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GM Executive: Chevrolet "SS" Line Has A Future At GM

Perian — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:03:48 GMT

Source: Automotive News Special Email Alert

Greg Migliore - AutoWeek - November 20, 2009

From 1960s Chevelles to modern Camaros, speedy Chevrolets have always been identified with two letters: SS.

But does the tradition-laden performance designation have a future in the new General Motors, which is under pressure to cut costs, make money and meet stricter fuel-economy regulations?

�Absolutely,� Mark Reuss, GM vice president of global engineering, told AutoWeek.

In fact, the SS line could be better -- or at least more clearly defined. Reuss envisions cars outfitted on a case-by-case basis, rather than somewhat generically adding horsepower and red-letter stitching to Chevys across the board. Or as he put it, �Not trying to peanut-butter SS for everything.�

�If you look at Chevrolet's heritage, it's important to remember where SS was,� he said.

Reuss recently took over as GM's top gearhead after leading its Holden operations in Australia -- the origin of the company's enthusiast-oriented rear-wheel drive underpinnings.

That platform, called Zeta in GM speak, is also safe under his watch, and the company is at work on a sedan in Australia that's expected to return impressive fuel economy in that market from a 3.0-liter engine.

For rear-wheel drive to have broader applications, and possibly play a larger role in GM's U.S. lineup, Reuss said the cars need to get stellar gas mileage and have reduced weight.

Though the performance of these cars can be enjoyable, he's adamant about the need for RWD to be usable and relevant to modern realities. The underpinnings for the Camaro and the Pontiac G8 came from Holden.

�We strove to make Zeta, rear-wheel drive in Australia, relevant to the rest of the world,� he said.

Drive.com.au Review of Camaro

BBDOS CV8 — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:40:27 GMT

Interesting perspective of Camaro from Australian Media outlet Drive.

Drive is part of the Fairfax Press Group which publishes what are widely regarded as Australia's most serious and credible Broadsheet newspapers.

Driven: Holden's US muscle car
Jez Spinks, drive.com.au, November 17, 2009

Quote:

It's more than 40 years since the original Camaro hit American roads and Drive has hired its retro-infused, fifth-generation successor, which is the first all-new model to be based on the underpinnings of the Holden Commodore.

My red rental car is getting unrelenting attention.

A guy in a Chevrolet Corvette convertible tails me for a number of kilometres before accelerating past with a thumb raised. A kid in the back of a Toyota Camry takes a photograph out of the rear window.

And as I stop for fuel at a "gas station" just off the Interstate 15 highway linking Los Angeles and Las Vegas through the Nevada desert, the elderly couple behind the counter are not the first Americans to smile and say: "Nice car."

This is no humble hire car, of course.

The Chevrolet Camaro is America’s newest muscle car and also the exclusive pride of Avis's US rental fleet.

Two Out of Three Camaros Sold Sport V8 Power

TuffG929 — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:27:17 GMT

Two Out of Three Ain't Bad: Most Chevy Camaros reportedly being sold with V8 power
by Noah Joseph

It's a sign of the times that most buyers of the new Camaro would go for the V6 and not the V8. At $31,595, the eight-cylinder SS model naturally sells for more than the $23,530 base V6 model. To compound the issue the V6 model costs the auto giant nearly as much to build as the V8 version.

So why would GM want buyers to go for the V6? The smaller engine would help the General keep its Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) rate on the good side of earth-friendly. But according to Edmunds, customers have been voting with their feet. Their right feet, as it would happen, heavy as they are.

Of more than 47,000 Camaros sold from April through October, Edmunds estimates that about two-thirds have been V8 SS models � a trend we can get on board with.

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/11/19/t...ortedly-being/

Wall Street Journal:GM's Lordstown to built Cruze, Spark, Orlando

GM2004 — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:23:55 GMT

NOVEMBER 18, 2009, 8:26 P.M. ET.GM To Produce Chevrolet Cruze In US Next Year - GM Daewoo
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StumbleUponDiggTwitterYahoo BuzzFarkRedditLinkedIndel.icio.usMySpace Text . SEOUL (Dow Jones)--General Motors Co. will start making the Chevrolet Cruze sedan in its Lordstown, Ohio plant before offering it for sale in the U.S. in the third quarter of next year, the car maker's South Korean unit said Thursday.

"As GM Daewoo's Gunsan (South Korea) plant cannot meet all the global demand for the Chevrolet Cruze, it is not unusual (for GM) to produce the model in the U.S.," a GM Daewoo spokesman said by phone.

