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"General Motors Co. (GM) and its local Chinese partners have launched a second plant to make cars for its local discount brand Baojun, ratcheting up the battle for customers at the fast-growing lower end of the world's biggest auto market."
The idiot lights in my '67 Catalina, for temp and oil pressure at least, are kind of strange. Once you reach a certain threshold, the light will just barely come on, and flicker. But, get a bit more into the danger zone, and the light will glow a stronger red.
Thankfully, other than when I first start up, I've never seen the oil light go strong red! :surprise: At low idle speeds, when fully warmed up and the oil has thinned out, if oil pressure dropped down below around 18 psi according to the aftermarket gauge, that would be when it would flicker. I haven't seen it drop that low years though, not since the mechanic messed around with the car back in the winter of 2008-2009.
Waiting to make left turn yesterday and the oncoming cars were in order, Impala, Malibu, and Cruze. I looked behind for the Sonic, but it wasn't there.
Ugh! I just can't get past the psychological barrier of the lack of a V-8 to envision it!
Panther - V-8 = old Chevrolet Impala.
Well, maybe they could offer something like the 3.7 as the standard V-6, and the new 5.0 as a V-8 option? In the Mustang, those engines with the 6-speed automatic are rated 19/31 for the 3.7, 18/25 for the 5.0. I'm sure fuel economy would be similar in a Panther.
Many of the V-6 engines these days are quicker than the V-8's of not too long ago, but I know what you mean...there's just a certain prestige that seems to be lost, with the absence of a V-8.
As cooter said, a basic idiot light is on/off. You actually have upgraded lights / system, it is a type of warning system. Once your pressure gets below a certain point the sensor will provide a limited amount of amperage / voltage and the light will come on dim; the lower the pressure the more the light will brighten until you fully light. Same principal with temp, except based on higher the temp.
This is a heck of a lot better than a "standard-type" light where it won't light until too late; if the light comes on you already have damage.
Ford's 32v 5.0 Coyote v8 is sweet. It can motivate a 6000lb f150 to 60 in around 7 seconds, imagine what it would do in a Panther. It would be a beast and it's a very refined engine too.
I'd like to see Ford build a crownvic like car. I don't know if a body on frame car is the solution, but a rwd sedan would be nice. I liked my dad's '92 Crown vic, but that was then. I test drove a low mileage '94 Grand Marquis in the late 90's and I didn't like it at all. But a modern powertrain would help a bunch.
The Ecoboost is a great engine too, but it doesn't sound like a v8. Goes like one though.
GM consistently lags its competitors in innovation and design. Public perception in the U.S. also took a hit with the bailout and could lead "buy-American" consumers to choose Ford over GM when purchasing automobiles in the future. Last and most importantly, GM cannot be cost competitive when you consider their higher labor costs and future obligations to their retirees. This will ultimately prevent them from being able to invest in R&D to the extent necessary to become an industry leader in innovation.
Go Mustang! :shades:
October Mustang Sales = 5,328 October Camaro Sales = 5,122
I think there's more to this stuff than just the usual explanation of sticky floormats or driver error. Just like the Kia a few months back, this isn't an elderly person driving.
2024 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray 2LT; 2019 Chevrolet Equinox LT; 2015 Chevrolet Cruze LS
I think there's more to this stuff than just the usual explanation of sticky floormats or driver error. Just like the Kia a few months back, this isn't an elderly person driving.
I bet $100 it's driver error. The odds that a car will have full throttle unintended acceleration and brake failure simultaneously is far lower than the odds the officer inadvertently pressed the accelerator instead of the brake. If his foot was on the brake he should have been able to stop the car. I don't buy this as case of UIA anymore than the Toyotas.
This summer I had a panic situation where the brakes failed on a buddies F150 while I was backing his boat down a steep launch ramp. Trust me, when my foot went to the floor and we were free wheeling down a ramp heading towards the lake, I slammed my foot several times on the brake, once that didn't work, I slammed my foot on the parking break. Thank fully that stopped us.
My panic reaction was to slam on the brakes once the vehicle was out of my control. My UIA was due to gravity and brake failure, thankfully the parking brake was able to overpower gravity;)
I just don't believe mechanical failure is the issue. This stuff happens all of the time in parking lots across the country. My wife works for a national retail chain, and cars accelerating into other cars in the parking lot and building walls happens more often than most realize. Most of the time it doesn't make the news.
Timely... NBC news carried a story last night about distracted law enforcement officers causing accidents due to so many distractions in the car.... Radio, computer, cellphones, etc.
