say what GM's most significant vehicles for '08 are, but I agree with you that the GMT900 hybrids should be in the top three. Probably along with the new Saturns, and/or MAYBE the new CTS. I'm not holding my breath for the Malibu, but we will see what we will see when it is available for viewing in person.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Malibu for '08 seems to me to be another version of G6 as a better looking car, inside and out, with hopefully the 3.6V6 as the standard V6, and thus a good deal. Could be seen as the best looking of the bunch, and thus knocking out Aura. And I take it, the i4 engine is added, for a lower base car option. It is going to have stiff competition, but it seems up to the task.
The Astra is calling all hatchback lovers, and youthful buyers. There is more than an Ion of hope for the car - should be a small boost to Aura as well, in that more people will visit Saturn. The Vue is improving with age, and America has an obsession with anything SUV *yawn*. Question for Saturn is will the Astra help Aura enough to erase the hammering it may take from Malibu sales?
The G8 will be something new for America. Guess all these are redo's or cars sold elsewhere, now reaching our shores. Hope they get the launch of the G8 done right. Oh well, no worries, mate! Loren
Well I stand corrected, they do have some potential winners for 2008. And since trucks and SUV's seem to be one of GM's "core competancies" and have a large base to build on, these new hybrids could be a hit if they are priced right and people accept their perceived value. But of the whole bunch, I'll bet the the 2008 Malibu will be a very good seller, I just hope that the 4 cylinder version is smooth, relatively powerful, and economical. Honda Accords/Toyota Camrys sell 60% as the 4 cylinder versions (maybe more lately). That would be a sweet spot for a nice GM sedan to live in.
Believe this pretty much agrees with what I said earlier.
"We estimate the Big Three could meet the 35 mpg standard only by dramatically reducing sales of large SUVs and pickups by 60 percent, while improving car fuel economy by about 34 percent and truck fuel economy by 25 percent," Brian Johnson, an auto analyst with Lehman Brothers in New York, wrote in a report Monday.
Automakers say the Senate bill, which would be the first passenger car fuel economy increase in 25 years, would cost them tens of billions of dollars. DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group has said it could bankrupt the company.
Environmentalists and others in favor of tougher mileage standards have argued there would be no need for automakers to downsize vehicles to meet the requirements. Are they smokin the strange stuff? Are they really that stupid? I guess that 100 mpg carb is finally going to come off the dang shelf. Perhaps it is at area 51?
What isn't disputed is that SUV and pickup truck sales have been the bread and butter of General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler for years. In 2007, 34 percent of GM sales have been large SUVs and full-size pickups. At Ford, it's 31 percent, and for Chrysler it's 20 percent.
By comparison, large SUV and full-size sales have accounted for just 10.5 percent of Nissan Motor Co. sales so far this year and 8 percent of Toyota Motor Corp. sales.
One major area of concern for GM and Ford is their reliance on large and powerful but less efficient engines, Johnson said.
While about 60 percent of Honda Motor Co.'s and Toyota's 2006 production was four-cylinder engines, only 14 percent of Chrysler and Ford engine production was four-cylinder and only 21 percent of GM's.
So GM is 50% better off than Ford and Chrysler on the 4-cylinder front. That's a good start.
I could easily see this CAFE bill, if passed in the present Senate form, being the death knell for Chrysler. Anything beyond that is mere hystrionics, IMO.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Will the New Malibu get a 6sp. with the i4 engine? Perhaps some tweaking of the i4 to get some gas mileage is also needed soon. Would be good to match or exceed the new Accord for gas mileage for the i4 model. Hey, how about a 6 sp. manual transmission too - just a thought. Will the Malibu be on a different diet than Aura, as in perhaps a savings of a hundred or two hundred pounds? It all adds up. If the name of the game is now gas mileage, every pound counts. Perhaps GM is going to invest some money in aluminum stocks? OK, they have already gone up, but who knows how much more aluminum will be used in the future in cars. Are plastic fenders a thing of the past? And is the fit the only problem, or the color matching of paint near term or long term. Never researched that one. Didn't the Camaro use plastic fenders?
When the New Malibu comes out, can we expect to see the New Accord and New Camry at the dealers for those side-by-side comparison shopping and test drives with the i4 New Malibu? I see Saturn is comparing the Aura XE with the i4 models of the competition, with the worse scenario for a basic package deal. No comment on that one.
Looks like LaCrosse and Impala will be built on Oshawa line 1 and the Camaro will be next to it on line 2. Or perhaps it will be the other way around? No matter, looks like they will be building the Camaro, LaCrosse and Impala at the same time at Oshawa.
Per the reports in 2010 or so the new RWD Impala will then be built on the same line as the Camaro and a new G8 will also be built there soon after. Probably take both lines as more large RWD's are added (Buick??). The LaCrosse will move to an EPS 2 line somewhere in the US.
The last Pontiac Grand Prix rolls off the line in November, Ward’s learns, as General Motors Corp. seeks to freshen its lineup with the pending arrival of two new vehicles.
The Canadian Auto Workers union was to meet this morning with GM officials, who were to reveal the Grand Prix’s fate. The CAW represents some 12,000 workers at GM’s assembly complex in Oshawa, ON, Canada – home to Grand Prix production.
No job losses are expected, an informed source says. However, there will be temporary layoffs as part of a C$740 million ($669 million) investment to retool Oshawa’s car plant for production of the ’09 Chevrolet Camaro coupe and convertible. Production of the highly anticipated Camaro models is set to begin next year. The rear-wheel-drive cars will be assembled on one line, while production of the front-wheel-drive Buick LaCrosse and Allure sedans – currently built alongside the Grand Prix – will be consolidated with Chevrolet Impala production.
This move will occur in December. Production calls for a 3-shift schedule.
The Impala currently is assembled on a line by itself.
Oshawa also was the site of Chevrolet Monte Carlo production until earlier this month. Flagging demand caused GM to kill it.