Currently, GM Daewoo produces the Chevrolet Cruze model, which is called the Lacetti Premiere in South Korea, and the previous version of the Lacetti sedan in its Gunsan plant, which has an annual capacity of 260,000 units.

Earlier Thursday, the Chosun Ilbo reported GM will start production of the car at Lordstown in April.

The U.S. plant will also produce the Chevrolet Spark (or Matiz Creative) and the multipurpose Chevrolet Orlando minivan (or MPV7) in 2011, the report said.

GM plans to make a total of 300,000 units a year of GM Daewoo's mainstay models after 2011 to meet U.S. demand, which may have an impact on GM Daewoo's exports, it said. GM Daewoo earns about 90% of its overall sales from exports.

-By Kyong-Ae Choi, Dow Jones Newswires; 822-2198-2236; kyong-ae.choi@dowjones.com

Silverado Loses Market Share in 2009, Ford and Ram Trucks Gain

TuffG929 — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:28:19 GMT

Ford and Ram Trucks Gain Market Share in 2009
by Mike Levine

Ford F-Series trucks and the pickups formerly known as Dodge Rams have both gained market share in 2009 at the expense of their competitors, according to 2009 year-to-date U.S. new-vehicle registration data (through September) from RL Polk & Co.

Polk’s data is unique because it reports the number of trucks registered in each state, city and town and organizes the registrations by class. The data is collected from every vehicle dealer in the country. In comparison, monthly sales figures released by truck manufacturers aggregate light- and heavy-duty truck sales into a single number, without revealing class breakdowns.

Polk registrations typically lag the sales data that manufacturers report by a couple months because of the time needed to register each vehicle and to count the actual registrations in each state.

Both Ford and GM separately provided Polk registration data to PickupTrucks.com for this story. While the numbers from both companies were consistent, Polk declined to confirm the numbers.

Although the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 was the best-selling half-ton pickup truck through July of this year, as of September, the Ford F-150 has gained a substantial 7.5 points -- to 30.6% -- of market share (up 35% from 2008) to take the lead, based on Polk’s retail registrations. Silverado had 27.5% market share, a drop of 2.4 share points. The Ram 1500 pickup also grew its market share, gaining 2.1 points to reach 16.7% of the segment.

Detroit’s Japanese competitors have been hurt the most. Toyota Tundra registrations have dropped a hefty 3.5 points to 10.1% market share and the Nissan Titan lost 1.2 points, falling 32%, to 2.3% from its 2008 position.

Chevy Avalanche sales are also on the rocks. The unconventional pickup’s share of the market has fallen 40%, from 3.5% to 2.1%...

Continued @ LINK

Engineers sweat Chevy Volt details

PistonsFan — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:16:14 GMT

Engineers sweat Chevy Volt details

Scott Burgess / The Detroit News
http://www.detnews.com/article/20091...y-Volt-details

Royal Oak -- Even on their days off, the engineers creating the Chevrolet Volt are working.

They're testing, measuring and evaluating what is arguably the most important vehicle in General Motors Co.'s history. They take their work home with them, literally, commuting in the vehicles, strapping baby seats in the back or picking up groceries.

When the official auto show season kicks off next month in Los Angeles, the Volt will play a starring role. On Monday, at Athens Coney Island, a group of Volt engineers talked about the car and how its development is progressing.

A half-dozen of the 75 Volts rolling around North America were lined up in the parking lot. Some had white grease pencil marks noting gaps or other fixes that needed to be addressed. The test vehicles, each costing more than $250,000 to create, are a work in progress.

"We've been through three levels of hardware in two years," said Alex Cattelan, the Chevy Volt's chief powertrain engineer. "The groups working on the second generation and third generation versions are still providing more information to us."

For the record, the extended-range electric Volt already works, though the engineers say they are constantly fine-tuning the vehicle, slated for production next year. Will it be ready?

"Yes," Cattelan said -- barring any last minute problems.

Tom Stephens, GM's vice chairman of global product development, said last month that it was imperative to have the Volt on the road, in part, to further refine the vehicle for the next generation as well as to find more ways to lower the cost -- and the price -- of the vehicle. GM has not announced pricing, but many analysts estimate the Volt will run about $40,000. Three years ago, many outside GM -- and some inside -- scoffed at Vice Chairman Bob Lutz's announcement that the Chevy Volt would be ready for production in 2010.

"I did place a lot of faith in the battery companies, who said they could have them ready," Lutz said of being able to deliver a finished product next year.

He said GM needed something to help show the world it was innovative, environmentally friendly and progressive.