The program showed several video clips of the accidents, taken by the in-car video cameras, one which showed a motorcycle rider being struck by a cruiser.
Some municipalities are now installing features that disable the computer keyboard if the car is moving above a few mph in order to reduce distractions.
The "cockpit" of a police car is quite complicated these days...
I saw that one too - those collisions were downright painful to watch, much less be involved in. I can't believe they let officers use the tech stuff while driving. If anything, they need to be MORE alert than your average driver.
MODERATOR /ADMINISTRATOR Find me at kirstie_h@edmunds.com - or send a private message by clicking on my name. 2015 Kia Soul, 2021 Subaru Forester (kirstie_h), 2024 GMC Sierra 1500 (mr. kirstie_h) Review your vehicle
Very timely post. Just last night on the way home from work I saw a State Trooper with a handheld glued to his ear while driving (would not be legal for me to do here).
Thanks for posting. That is interesting despite all the naysaying out there. I wouldn't buy one, but I can understand the appeal for some people. To me, it's not quite a blight on the landscape as that better-known hybrid!
2024 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray 2LT; 2019 Chevrolet Equinox LT; 2015 Chevrolet Cruze LS
To me, it's not quite a blight on the landscape as that better-known hybrid!
Oh c'mon now, that Charger "hybrid" that burned both rubber and gas wasn't that hard on the eye! :P
Actually, if I had money to burn, I'd consider a Volt. Even though it wouldn't make financial sense at its current price point, I'm sure that prices will come down as the technology becomes more widespread. And, reducing fuel consumption and trips to the gas station is a nice benefit, even if it doesn't offset the cost of the car. And, if I had money to burn, I wouldn't be quite as concerned with financial sense!
My office building got LEED platinum certification (something like that) and so they installed 2 EV charging ports, right next to the VIP parking.
So far I've seen one Volt and one plug-in Prius using the spots. That's it. So for them it's like having a reserved parking spot in a premium location. Plus HOV lane access, plus $7500 federal incentives, plus some state incentives ($2000 in MD).
Plus the building only charges about 1/3rd of what it would cost to charge them at home.
I think these perks are adding up and people are warming up to the idea more, hence the increased sales.
I read somewhere (USA Today???) that plug -in owners are noticing a $18 bump in their electric bill as opposed to what would be about $150 in gasoline monthly.
No doubt the "fuel" costs less, but a Volt leases for $349 and a 5-seat Cruze which shares the same platform leases for $159 with a lower down payment.
Or have the Volt leases gone down since I looked?
MD adds a $2000 incentives, other states as well. IIRC WV (?) offers $2500.
Heck, cars.com is showing 60 2011 models left over, so if you don't mind the depreciation hit of a 2 year old car, imagine the deal you could get on those!
Funny thing is they list the Pontiac and put a photo of it, then in small print they mention the clone Matrix.
Obvious anti-Toyota bias.
They still list the Avalanche as their top rated pickup. Apparently they didn't get the memo. Silverado is right behind in 2nd. Silverago HD wins the HD category as well.
GM did well with SUVs as well, Traverse and Acadia finished 1-2 among large SUVs.
Corvette topped the high-end sports cars category.
I think you saw that in the magazine (Dec? issue), while I'm looking at the Buying Guide. That's the little booklet they send out once a year to subscribers.
In North America, GM's pretax profits fell by 17% to $1.8 billion from $2.2 billion in 2011 as "lower pension income and higher costs for warranty claims offset lower raw material and freight costs." The company also saw its U.S. Market share decrease during the quarter. The decrease in market share (from 20% to 18.1%) was expected as "Toyota Motor (TM) and Honda (HMC) have regained market share they lost to G.M. and other companies last year because of inventory shortages caused by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan."
Whoops! Not that way, GM! Turn around! :P
GM earnings are not likely to show significant improvement until they figure out a way to cut losses in Europe, and they have already predicted that its European earnings in 2013 will be only slightly better than 2012. For the above reasons I do not believe that GM's stock price will rise above $26. Since GM's stock price has peaked, and it does not pay a dividend I see no reason to own the stock at this time.
Personally, I addressed this a few weeks ago. I have to believe that statement is partly due to the Cruze's very large recall.
Remember, the magazine so many here love to quote--unless it's beneficial to GM--says that GM quality is up; Ford's and Hyundai's was down. Since other cars are so often mentioned here, thought that needed to be reiterated.