Replacing the Grand Prix in Pontiac’s showroom will be the G8 sedan, an adaptation of the performance-oriented Australian-market Commodore from GM Holden Ltd. The G8, expected to go on sale in North America early next year, is based on GM’s global rear-wheel-drive architectur formerly known as Zeta and shared with the new Camaro.
The Grand Prix line had been scheduled for closure as part of GM’s sweeping cost-cutting initiative, launched in 2005. But Oshawa secured Camaro production after GM and the CAW reached agreement on new, money-saving work rules that included outsourcing routine plant maintenance.
Initial production for North America will come from Australia, but GM’s stated desire to build a Zeta-based product in the U.S. supports speculation this vehicle could be the G8.
Meanwhile, the next-generation Impala is expected to migrate to rear-wheel drive.
GM is mum on both topics.
The auto maker is keen to keep its showrooms fresh as it attempts to maintain its course correction. In a bid to improve its bottom line long term, GM has announced plans to slash its hourly payroll by 30,000 jobs and reduce its annual capacity to 4.2 million units by closing three vehicle assembly plants, two powertrain facilities and two stamping plants by 2008.
Three other sites, including Oshawa, were pegged for shift reductions.
Still, Oshawa maintains its position as one of the world’s most-efficient assembly sites. Its LaCrosse-Allure-Grand Prix line is the top-rated plant in the most recent Harbour Report on productivity, with an hours-per-vehicle rating of 15.68.
The Impala-Monte Carlo line finished second with 16.34 hours per vehicle. In addition, the LaCrosse-Allure-Grand Prix line claimed second spot in the most recent J.D. Power rankings for initial quality.
The arrival of the G8 and the two Camaro models is welcome as GM’s product replacement rate lags the industry average, albeit slightly, according to the latest Merrill Lynch product pipeline study. The report says GM is expected to replace 66% of its lineup between 2008 and 2011, while the industry average shows a 67% rate.
Honda Motor Co. Ltd., DaimlerChrysler AG and Toyota Motor Corp. lead with 85%, 73% and 67%, respectively.
The Grand Prix nameplate debuted 45 years ago, GM says. According to Ward’s data, Grand Prix sales have totaled nearly 3 million since 1980. Annual sales averaged more than 105,000 units over the same period.
Only the senate has "approved" the new regs. Bush and the House still have to sign on.
Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman warned today that President Bush likely would veto an energy bill like the one passed by the Senate last week.
He cited its fuel economy provisions as one of its flaws.
Senators voted for a combined car-truck fuel economy standard of 35 mpg by 2020 instead of leaving the precise numbers up to the regulatory experts, the energy secretary said.
The folks at General Motors Corp. are walking around a little starry-eyed these days, with an extra spring in their step and Hasbro toys in their hands.
In a product placement coup, four GM vehicles, including a new generation Chevrolet Camaro due out in 2009, won starring roles in the heavily hyped new action flick, "Transformers."
While automakers regularly wheel and deal to place their cars in films, GM's vehicles are cast as shape-shifting action stars in the expected summer blockbuster directed by Michael Bay.
"This is a wonderful opportunity for General Motors to get its product in front of millions of people," said Tim Calkins, clinical professor of marketing at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. "It keeps (GM) current; it builds awareness."
The other GM stars in "Transformer" are the Pontiac Solstice, a Hummer H2 and GMC TopKick pickup truck.
"We're the heroes, all four of our vehicles are good guys," said Dino Bernacchi, who oversees GM's movie deals. "They all are cool cars that fit the personalities of the characters."
GM officials didn't have to search out this film opportunity. Hollywood came to them, even before the automaker's executives had decided to show a Camaro concept coupe at the auto show in Detroit in 2006, and later to put the new Camaro into production.
"You're talking about a film that should bring in $700 million to $1 billion across the globe. You don't always get these big, blockbuster opportunities," Tihanyi said.
It may be only the beginning for GM's "Transformer" stardom. The movie's ending leaves plenty of room for a sequel.
The 2008 Buick Enclave, born from the same engineering that created seven or eight passenger crossovers for Saturn and GMC, is the most refined and sophisticated of the bunch.
In the "Bonanza" of crossovers, the Enclave would be Adam Cartwright to the Little Joe Outlook and Hoss Acadia -- a happy but distinctively different brand of brothers.
For those unfamiliar with the cowboys, Adam was always the smarter, more successful sibling. Like Adam, the Enclave is quieter, more luxurious and probably recites Robert Frost in its spare time, while the more boisterous GMC and Saturn play cards and watch Tigers games.
The cool, smooth lines of the Enclave's exterior carry country club airs. From its waterfall grille and sharply angled headlights (with Xenon high-intensity bulbs) to the chrome hood ports and bubbly windshield, the Enclave's face projects just enough snobbery to fit into the luxury crossover segment but not offend.
It also comes in at a reasonable price. With a starting MSRP of $32,790, including shipping, it undercuts the Acura MDX ($40,665), the five-passenger Lexus RX 350 ($38,115) and the Audi Q7 ($40,620).
I hope the movie bombs for no other reason than the bastardization of the original characters... I still have about a hundred of the originals put away in a closet for my kids to enjoy someday and I don't remember there being a 2010 Camaro or Humvee in there. What a waste of a perfectly good opportunity... :sick:
...came a bit after my childhood. When I was a kid, a transformer was something you used to run your model train set. I only remember a few of the characters - one was a semi tractor with a trailer, another was a VW Bug, and wasn't there one that was a boom box with a smaller robot that was a cassette tape? Would've you been happier if the Transformers were all mid-80s Japanese cars? I doubt many of today's kids would even remember those cars.
Maybe they should've just called this movie "Go-Bots?"
...came a bit after my childhood. When I was a kid, a transformer was something you used to run your model train set. lol
one was a semi tractor with a trailer, another was a VW Bug, and wasn't there one that was a boom box with a smaller robot that was a cassette tape?