"Three years ago, it was Toyota this and Toyota that, everyone thought only good things about them, and it was because of the Prius," Lutz said, adding that GM suffered in consumers' eyes. "I wanted to overcome the incredible reputation Toyota had with the Prius, and we knew we couldn't do it with just another hybrid."

The Volt was created to change that.

"The bar was certainly set high," Cattelan said.

"But there's no way you can reach that goal if you don't have it." Now they're putting the car through road tests. GM says the Volt can get 230 miles per gallon in city driving conditions. And, when it officially arrives, the Volt will have a top speed of more than 100 mph.

"I got it up to 107 on the test track," said Mark Popilek, the ride and handling engineer. "But we're planning on limiting the speed around 104."

Source: http://www.detnews.com/article/20091...y-Volt-details

WSJ: U.S. Built Cruze To Be Exported, Sold in U.S. Later On

2648562 — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:27:20 GMT

GM To Produce Chevrolet Cruze In US Next Year - GM Daewoo
NOVEMBER 18, 2009, 8:26 P.M. ET

SEOUL (Dow Jones)--General Motors Co. will start making the Chevrolet Cruze sedan in its Lordstown, Ohio plant before offering it for sale in the U.S. in the third quarter of next year, the car maker's South Korean unit said Thursday.

"As GM Daewoo's Gunsan (South Korea) plant cannot meet all the global demand for the Chevrolet Cruze, it is not unusual (for GM) to produce the model in the U.S.," a GM Daewoo spokesman said by phone.

Currently, GM Daewoo produces the Chevrolet Cruze model, which is called the Lacetti Premiere in South Korea, and the previous version of the Lacetti sedan in its Gunsan plant, which has an annual capacity of 260,000 units...

The U.S. plant will also produce the Chevrolet Spark (or Matiz Creative) and the multipurpose Chevrolet Orlando minivan (or MPV7) in 2011, the report said.

GM plans to make a total of 300,000 units a year of GM Daewoo's mainstay models after 2011 to meet U.S. demand, which may have an impact on GM Daewoo's exports, it said. GM Daewoo earns about 90% of its overall sales from exports.

-By Kyong-Ae Choi, Dow Jones Newswires; 822-2198-2236; kyong-ae.choi@dowjones.com

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-...18-715763.html

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I'm not sure if this was reported here, or if it's it's even true.

Future Cop Car Shootout: Chevrolet Caprice vs Dodge Charger vs Ford PI vs Carbon E7

brnwrng — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:03:34 GMT

With police-liveried Ford Crown Victorias such a common sight on U.S. roads, we tend to take them for granted, but automakers aren't. The police vehicle market is good for up to 75,000 sales annually, nothing any automaker would shy away from, especially in this economy. Though Ford commands roughly 75% of the market, several others are looking to capitalize on the death of the Crown Victoria. Here's a rundown of the competition coming in the next few years and how it stacks up.

The Wrap:

Of the quartet, Carbon Motors easily beats the rest in features, but departments that opt for it will pay a higher sticker price, and it won't be available until a year after the competition. Ford, meanwhile, enjoys a longstanding reputation with police forces nationwide, but the Crown Victoria's replacement is almost a complete unknown at this point. Chevy, meanwhile, has a strong case with its big new Caprice, but it's an untested, unproven vehicle that could scare away some fleet managers. Dodge holds an advantage in having its car already on the market and offering more than the Crown Victoria, but its compact size has some departments leery. The game has changed substantially since we last had a cop car shootout, so we'll have to get all the new players together in a few years when they're all patrolling the streets and find out where they stand, but your opportunity to do so is now.

With four strong competitors on or hitting the market, the police vehicle arena is about to get interesting. Suppose you're the fleet manager for a local police force, or even a large state trooper force. Which vehicle would you choose? Do find room in the budget for the feature-laden Carbon, or stick with long-time friends Ford? Is the more compact Dodge right for your jurisdiction, or is the big Chevy the right replacement for your aging fleet of Crown Victorias?

Read more: http://wot.motortrend.com/6591422/fu...#ixzz0XEstcJOP

GM provides update on Volt vehicle and battery development

PistonsFan — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:33:38 GMT

More updates from ChevroletVoltage.com

http://www.chevroletvoltage.com/

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Next Impala Definitely Front-Wheel Drive; Hybrid Version Coming

EJD1984 — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:30:28 GMT

Quote:

Next Impala Definitely Front-Wheel Drive; Hybrid Version Coming

Inside Line sat down with GM Vice President of Marketing and Communications, Bob Lutz, yesterday to discuss a wide range of topics. One of them was the future of the Impala, a vehicle that many had hoped would be reincarnated as the civilian version of the Caprice Police Package.