For those who watched SNL a decade ago...so many posts here remind me of the "Debbie Downer" character...turn something good into something bad (insert "Wah-wah" sound here).
2024 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray 2LT; 2019 Chevrolet Equinox LT; 2015 Chevrolet Cruze LS
Wait! You mean market share has nothing to do with it!
You must have missed this (as usual).
The company also saw its U.S. Market share decrease during the quarter. The decrease in market share (from 20% to 18.1%) was expected as "Toyota Motor (TM) and Honda (HMC) have regained market share they lost to G.M. and other companies last year because of inventory shortages caused by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan."
Must be because the products are improving but still below the competition. Unless there are other excuses from the "Happy" people? UAW accepting market-rate pay yet? Let us know when that happens and GM might have a chance (if mismanagement doesn't blow it again.
Politically Correct!!!!! Having owned 34 of their creations during my driving days, I would not waste any $$$$s on their current products..$40K+++ for a 4-banger Caddy, insane..
I noticed previous discussions about Germany and WWII, spent 2-1/2 yrs in the late 50s there and had a ball..New 58 and 59 Porsche 356 Super coupes, and the autobahn with a couple liters of the local brew, fun times...18 cent/gal gas, no speed limits...Super Time with great cars..
Nearing 80,I certainly do not plan on buying a Volt, Cruze, or Sonic to save any natural resource, or try to please any environmental wacko..Restrictions are placed to control your life, and you young folks will soon realize where the country is headed..The Ford V-8 5.0 will be in the garage soon,Mustang GT.. Yep,keeping the Grand Prix for family,the supercharged V-6 is fun..
Are the divisions still around; they just dropped that particular product?
BTW, you never answered if the Caprice and Captiva are on the Chevy website and if you are able as a retail customer to go in and purchase one.
And since market share is mentioned here so regularly, what would be your comment on the market share GM had in the two-seat, inexpensive car market?
That's all I'm saying. I don't have the financial knowledge of all you "Cliff Clavins" on this board, about knowing profit-per-unit and such, ad nauseum.
2024 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray 2LT; 2019 Chevrolet Equinox LT; 2015 Chevrolet Cruze LS
You always skirt the fact that GM's documented (but still not accepted) market share struggles after the long decline and since the C-11 has not recovered much. Sort of bouncing on the bottom without much to ensure the uptrend.
General Motors (NYSE: GM ) is at something of a crossroads. On the one hand, GM has come a long way since the bad old days: It has minimal debt, over $30 billion in cash, and a rapidly improving product line.
Yet big problems remain. Many of its vehicles still lag competitors. It's burning huge sums in Europe. Its margins are dwarfed by those of its biggest regional rivals – Ford (NYSE: F ) in the U.S., Volkswagen (NASDAQOTH: VLKAY ) in China.
They still sell some models from the discontinued brands. They do NOT sell the Kappa-based vehicles. That tells me it was not advantageous to them to continue to produce them, while it is advantageous for them to continue to produce and sell the Saturn Vue (Chevy Captiva) and Pontiac G8 (Chevy Caprice PPV).
And no I would not care to comment on market share because market share isn't everything.
You really might want to get some business knowledge. While they don't publicize it, GM knows exactly how much profit they're making off of a particular product line, and could quote per-unit profits at the drop of a hat to one of their internal execs. You track that stuff internally so you know which of your products are making money and which are losing money so you can adjust your product mix and/or pricing as needed. Same as any other industry, whether it's software, furniture, or rubber dog vomit.
Comments
Problem is, idiot lite sensors are pretty much an on off switch, whereas a guage sensor is a potentiometer.
BTW, my '65 Wildcat has the "cold" idiot lite
Thankfully, other than when I first start up, I've never seen the oil light go strong red! :surprise: At low idle speeds, when fully warmed up and the oil has thinned out, if oil pressure dropped down below around 18 psi according to the aftermarket gauge, that would be when it would flicker. I haven't seen it drop that low years though, not since the mechanic messed around with the car back in the winter of 2008-2009.
Panther - V-8 = old Chevrolet Impala.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Panther - V-8 = old Chevrolet Impala.
Well, maybe they could offer something like the 3.7 as the standard V-6, and the new 5.0 as a V-8 option? In the Mustang, those engines with the 6-speed automatic are rated 19/31 for the 3.7, 18/25 for the 5.0. I'm sure fuel economy would be similar in a Panther.
Many of the V-6 engines these days are quicker than the V-8's of not too long ago, but I know what you mean...there's just a certain prestige that seems to be lost, with the absence of a V-8.