The semi remains, only it has no trailer and is the wrong style of cab (I don't know what it's called, the original had a cab like the one used in the HW chase scene in Terminator2 - Flat front). That VW bug is now a Camaro (Might as well made it a Suburban if they're going to be that ridiculous)
"Ratchet" was an VW ambulance, not a Hummer, "Ironhide" was the same van but different paint scheme and no lights. Not a Giant GMC 6500 pickup truck.
Would've you been happier if the Transformers were all mid-80s Japanese cars? I doubt many of today's kids would even remember those cars.
Actually, no. The only one I can recall was a couple of characters based off the Datsun 280Z. Had the movie been bastardized with ALL IMPORTS and sponsered by Toyota, I'd still wish it bombed. My point is, it should have stayed close to the original. As the blogs have pointed out, this movie is nothing more than a 2 hour GM commercial.
It's like remaking (one of the greatest films ever IMO) "Bullet" and putting Steve Mcqueen in a Ford Edge and having the bad guy in a Chrysler minivan...
Michael Bay movies are usually silly anyways :shades:
Some of the Transformers were non-Japanese cars, there was a Corvette and a modified Firebird, along with a couple of Porsches and Lamborghinis and a Lancia. I don't know much more about this movie other than the strong GM presence, but it seems the lineup isn't as diverse as back in the day.
I think those vans were Toyota Hiace style vans, and there were a couple of period Toyota Hilux pickups too. I am just going from memory in this, even as a kid I was acutely aware of the JDM style cars in these toys, and I didn't mind this, it made it seem exotic.
My much younger brother was in to those...I'll have to ask him what he things about many of the characters being based on very different cars for this update.
You can't blame them, though. Wasn't that show popular in the 1980s? Not exacty the pinnacle for GM vehicles.
The semi remains, only it has no trailer and is the wrong style of cab (I don't know what it's called, the original had a cab like the one used in the HW chase scene in Terminator2 - Flat front).
The toy that became Optimus Prime was patterned after a White cabover tractor, but was genericized enough to avoid licensing concerns. The other original Autobots were mostly early-80s Japanese cars, with a handful of European and American designs thrown in.
I would have rather seen a movie with these, but marketing demanded otherwise.
NASCAR are all stock cars, as in Stock COT. Who cares.
Yeah, Jeff is good at racing about anything built, as is Tony. Some good race car drivers. Sadly, there is no more stock car racing. Long live the King.
If you see the Corvettes in action, you will have the oportunity to view what I would say is a stock car. And they even turn right, as well as left -- go figure! :P Loren
Wait a minute here. Are they saying that without a day in court, the car can be taken and crushed? Hummm? Then if they think you have committed a murder, they no longer wait for a trial -- simply shoot the suspect? I understand it is illegal to carry large sums of cash these days. When did that become a crime. Guess the rich only carry a card these days.
Stiff penalties, jail time, and such are one thing, but the enforcement department handing out the sentence, is a bit un-American, is it not? Looks like the justice system has transformed. Loren
"Police need a court order to destroy the cars. They must prove that the serial or identification numbers on a vehicle or its parts are removed, altered or destroyed." (from the LA Times linked in the blog).
Nope, still don't pass as your day in court. You could have all sorts of corruption going on this way. If the enforcement arm becomes the judge, jury and penalty dealer, you have started down a slippery slope. When you get a ticket for say parking, would you expect Lovely Rita meter maid, to take your money on the spot without being allowed the option of going to court to contest the violation? If this is going to be the new law of the land, perhaps the police should be allowed to take the stereos out of cars and homes where they violate the, "can be heard from 50' " rule, or whatever it is. Yank them stereos! But then again, a young man may have a beef too with some old guy in a car putting along at half speed. He should be allowed to simply push the other car up to speed -- I think not. I am pretty sure the violation, then conviction, followed by penalty phase is what was the standard. Loren
The toyota models kept getting grease on top from all the sludge they couldn't get rid of and the Hondas kept moving around because of shifting problems in the transmissions.
I've seen the future of rock 'n' roll in cars – and its name is the 2008 Cadillac CTS. Ditto for classical music, hip-hop, and country. Unless Cadillac screws up royally between now and the car's launch in September, the CTS will have the most versatile audio system ever developed for a motor vehicle. I could tell at today's press briefing, just from sitting in the car – parked in an outdoor courtyard at a fancy New York City restaurant – and tinkering with the center stack.
The CTS is Cadillac's small luxury/sport sedan, sent out to do battle with the BMW 3 Series, Mercedes C-Class, Audi A4, Infiniti G35, and Lexus is350. Though it's fully renewed for the 2008 model year, we don't yet know how well the CTS handles driving through mountain passes. But when you're cruising on the highway, nothing is going to beat Cadillac for breadth of audio sources and musical entertainment. Here's why: Cadillac's center-stack design team (the engineers responsible for what goes in the middle of the dashboard) thought it through better than anyone else has so far, and then implemented every possible feature you could want.
In this category, you need solid electronics hardware, to start with. Cadillac teamed up with Bose, which should delight all but the worst of the audio snobs (who think Bose is fifty years of hype). The navigation module comes from Alpine, one of my favorites. The hard disk comes from Toshiba, and what's important to us is the 40GB capacity. Roughly half is available for ripping music. (The other half goes for navigation data.)
Satellite radio? XM is included. Line-in jack? Of course. USB socket? Check. iPod compatibility? Part of the USB configuration. Database for music lookup? The latest version. Touchscreen display for ease of use or cockpit control knob for tech buffs? It has both. Plays MP3, WMA, and AAC files off CDs? All of them, and even rips (transfers) MP3 CD data (some cars with hard drives rip only music from the original CDs).