Lutz said forget it, the next Impala will definitely be front-wheel drive. It will get slightly bigger and add equipment, but maintain good fuel efficiency so it can compete effectively with sedans like the new Ford Taurus.

He also noted that the Impala will be compatible with GM's hybrid technology, so expect a gas-electric version at some point down the road.

Link to Article

2010 Equinox - Exceeds expectations

dindak — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:42:22 GMT

Exceeds expectations

Second Look: 2010 Chevy Equinox LT AWD

Brian Harper, National Post Published: Friday, November 13, 2009

General Motors' salvation will lie not with the Volt but through its mainstream products: cars and trucks that are stylish, drive well and are reliable and price competitive. While I'm waiting with eager anticipation for the upcoming Cruze, I can say that the auto-maker's recent introduction of the Chevy Equinox is a first-class effort -- a well-thought-out-and-executed tinkering of the compact sport-ute/crossover formula.

Actually, compact is a bit of a misnomer, as the built-in-Ontario Equinox is closer in most of its dimensions to models in the mid-sized SUV segment. And this is where the five-seater Chevy plays to its strength -- it's priced like a compact while delivering mid-sized roominess. The new model retains the original's MultiFlex rear seat, which allows the seat to be moved fore or aft nearly 200 millimetres for limo-like rear legroom. With the 60/40-split-back rear seat moved all the way forward, the cargo area offers 31.4 cubic feet of storage.

http://www.nationalpost.com/cars/story.html?id=2220669

AutoGuide: 2010 Equinox Review

nsap — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:35:25 GMT

AutoGuide: 2010 Equinox Review

Unveiled in the midst of GM�s economic crisis, the Equinox is an example that while America�s largest automaker was mismanaged at a corporate level and then finally pummeled into submission by a recession, the folks behind the scenes were finally on the right track.

In many ways it�s finally a serious rival for the Japanese cute utes to contend with, boasting excellent fuel mileage, passenger room, strong build quality and first rate materials, excellent safety equipment and, to top it all off, a great price.

4-CYLINDER DELIVERS SUFFICIENT POWER, EXCELLENT FUEL ECONOMY

So let�s start under the hood. Eager to make advancements in fuel economy, GM has developed two new engines that can be found in the Equinox. There�s a 3.0L direct-injection V6 and a 2.4-liter direct injection four-cylinder (as found in our tester).

We decided to spend some time behind the wheel first before popping the hood and were surprised to find the four-banger. With direct-injection, 182 horses and 172 ft-lbs of torque, there�s more than adequate power, even with a few passengers and their stuff and the six-speed automatic transmission helps in both the fuel economy and power delivery departments. The 4-banger is pretty noisy, but it�s got quite a growl to it, so the resulting noise has a high-testosterone coolness to it.

At first we noted that our tester�s real world fuel economy numbers didn�t match up to Chevy�s EPA quoted numbers of 22/32 mpg (city/highway). Those numbers, however, are for front-drive models, and with our tester being an AWD version; Chevy�s 20/29 mpg rating was spot on. We registered an average of around 24 mpg.

Comparatively, the AWD versions of the Escape, RAV4 and CR-V get 19/25, 19/26 and 20/26 mpg respectively.

To help get those numbers, all models come with an ECO mode button, that, when pressed, upshifts sooner and keeps the car in a higher gear to consume less fuel. Unlike some similar buttons in hybrid cars, ECO mode doesn�t dull pedal pressure or made a drastic reduction in performance.

Given the choice, we could only see opting for the V6 if you need the extra towing capability. Four cylinder models have a maximum tow rating of 1,500 lbs, while V6 models offer more than double that at 3,500 lbs.

Continue reading...

More Updates on Chevy Volt Charge Sustaining Mode

PistonsFan — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:32:14 GMT

Chief Powertrain Engineer Pleased With Chevy Volt�s Charge-Sustaining Mode
GM-Volt.com
http://gm-volt.com/2009/11/12/chief-...staining-mode/

The following was posted by Lyle on GM-VOlt.com:

I had the following discussion with Alex Cattelan who is the Chevy Volt�s chief powertrain engineer. She has a very deep understanding of how the car operates and recently drove in a fleet of integration Volt prototypes through rugged mountains of Knoxville Tennessee.

Do you feel the charge-sustaining (CS mode) experience is now pretty solid and are you pleased with it?
We are definitely pleased with the level of progression we�re at. We are right on track to where we need to be in terms of the next stages of development we need to do to meet our target. Is it commercial right now, no, but that�s why were taking the time to get it to be commercial. Does it have the capability of being commercial, absolutely. We�ve proven that to ourselves.