I agree, though, that the review should match the photo, unless specified.
As cooter said, a basic idiot light is on/off. You actually have upgraded lights / system, it is a type of warning system. Once your pressure gets below a certain point the sensor will provide a limited amount of amperage / voltage and the light will come on dim; the lower the pressure the more the light will brighten until you fully light. Same principal with temp, except based on higher the temp.
This is a heck of a lot better than a "standard-type" light where it won't light until too late; if the light comes on you already have damage.
I'd like to see Ford build a crownvic like car. I don't know if a body on frame car is the solution, but a rwd sedan would be nice. I liked my dad's '92 Crown vic, but that was then. I test drove a low mileage '94 Grand Marquis in the late 90's and I didn't like it at all. But a modern powertrain would help a bunch.
The Ecoboost is a great engine too, but it doesn't sound like a v8. Goes like one though.
Go Mustang! :shades:
October Mustang Sales = 5,328
October Camaro Sales = 5,122
Regards,
OW
Pretty soon, there'll be those big rebates on ZL-1's you had talked about.
http://kent.patch.com/articles/officer-ok-after-crashing-into-building#photo-122- 41791
I think there's more to this stuff than just the usual explanation of sticky floormats or driver error. Just like the Kia a few months back, this isn't an elderly person driving.
Regards,
OW
I bet $100 it's driver error. The odds that a car will have full throttle unintended acceleration and brake failure simultaneously is far lower than the odds the officer inadvertently pressed the accelerator instead of the brake.
If his foot was on the brake he should have been able to stop the car. I don't buy this as case of UIA anymore than the Toyotas.
This summer I had a panic situation where the brakes failed on a buddies F150 while I was backing his boat down a steep launch ramp. Trust me, when my foot went to the floor and we were free wheeling down a ramp heading towards the lake, I slammed my foot several times on the brake, once that didn't work, I slammed my foot on the parking break. Thank fully that stopped us.
My panic reaction was to slam on the brakes once the vehicle was out of my control. My UIA was due to gravity and brake failure, thankfully the parking brake was able to overpower gravity;)
I just don't believe mechanical failure is the issue. This stuff happens all of the time in parking lots across the country. My wife works for a national retail chain, and cars accelerating into other cars in the parking lot and building walls happens more often than most realize. Most of the time it doesn't make the news.
The program showed several video clips of the accidents, taken by the in-car video cameras, one which showed a motorcycle rider being struck by a cruiser.
Some municipalities are now installing features that disable the computer keyboard if the car is moving above a few mph in order to reduce distractions.
The "cockpit" of a police car is quite complicated these days...
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Review your vehicle
Unintended acceleration happens when you're not paying attention to driving. I'm sure that Chevy cop car was just fine.
Compare to the Insight, which has only sold 3705 units for the entire 10 months in 2012.
At nearly 10 times the volume of the Honda, you'd think they'd find other cars to whine about.
Oh c'mon now, that Charger "hybrid" that burned both rubber and gas wasn't that hard on the eye! :P
Actually, if I had money to burn, I'd consider a Volt. Even though it wouldn't make financial sense at its current price point, I'm sure that prices will come down as the technology becomes more widespread. And, reducing fuel consumption and trips to the gas station is a nice benefit, even if it doesn't offset the cost of the car. And, if I had money to burn, I wouldn't be quite as concerned with financial sense!
So far I've seen one Volt and one plug-in Prius using the spots. That's it. So for them it's like having a reserved parking spot in a premium location. Plus HOV lane access, plus $7500 federal incentives, plus some state incentives ($2000 in MD).
Plus the building only charges about 1/3rd of what it would cost to charge them at home.
I think these perks are adding up and people are warming up to the idea more, hence the increased sales.
I'm glad to hear things like that about offices giving breaks on charging.
That Volt is attractive to me as an electric car without the distance problem due to the gasoline engine. The advanced batteries are a step up.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Or have the Volt leases gone down since I looked?
MD adds a $2000 incentives, other states as well. IIRC WV (?) offers $2500.
http://www.chevrolet.com/volt-electric-car.html
$329 with $2999 down.
The site doesn't list a current offer for the Cruze.
With $2000 from the state of MD, divided by 36 payments, that's another $55.55 savings per month, too.
Heck, cars.com is showing 60 2011 models left over, so if you don't mind the depreciation hit of a 2 year old car, imagine the deal you could get on those!
Country wide Inventory
Also looks like pricing on the new ones have come down quite a bit as well...