So far, so good? There's more. Cadillac added a TiVo-like feature that caches a rolling hour's worth of audio from the radio or satellite radio. So if you like a song and want to hear it again, just hit the rewind button. With satellite radio music, the recorder uses the track/artist/time-of-day information to insert bookmarks at the start of each song, so you can find what you want quickly. (For AM/FM radio, the skip feature works in 30-second increments.)
There are a couple of gotchas: If you change from satellite to radio, or even station to station, the cache flushes. And Cadillac won't let you save favorite XM satellite songs to the hard disk the way the Pioneer Inno handheld XM receiver does. Why not? "Because they [Pioneer] are in litigation," explained engineer Charles Massoll. But bless the engineers: The feature was engineered into the audio system, and if the recording industry ever decides features are good if they get music fans to listen to more music, it's ready and waiting.
The CTS uses a new generation of Gracenote tools. There's the usual artist, song, album data that lets the car add that information when a CD plays or is ripped to the hard disk. In addition, says Vadim Brenner, a Gracenote senior product manager, there's additional editorial information about each CD and song, such as era (when the music was recorded), artist type, and genre – not just rock, classical, and jazz, but 17,000 music types. That allows for a "Play More Like" button that finds all the music on your hard disk (or 2GB memory key) just like the music you're now hearing.
The navigation system has one nice feature. When you identify a favorite – say, McDonald's – and press one of the six onscreen buttons to assign it as a favorite, the nav finds not that McDonald's but the nearest McDonald's, or Home Depot, or Hooters. You can restrict the search to not just the nearest favorite but the one that's on your route if you're navigating. So if the closest Waldenbooks is two miles behind you on the expressway, it points you to the one five miles ahead in the direction you're headed.
The nav system also has XM NavTraffic, with traffic updates that can be overlaid on your map – nice, but not unique to the CTS. You can even get the multi-day forecast for the city you're headed to.
The Cadillac CTS comes closer than any other car I've seen to date in providing the kind of entertainment features and telematics tools the driver and passengers want. But here's what the CTS missed on:
Limited recording capability. Cadillac could have let you record individual songs off XM for your enjoyment. Okay, so they'd get sued by the recording industry.
No Bluetooth. Incredible to believe, but the CTS doesn't integrate Bluetooth.
No integration between Alpine navigation and OnStar Turn-By-Turn navigation. With TBT, you call an operator (OnStar Advisor) and tell the operator where you want to go, and the route instructions are downloaded to the car. If you can press a button, you can use this kind of navigation. Unfortunately, the instructions are shown not on the 8-inch widescreen LCD but on the simple multi-information display next to the speedometer, and there's no way to use the OnStar download to program the route on your real navigation system. "Soon," says Cadillac's Massoll.
No transflective display. The display pops up from the dash and looked plenty bright under the shade of several trees in the restaurant courtyard (this is not your usual New York City eatery). But when you've seen a transflective display, as on the BMW 3 Series convertible, you're spoiled for how good a display can be in direct sunlight.
Other than Bluetooth, these are relatively minor issues. Cadillac appears to be in the lead, at least on audio entertainment technology, with the new CTS. We'll drive one the minute it's released.
The alliance of big business and environmental groups told President Bush in January that mandatory emissions caps are needed to reduce the flow of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere.
Ford and Chrysler on Wednesday announced their membership in the coalition.
“We are at a critical stage in the conversation on climate change, energy consumption and environmental protection,” Ford President and CEO Alan Mulally said in a statement. “We all recognize it is time for action.”
Mulally and Tom LaSorda, Chrysler Group president and CEO, both said their companies support the partnership’s push for cost-effective, but quick, new technologies.
“We have been actively developing a range of advanced technology vehicles to address the climate change issue, reducing our energy consumption on a global basis and working to create vehicles with the environmental innovation our customers desire,” Mulally said.
“Now is the time for advancing a national approach to climate change where all of us individuals, industry and government take action toward reducing emissions of greenhouse gases,” LaSorda said in Chrysler’s statement.
This article talks about Toyota/Lexis crazy commitment to quality and execution. Doesn't make for bad publicity either. But I think that excellent build quality is possible outside of Japan as well (like in the USA?!?) So many people I know that can afford decent cars will just narrow their choices to Lexus, Acura, Infinity. And it sure can't be just for price. Keep working GM, but the bar is set pretty high.
>This article talks about Toyota/Lexis crazy commitment to quality and execution. Doesn't make for bad publicity either. But I think that excellent build quality is possible outside of Japan
That's a well-written puff piece! It clearly says that Toyota doesn't believe it can assemble cars outside of Japan as well as in the Motherland. The stories coming out of Georgetown plant indicates that's the case. Some of the problems in assembly from owners in forums indicates assembly of that ilk doesn't happen for Camry/Avalon in Georgetown, at least.
I also note they don't talk about assembling Yaris, Corolla, in the same manner.
The problem with stereo today, compared to yesterday is the same as comparing TV of today to yesteryears -- better technology, with nothing to play. Between my CD player and a couple of rock or oldies stations, I pretty much got all that is music to me. If I need a sad tune, I got a country station saved too, for the cry in the beer music. Most of the new stuff is utter garbage or so boring who could stand more than one song.
As for the looks of the CTS, I have yet to decide if this is an improvement of not. Be ever so careful on redo's as not to clutter the look, or alter the character. It may be wonderful as seen in the metal -- will see. The interior has to improve. That said, I would put up with cheaper or odder interior rather than have a totally new look which is not as true to its origins. Loren
And the GM's with bad transmissions, intake manifold leaks,Northstar engine problems,bad paint, water leaks, weak front ends on Malibus, gosh the list goes on an on. Just wanted to add a little reality here, Loren
Huh? Never had a transmission fail on any GM car I've owned. The Northstar engine in my Seville STS has yet to give me any problems. No intake manifold leaks on either my 1988 Buick Park Avenue or girlfriend's 2005 Buick LaCrosse - both of which have the 3.8 V-6. Bad paint? Well, it is starting to fade a bit on the 20 year-old Park Ave. That's reality from someone who has lived it!