We just took our leadership through a test drive in Warren (Michigan) and comments are that they cant tell when the engine is coming on or off. Those are the kind of things we like to hear.

You drove the IVs around the mountains of Tennessee. What about those big hills and the generator. It sounded like it drove very briskly powerfully and effortless is that true?
Yes, absolutely. Some of our control capability to utilize the battery, the engine, and the motors and to be able to optimize for high load and low load situations we�ve been working on developing that stuff for the last year and half an I couldn�t tell you how happy I was when I was in Knoxville because that�s when I had the opportunity to see it all come together. A lot of those bits of software all came together on one trip and it was a joy to drive.

So you took it up some steep hills and mountains?
Absolutely. We were in the Cherokee area taking it up through those hills and a lot of situations following it. It was a very touristy area. Following the speed of traffic, absolutely no problem, and where I had opportunities I certainly like to push the limits of the vehicle, and we did on those mountains, and I could not get it to degrade in performance.

That�s in charge sustaining mode?
Certainly in charge depleting, we have no issues because we have battery power, I�ve got it all at my fingertips. Now in charge sustaining we know that the engine power is slightly less than the peak vehicle power but we have controls ways to manage that and to utilize the engine in conjunction with the battery to get a little bit of extra power when we need it, and replenish it back when we don�t.

I know the battery runs down to roughly the 30% level before for the engine comes on. Is that 30% itself the whole potential buffer band?
We certainly don�t utilize the full 30% but there�s a portion of that that we utilize as a buffer.

You wouldn�t go to zero ever?
No. When the engine cannot meet peak load requirements we�ll suck a little bit out of that buffer and as soon as we have a situation when we can, we�ll put it right back in. All the controls that we work do that to optimize not only the driveability but the efficiency as we�re doing it, NVH (noise vibration harshness) as we�re doing it, the total driving experience as well as to protect the battery from a life experience. This is what allows us to give really good warranty life on our batteries as we�re doing I all in a controlled fashion.

Chevy Volt Putting GM's Reputation at Stake?

Mustapha Mond — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:03:13 GMT

Imagine never having to visit a gas station again. That's a distinct possibility with the Chevrolet Volt, GM's answer to standard hybrids like the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight. The latter are "parallel" hybrids that operate by constantly switching back and forth between an electric motor and a regular gasoline engine. The electric motor operates at low speeds around town but requires the gasoline engine for the heavy lifting at highway speeds.

By comparison, the Chevrolet Volt is a "series" hybrid that operates entirely on its electric motor for the first 64 kilometres. It burns no gasoline during that run, drawing power from a 400-pound lithium-ion battery pack that's good for 16 kilowatt-hours (kWh). Current from that pack powers a 150-horsepower electric motor that drives the Volt's front wheels. According to GM's research, more than two-thirds of daily commutes are less than 64 kilometres so that in theory, A Volt owner could drive back and forth to work every day, plug the car in to an ordinary household electrical source overnight (it takes about 8 hours to re-charge the unit) and never visit a gas station again. Furthermore, that overnight charge could cost as little as one dollar.

http://autos.canada.com/news/story.html?id=2189073

2010 Chevy Equinox: Yes They Can

jzchev28 — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:54:02 GMT

Oh, man. There aren't cars like this quite often. These are the sorts of things that you remember for a long, long time. We're not talking life-changing, but this is definitely in the category of significantly memorable. Sitting in that row at the ballgame where they hand the free hot dogs out. Hauling in the biggest fish on the boat. Winning the 50/50 raffle at the basketball game.

We've just returned from a week with the 2010 Chevrolet Equinox and we're happy to go on record as putting it up there with all that good stuff. You might think we're crazy, but it's not difficult for us to get excited about a vehicle like a crossover (that strange union of an SUV and a car). Since nearly every manufacturer makes one these days, they tend to get a lot of attention. But the reality is that most haven't been that inspiring. In fact, GM has been in the crossover game for years, too, but nothing they produced ever came this close.

The Equinox changes all of that.

Not Their Time Of Dying
For all the quantum leaps that GM claimed over the last ten or so years, most of it was simply hot air: products that were incremental improvements relative to the rest of the industry (even if, internally, they were massive improvements over GM's previous model). All of these, save the Corvette and its various performance-enhanced versions, could be described as adequate but never exceptional

http://autos.aol.com/article/2010-ch...-equinox-drive