$29,995 a plenty
Government Motors offering bargain deals on Volts
Funny thing is they list the Pontiac and put a photo of it, then in small print they mention the clone Matrix.
Obvious anti-Toyota bias.
They still list the Avalanche as their top rated pickup. Apparently they didn't get the memo. Silverado is right behind in 2nd. Silverago HD wins the HD category as well.
GM did well with SUVs as well, Traverse and Acadia finished 1-2 among large SUVs.
Corvette topped the high-end sports cars category.
Not a bad showing for GM.
Wow - In a BAD WAY
I'll try to take a look, it's at home.
In North America, GM's pretax profits fell by 17% to $1.8 billion from $2.2 billion in 2011 as "lower pension income and higher costs for warranty claims offset lower raw material and freight costs." The company also saw its U.S. Market share decrease during the quarter. The decrease in market share (from 20% to 18.1%) was expected as "Toyota Motor (TM) and Honda (HMC) have regained market share they lost to G.M. and other companies last year because of inventory shortages caused by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan."
Whoops! Not that way, GM! Turn around! :P
GM earnings are not likely to show significant improvement until they figure out a way to cut losses in Europe, and they have already predicted that its European earnings in 2013 will be only slightly better than 2012. For the above reasons I do not believe that GM's stock price will rise above $26. Since GM's stock price has peaked, and it does not pay a dividend I see no reason to own the stock at this time.
Regards,
OW
Now circlew, don't you know that it's all about SALES, not profits? :P
Remember, the magazine so many here love to quote--unless it's beneficial to GM--says that GM quality is up; Ford's and Hyundai's was down. Since other cars are so often mentioned here, thought that needed to be reiterated.
For those who watched SNL a decade ago...so many posts here remind me of the "Debbie Downer" character...turn something good into something bad (insert "Wah-wah" sound here).
You must have missed this (as usual).
The company also saw its U.S. Market share decrease during the quarter. The decrease in market share (from 20% to 18.1%) was expected as "Toyota Motor (TM) and Honda (HMC) have regained market share they lost to G.M. and other companies last year because of inventory shortages caused by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan."
Must be because the products are improving but still below the competition. Unless there are other excuses from the "Happy" people? UAW accepting market-rate pay yet? Let us know when that happens and GM might have a chance (if mismanagement doesn't blow it again.
Regards,
OW
I noticed previous discussions about Germany and WWII, spent 2-1/2 yrs in the late 50s there and had a ball..New 58 and 59 Porsche 356 Super coupes, and the autobahn with a couple liters of the local brew, fun times...18 cent/gal gas, no speed limits...Super Time with great cars..
Nearing 80,I certainly do not plan on buying a Volt, Cruze, or Sonic to save any natural resource, or try to please any environmental wacko..Restrictions are placed to control your life, and you young folks will soon realize where the country is headed..The Ford V-8 5.0 will be in the garage soon,Mustang GT..
Yep,keeping the Grand Prix for family,the supercharged V-6 is fun..
We were talking about sales of the Solstice/Sky to its competitor. And they outsold it.
How that gets turned into a negative...well, I'm not surprised.
"Outselling" is not necessarily a positive thing. Not if you're losing money in the process.
BTW, you never answered if the Caprice and Captiva are on the Chevy website and if you are able as a retail customer to go in and purchase one.
And since market share is mentioned here so regularly, what would be your comment on the market share GM had in the two-seat, inexpensive car market?
That's all I'm saying. I don't have the financial knowledge of all you "Cliff Clavins" on this board, about knowing profit-per-unit and such, ad nauseum.
General Motors (NYSE: GM ) is at something of a crossroads. On the one hand, GM has come a long way since the bad old days: It has minimal debt, over $30 billion in cash, and a rapidly improving product line.
Yet big problems remain. Many of its vehicles still lag competitors. It's burning huge sums in Europe. Its margins are dwarfed by those of its biggest regional rivals – Ford (NYSE: F ) in the U.S., Volkswagen (NASDAQOTH: VLKAY ) in China.
Can GM's Management Get It Done?
Watching....waiting. Fact is their products still trail the market leaders.
Regards,
OW
And no I would not care to comment on market share because market share isn't everything.
You really might want to get some business knowledge. While they don't publicize it, GM knows exactly how much profit they're making off of a particular product line, and could quote per-unit profits at the drop of a hat to one of their internal execs. You track that stuff internally so you know which of your products are making money and which are losing money so you can adjust your product mix and/or pricing as needed. Same as any other industry, whether it's software, furniture, or rubber dog vomit.