What would've GM done with Chrysler anyway? GM already has enough trucks and SUVs so Jeep and most of Dodge would've been useless. About the only thing they could've got was a decent minivan and maybe the glorious but aging Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger.
Which is it, do you want Japanese cars built here or over there.
As for Lexus quality and what they expect of the workers, I can just visualize what would happen here in the states when the workers were asked to do some of those things as described. Instant strike, no doubt.
Honda and Toyota should be able to assemble well made cars here in USA. Doubt they will be able to build better cars than those made in Japan, with Japan parts and labor, as in the past. Over time, the numbers should support that. The best Japan plants here in the States, and the best domestic plants, should produce good enough quality product and keep people hired. I recently owned a PT Cruiser for a couple years. That car was well screwed together in Mexico. Interesting side note to that is the Fusion, which seems to be doing well in initial quality. Going back in time, the largest gap I noticed in build / durability was that of the Japan car vs. American in the 70's/80's/90's. Now, other than say a Lexus, the gap is more narrow.
Is Toyota or Honda going to slip in overall qualities of their products built in the last few years -- who knows. We need three to seven years to really tell. Are cars close enough now in quality as it may be less of an issue, or not an issue - maybe. I just use the data on cars for reliability as a portion of a decision, and test drives (personal testing & professional), feel and looks of the car as the rest. Some GM product is now in the ballpark with the competition. Now it's play time in the park! Loren
*** if Gm bought out Chrysler*** Well let's see.... moving back to Transformers, the GM Chrysler 300 could morph into the New Camaro. Only add to the width and round the top a bit -- wallah, you've got New Camaro. Oops, drop a couple of doors off along the way. New Camaro is one huge beast, complete with that 300 too tall doors look and chunky look. As show cars, not too bad - to drive, a little weird. Loren
I don't know why GM decided to call that big RWD coupe a Camaro (okay, I do know why). It's really a revival of the fat, bloated '70s Chevelle. GM staged a publicity shot with a first-gen Camaro back when the show car first came out, the old one looking like it was the size of an Aveo next to the new one. All the later old-new shots were doctored to make the old Camaro look as large as the new one.
Comments
New GM Models for 2008:
Chevy Malibu
Pontiac G8
Buick Enclave
Cadillac CTS
Saturn Astra
Saturn Vue
Mid Cycle Enhancements for 2008:
Chevy Corvette - New Base Engine, Revised Interior
Buick Lacrosse - Revised Front End, 'Super' model with V8
Saab 93 - Revised Front/Rear, 280HP Turbo 2.8 V6, AWD
Hummer H2 - New Engine, Interior
Cadillac STS - Revised Interior, Revised Front End, 300HP V6
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
The Astra is calling all hatchback lovers, and youthful buyers. There is more than an Ion of hope for the car - should be a small boost to Aura as well, in that more people will visit Saturn. The Vue is improving with age, and America has an obsession with anything SUV *yawn*.
Question for Saturn is will the Astra help Aura enough to erase the hammering it may take from Malibu sales?
The G8 will be something new for America. Guess all these are redo's or cars sold elsewhere, now reaching our shores. Hope they get the launch of the G8 done right. Oh well, no worries, mate!
Loren
Believe this pretty much agrees with what I said earlier.
"We estimate the Big Three could meet the 35 mpg standard only by dramatically reducing sales of large SUVs and pickups by 60 percent, while improving car fuel economy by about 34 percent and truck fuel economy by 25 percent," Brian Johnson, an auto analyst with Lehman Brothers in New York, wrote in a report Monday.
Automakers say the Senate bill, which would be the first passenger car fuel economy increase in 25 years, would cost them tens of billions of dollars. DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group has said it could bankrupt the company.
Environmentalists and others in favor of tougher mileage standards have argued there would be no need for automakers to downsize vehicles to meet the requirements. Are they smokin the strange stuff? Are they really that stupid? I guess that 100 mpg carb is finally going to come off the dang shelf. Perhaps it is at area 51?
What isn't disputed is that SUV and pickup truck sales have been the bread and butter of General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler for years. In 2007, 34 percent of GM sales have been large SUVs and full-size pickups. At Ford, it's 31 percent, and for Chrysler it's 20 percent.
By comparison, large SUV and full-size sales have accounted for just 10.5 percent of Nissan Motor Co. sales so far this year and 8 percent of Toyota Motor Corp. sales.
One major area of concern for GM and Ford is their reliance on large and powerful but less efficient engines, Johnson said.
While about 60 percent of Honda Motor Co.'s and Toyota's 2006 production was four-cylinder engines, only 14 percent of Chrysler and Ford engine production was four-cylinder and only 21 percent of GM's.
I could easily see this CAFE bill, if passed in the present Senate form, being the death knell for Chrysler. Anything beyond that is mere hystrionics, IMO.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Would be good to match or exceed the new Accord for gas mileage for the i4 model. Hey, how about a 6 sp. manual transmission too - just a thought. Will the Malibu be on a different diet than Aura, as in perhaps a savings of a hundred or two hundred pounds? It all adds up. If the name of the game is now gas mileage, every pound counts. Perhaps GM is going to invest some money in aluminum stocks? OK, they have already gone up, but who knows how much more aluminum will be used in the future in cars. Are plastic fenders a thing of the past? And is the fit the only problem, or the color matching of paint near term or long term. Never researched that one. Didn't the Camaro use plastic fenders?
When the New Malibu comes out, can we expect to see the New Accord and New Camry at the dealers for those side-by-side comparison shopping and test drives with the i4 New Malibu?
I see Saturn is comparing the Aura XE with the i4 models of the competition, with the worse scenario for a basic package deal. No comment on that one.
Loren
Per the reports in 2010 or so the new RWD Impala will then be built on the same line as the Camaro and a new G8 will also be built there soon after. Probably take both lines as more large RWD's are added (Buick??). The LaCrosse will move to an EPS 2 line somewhere in the US.
The last Pontiac Grand Prix rolls off the line in November, Ward’s learns,
as General Motors Corp. seeks to freshen its lineup with the pending
arrival of two new vehicles.
The Canadian Auto Workers union was to meet this morning with GM officials,
who were to reveal the Grand Prix’s fate. The CAW represents some 12,000
workers at GM’s assembly complex in Oshawa, ON, Canada – home to Grand Prix
production.
No job losses are expected, an informed source says. However, there will be
temporary layoffs as part of a C$740 million ($669 million) investment to
retool Oshawa’s car plant for production of the ’09 Chevrolet Camaro coupe
and convertible.
Production of the highly anticipated Camaro models is set to begin next
year. The rear-wheel-drive cars will be assembled on one line, while
production of the front-wheel-drive Buick LaCrosse and Allure sedans –
currently built alongside the Grand Prix – will be consolidated with
Chevrolet Impala production.
This move will occur in December. Production calls for a 3-shift schedule.
The Impala currently is assembled on a line by itself.
Oshawa also was the site of Chevrolet Monte Carlo production until earlier
this month. Flagging demand caused GM to kill it.
Replacing the Grand Prix in Pontiac’s showroom will be the G8 sedan, an
adaptation of the performance-oriented Australian-market Commodore from GM
Holden Ltd. The G8, expected to go on sale in North America early next
year, is based on GM’s global rear-wheel-drive architectur formerly known
as Zeta and shared with the new Camaro.
The Grand Prix line had been scheduled for closure as part of GM’s sweeping
cost-cutting initiative, launched in 2005. But Oshawa secured Camaro
production after GM and the CAW reached agreement on new, money-saving work
rules that included outsourcing routine plant maintenance.
Initial production for North America will come from Australia, but GM’s
stated desire to build a Zeta-based product in the U.S. supports
speculation this vehicle could be the G8.
Meanwhile, the next-generation Impala is expected to migrate to rear-wheel
drive.
GM is mum on both topics.
The auto maker is keen to keep its showrooms fresh as it attempts to
maintain its course correction. In a bid to improve its bottom line long
term, GM has announced plans to slash its hourly payroll by 30,000 jobs and
reduce its annual capacity to 4.2 million units by closing three vehicle
assembly plants, two powertrain facilities and two stamping plants by 2008.
Three other sites, including Oshawa, were pegged for shift reductions.
Still, Oshawa maintains its position as one of the world’s most-efficient
assembly sites. Its LaCrosse-Allure-Grand Prix line is the top-rated plant
in the most recent Harbour Report on productivity, with an
hours-per-vehicle rating of 15.68.
The Impala-Monte Carlo line finished second with 16.34 hours per vehicle.
In addition, the LaCrosse-Allure-Grand Prix line claimed second spot in the
most recent J.D. Power rankings for initial quality.
The arrival of the G8 and the two Camaro models is welcome as GM’s product
replacement rate lags the industry average, albeit slightly, according to
the latest Merrill Lynch product pipeline study. The report says GM is
expected to replace 66% of its lineup between 2008 and 2011, while the
industry average shows a 67% rate.
Honda Motor Co. Ltd., DaimlerChrysler AG and Toyota Motor Corp. lead with
85%, 73% and 67%, respectively.
The Grand Prix nameplate debuted 45 years ago, GM says.
According to Ward’s data, Grand Prix sales have totaled nearly 3 million
since 1980. Annual sales averaged more than 105,000 units over the same
period.
Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman warned today that President
Bush likely would veto an energy bill like the one passed by the Senate
last week.
He cited its fuel economy provisions as one of its flaws.
Senators voted for a combined car-truck fuel economy standard of 35 mpg by
2020 instead of leaving the precise numbers up to the regulatory experts,
the energy secretary said.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070627/AUTO01/706270345
The folks at General Motors Corp. are walking around a little starry-eyed these days, with an extra spring in their step and Hasbro toys in their hands.
In a product placement coup, four GM vehicles, including a new generation Chevrolet Camaro due out in 2009, won starring roles in the heavily hyped new action flick, "Transformers."
While automakers regularly wheel and deal to place their cars in films, GM's vehicles are cast as shape-shifting action stars in the expected summer blockbuster directed by Michael Bay.
"This is a wonderful opportunity for General Motors to get its product in front of millions of people," said Tim Calkins, clinical professor of marketing at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. "It keeps (GM) current; it builds awareness."
The other GM stars in "Transformer" are the Pontiac Solstice, a Hummer H2 and GMC TopKick pickup truck.
"We're the heroes, all four of our vehicles are good guys," said Dino Bernacchi, who oversees GM's movie deals. "They all are cool cars that fit the personalities of the characters."
GM officials didn't have to search out this film opportunity. Hollywood came to them, even before the automaker's executives had decided to show a Camaro concept coupe at the auto show in Detroit in 2006, and later to put the new Camaro into production.
"You're talking about a film that should bring in $700 million to $1 billion across the globe. You don't always get these big, blockbuster opportunities," Tihanyi said.
It may be only the beginning for GM's "Transformer" stardom. The movie's ending leaves plenty of room for a sequel.
General Motors Corp. left the best for last.
The 2008 Buick Enclave, born from the same engineering that created seven or eight passenger crossovers for Saturn and GMC, is the most refined and sophisticated of the bunch.
In the "Bonanza" of crossovers, the Enclave would be Adam Cartwright to the Little Joe Outlook and Hoss Acadia -- a happy but distinctively different brand of brothers.
For those unfamiliar with the cowboys, Adam was always the smarter, more successful sibling. Like Adam, the Enclave is quieter, more luxurious and probably recites Robert Frost in its spare time, while the more boisterous GMC and Saturn play cards and watch Tigers games.
The cool, smooth lines of the Enclave's exterior carry country club airs. From its waterfall grille and sharply angled headlights (with Xenon high-intensity bulbs) to the chrome hood ports and bubbly windshield, the Enclave's face projects just enough snobbery to fit into the luxury crossover segment but not offend.
It also comes in at a reasonable price. With a starting MSRP of $32,790, including shipping, it undercuts the Acura MDX ($40,665), the five-passenger Lexus RX 350 ($38,115) and the Audi Q7 ($40,620).
Oh no! What will Chevrolet now use to race in NASCAR?
I might be pro-import but I am also a NASCAR fan.
Go 24!
Quite a few people I know, in the age group that had Transformers as toys as a child, are a little jaded at this marketing ploy.
The H2 is a cool car?
Maybe they should've just called this movie "Go-Bots?"
one was a semi tractor with a trailer, another was a VW Bug, and wasn't there one that was a boom box with a smaller robot that was a cassette tape?
The semi remains, only it has no trailer and is the wrong style of cab (I don't know what it's called, the original had a cab like the one used in the HW chase scene in Terminator2 - Flat front). That VW bug is now a Camaro (Might as well made it a Suburban if they're going to be that ridiculous)
"Ratchet" was an VW ambulance, not a Hummer, "Ironhide" was the same van but different paint scheme and no lights. Not a Giant GMC 6500 pickup truck.
Would've you been happier if the Transformers were all mid-80s Japanese cars? I doubt many of today's kids would even remember those cars.
Actually, no. The only one I can recall was a couple of characters based off the Datsun 280Z. Had the movie been bastardized with ALL IMPORTS and sponsered by Toyota, I'd still wish it bombed. My point is, it should have stayed close to the original. As the blogs have pointed out, this movie is nothing more than a 2 hour GM commercial.
It's like remaking (one of the greatest films ever IMO) "Bullet" and putting Steve Mcqueen in a Ford Edge and having the bad guy in a Chrysler minivan...
Michael Bay movies are usually silly anyways :shades:
Some of the Transformers were non-Japanese cars, there was a Corvette and a modified Firebird, along with a couple of Porsches and Lamborghinis and a Lancia. I don't know much more about this movie other than the strong GM presence, but it seems the lineup isn't as diverse as back in the day.
A hundred...wow. Not a bad investment. Back when they were new, I was interested in the toys for maybe a few months...all of mine were destroyed.
You can't blame them, though. Wasn't that show popular in the 1980s? Not exacty the pinnacle for GM vehicles.
The toy that became Optimus Prime was patterned after a White cabover tractor, but was genericized enough to avoid licensing concerns. The other original Autobots were mostly early-80s Japanese cars, with a handful of European and American designs thrown in.
I would have rather seen a movie with these, but marketing demanded otherwise.
Yeah, Jeff is good at racing about anything built, as is Tony. Some good race car drivers. Sadly, there is no more stock car racing. Long live the King.
If you see the Corvettes in action, you will have the oportunity to view what I would say is a stock car. And they even turn right, as well as left -- go figure! :P
Loren
$0
Did supply some cars.
Loren
Those look like mostly Hondas. (link) Whatever happened to those coffee tables made out of crushed cars anyway?
Almost as good as the crushed Hondas below.
The early Honda ones rusted out and the domestic ones stopped functioning....
Stiff penalties, jail time, and such are one thing, but the enforcement department handing out the sentence, is a bit un-American, is it not?
Looks like the justice system has transformed.
Loren
Loren
"Police need a court order to destroy the cars. They must prove that the serial or identification numbers on a vehicle or its parts are removed, altered or destroyed." (from the LA Times linked in the blog).
Loren
We should continue this over in Traffic Laws & Enforcement Tactics. I'll link the article and seed it.
The toyota models kept getting grease on top from all the sludge they couldn't get rid of and the Hondas kept moving around because of shifting problems in the transmissions.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
The CTS is Cadillac's small luxury/sport sedan, sent out to do battle with the BMW 3 Series, Mercedes C-Class, Audi A4, Infiniti G35, and Lexus is350. Though it's fully renewed for the 2008 model year, we don't yet know how well the CTS handles driving through mountain passes. But when you're cruising on the highway, nothing is going to beat Cadillac for breadth of audio sources and musical entertainment. Here's why: Cadillac's center-stack design team (the engineers responsible for what goes in the middle of the dashboard) thought it through better than anyone else has so far, and then implemented every possible feature you could want.
In this category, you need solid electronics hardware, to start with. Cadillac teamed up with Bose, which should delight all but the worst of the audio snobs (who think Bose is fifty years of hype). The navigation module comes from Alpine, one of my favorites. The hard disk comes from Toshiba, and what's important to us is the 40GB capacity. Roughly half is available for ripping music. (The other half goes for navigation data.)
Satellite radio? XM is included. Line-in jack? Of course. USB socket? Check. iPod compatibility? Part of the USB configuration. Database for music lookup? The latest version. Touchscreen display for ease of use or cockpit control knob for tech buffs? It has both. Plays MP3, WMA, and AAC files off CDs? All of them, and even rips (transfers) MP3 CD data (some cars with hard drives rip only music from the original CDs).
So far, so good? There's more. Cadillac added a TiVo-like feature that caches a rolling hour's worth of audio from the radio or satellite radio. So if you like a song and want to hear it again, just hit the rewind button. With satellite radio music, the recorder uses the track/artist/time-of-day information to insert bookmarks at the start of each song, so you can find what you want quickly. (For AM/FM radio, the skip feature works in 30-second increments.)
There are a couple of gotchas: If you change from satellite to radio, or even station to station, the cache flushes. And Cadillac won't let you save favorite XM satellite songs to the hard disk the way the Pioneer Inno handheld XM receiver does. Why not? "Because they [Pioneer] are in litigation," explained engineer Charles Massoll. But bless the engineers: The feature was engineered into the audio system, and if the recording industry ever decides features are good if they get music fans to listen to more music, it's ready and waiting.
The CTS uses a new generation of Gracenote tools. There's the usual artist, song, album data that lets the car add that information when a CD plays or is ripped to the hard disk. In addition, says Vadim Brenner, a Gracenote senior product manager, there's additional editorial information about each CD and song, such as era (when the music was recorded), artist type, and genre – not just rock, classical, and jazz, but 17,000 music types. That allows for a "Play More Like" button that finds all the music on your hard disk (or 2GB memory key) just like the music you're now hearing.
The navigation system has one nice feature. When you identify a favorite – say, McDonald's – and press one of the six onscreen buttons to assign it as a favorite, the nav finds not that McDonald's but the nearest McDonald's, or Home Depot, or Hooters. You can restrict the search to not just the nearest favorite but the one that's on your route if you're navigating. So if the closest Waldenbooks is two miles behind you on the expressway, it points you to the one five miles ahead in the direction you're headed.
The nav system also has XM NavTraffic, with traffic updates that can be overlaid on your map – nice, but not unique to the CTS. You can even get the multi-day forecast for the city you're headed to.
The Cadillac CTS comes closer than any other car I've seen to date in providing the kind of entertainment features and telematics tools the driver and passengers want. But here's what the CTS missed on:
Limited recording capability. Cadillac could have let you record individual songs off XM for your enjoyment. Okay, so they'd get sued by the recording industry.
No Bluetooth. Incredible to believe, but the CTS doesn't integrate Bluetooth.
No integration between Alpine navigation and OnStar Turn-By-Turn navigation. With TBT, you call an operator (OnStar Advisor) and tell the operator where you want to go, and the route instructions are downloaded to the car. If you can press a button, you can use this kind of navigation. Unfortunately, the instructions are shown not on the 8-inch widescreen LCD but on the simple multi-information display next to the speedometer, and there's no way to use the OnStar download to program the route on your real navigation system. "Soon," says Cadillac's Massoll.
No transflective display. The display pops up from the dash and looked plenty bright under the shade of several trees in the restaurant courtyard (this is not your usual New York City eatery). But when you've seen a transflective display, as on the BMW 3 Series convertible, you're spoiled for how good a display can be in direct sunlight.
Other than Bluetooth, these are relatively minor issues. Cadillac appears to be in the lead, at least on audio entertainment technology, with the new CTS. We'll drive one the minute it's released.
Ford and Chrysler on Wednesday announced their membership in the coalition.
“We are at a critical stage in the conversation on climate change, energy consumption and environmental protection,” Ford President and CEO Alan Mulally said in a statement. “We all recognize it is time for action.”
Mulally and Tom LaSorda, Chrysler Group president and CEO, both said their companies support the partnership’s push for cost-effective, but quick, new technologies.
“We have been actively developing a range of advanced technology vehicles to address the climate change issue, reducing our energy consumption on a global basis and working to create vehicles with the environmental innovation our customers desire,” Mulally said.
“Now is the time for advancing a national approach to climate change where all of us individuals, industry and government take action toward reducing emissions of greenhouse gases,” LaSorda said in Chrysler’s statement.
This article talks about Toyota/Lexis crazy commitment to quality and execution. Doesn't make for bad publicity either. But I think that excellent build quality is possible outside of Japan as well (like in the USA?!?) So many people I know that can afford decent cars will just narrow their choices to Lexus, Acura, Infinity. And it sure can't be just for price. Keep working GM, but the bar is set pretty high.
That's a well-written puff piece! It clearly says that Toyota doesn't believe it can assemble cars outside of Japan as well as in the Motherland. The stories coming out of Georgetown plant indicates that's the case. Some of the problems in assembly from owners in forums indicates assembly of that ilk doesn't happen for Camry/Avalon in Georgetown, at least.
I also note they don't talk about assembling Yaris, Corolla, in the same manner.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
As for the looks of the CTS, I have yet to decide if this is an improvement of not. Be ever so careful on redo's as not to clutter the look, or alter the character. It may be wonderful as seen in the metal -- will see. The interior has to improve. That said, I would put up with cheaper or odder interior rather than have a totally new look which is not as true to its origins.
Loren
Loren
As for Lexus quality and what they expect of the workers, I can just visualize what would happen here in the states when the workers were asked to do some of those things as described. Instant strike, no doubt.
Honda and Toyota should be able to assemble well made cars here in USA. Doubt they will be able to build better cars than those made in Japan, with Japan parts and labor, as in the past. Over time, the numbers should support that.
The best Japan plants here in the States, and the best domestic plants, should produce good enough quality product and keep people hired. I recently owned a PT Cruiser for a couple years. That car was well screwed together in Mexico. Interesting side note to that is the Fusion, which seems to be doing well in initial quality. Going back in time, the largest gap I noticed in build / durability was that of the Japan car vs. American in the 70's/80's/90's. Now, other than say a Lexus, the gap is more narrow.
Is Toyota or Honda going to slip in overall qualities of their products built in the last few years -- who knows. We need three to seven years to really tell. Are cars close enough now in quality as it may be less of an issue, or not an issue - maybe. I just use the data on cars for reliability as a portion of a decision, and test drives (personal testing & professional), feel and looks of the car as the rest. Some GM product is now in the ballpark with the competition. Now it's play time in the park!
Loren
Well let's see.... moving back to Transformers, the GM Chrysler 300 could morph into the New Camaro. Only add to the width and round the top a bit -- wallah, you've got New Camaro. Oops, drop a couple of doors off along the way. New Camaro is one huge beast, complete with that 300 too tall doors look and chunky look. As show cars, not too bad - to drive, a little weird.
Loren