general motors

$41,000 Chevy Volt Draws Controversy for Engineering Claims

Filed under: Green

The Chevy Volt extended range electric sedan is critical to the new General Motors that has emerged from bankruptcy last year, and is about to try and sell its initial-public-offering to investors. But as it unveils the car to the media this week, some critics are blasting the automaker for over-stating the car's fuel efficiency and innovation.

GM has long called the Volt an 'extended age electric vehicle." That made it decidedly different from the Toyota Prius and Toyota's and Honda's other full-hybrids. The key difference, GM has said for three years, is that the gas-fed motor in the Volt never directly drives the wheels of the car. The motor in the Volt, GM has said, powers the battery after its charge runs down, eliminating the risk of the driver running out of power before reaching their destination or a recharging station.

But GM executives confirmed this week that the Volt can use the internal combustion motor under its hood to power the wheels. This fact was first reported by MotorTrend.com, which was allowed to test the car for three long drives. The magazine discovered "...when going above 70 mph in 'charge sustaining mode,' and the generator gets coupled to the drive-train, the gas engine participates in the motive force. GM says the engine never drives the wheels all by itself, but will participate in this particular situation in the name of efficiency, which is improved by 10 to 15 percent."

It may not seem like much, but this does fly in the face of what GM officials have been saying for the last three years as it has hyped the Volt as being an industry leading innovation. The fact that the gas-powered motor can directly power the wheels of the Volt makes it much closer to traditional hybrids already on the market.

Gallery: Chevy Volt Launches and Stirs Controversy

Tags: Brad Pitt, Chevy Volt, Electric Vehicles, extended range electric vehicle, fuel economy, General Motors, George Clooney, Nissan Leaf

Continue reading “$41,000 Chevy Volt Draws Controversy for Engineering Claims”

Executives Want Flagship Luxury Sedans for Volvo and Cadillac

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

Remember when buyers looking for a full-size luxury sedan were limited to the German three? The BMW 7 Series, Audi A8 and Mercedes-Benz S-Class held the market all to themselves for many years. But these days the Lexus LS, Jaguar XJ, Maserati Quattroporte, Volkswagen Phaeton and Hyundai Equus are all vying for pieces of the same pie, and both Bentley and Rolls-Royce are making more accessible models. Now it looks like both Volvo and Cadillac could be looking for a slice of the action themselves.

The orders reportedly come from the very top in both instances. In Volvo's case, it's the Swedish brand's new chairman Li Shufu, of Chinese automaker Geely which recently acquired Volvo. In Cadillac's, it comes from General Motors CEO Ed Whitacre. Apparently both executives would like to see their prized luxury brands competing with the very best. And who could blame them?

Tags: cadillac, ed whitacre, geely, general motors, li shufu, volvo

Report: General Motors No Longer Provides Tiger Woods With Free Cars

by Jeremy Korzeniewski (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos, Sports, Crimes and Misdemeanors

According to a report from USA Today (via San Francisco Chronicle), Tiger Woods no longer gets free cars from General Motors. No worries, we're pretty sure Tiger can afford to pay for his own ride anyway.

The news, attributed to Buick spokesperson Dayna Hart, comes as a number of companies like Tag Heuer and Accenture have canceled advertising contracts with the star golfer. GM, though, indicates that the free car agreement was scheduled to end on December 31st and therefore isn't necessarily a result of Woods' November 27th accident outside his Florida home.

Woods hasn't been a spokesperson for GM since the golfer's contract ended in 2008, but the automaker had reportedly agreed to let Woods keep his Buick and Cadillac vehicles for an additional year. As reported on our sister site Autoblog.com, the 2009 Cadillac Escalade Woods was driving (see above) will be repaired and sold.

[Source: USA Today via San Francisco Chronicle]

Source

Tags: Buick, buick enclave, buick tiger woods, BuickEnclave, BuickTigerWoods, cadillac, cadillac escalade, CadillacEscalade, general motors, GeneralMotors, gm, gm tiger woods, GmTigerWoods, tiger woods, tiger woods affair, tiger woods scandal, TigerWoods, TigerWoodsAffair, TigerWoodsScandal

Cadillac Planning Renaissance With New ATS and XTS Luxury Sedans

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

General Motors may be in trouble, but that doesn't mean they don't have a few more tricks up their sleeves, especially when it comes to their luxury division. And so the troubled American automaker, fresh out of bankruptcy and frantically restructuring, has revealed plans for a pair of new Cadillacs to take the fight to Europe's best in pursuit of the lucrative luxury market.

First up is the ATS, a compact luxury sport sedan aimed to compete with the BMW 3 Series and its ilk. Slotting in below the current CTS, the ATS is expected to be available with four- and six-cylinder engines in either rear-wheel-drive or all-wheel-drive set-ups to offer customers their choice of luxury propulsion.

Next up is a full-size luxury sedan dubbed XTS. Replacing both the DTS and the STS model lines, the XTS is said to closely mirror the styling of the gorgeous Cadillac Sixteen concept car (pictured above), only with a more realistic engine in place of the show car's V16 resulting in more reasonable proportions. Expect both new sedans to debut within the next year or two, at which point the likes of BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Lexus had better take notice.

Source

Tags: ats, cadillac, cadillac ats, cadillac sixteen, cadillac xts, CadillacAts, CadillacSixteen, CadillacXts, general motors, GeneralMotors, luxury sedan, LuxurySedan, xts

General Motors Cuts Back On Jets

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

General Motors has announced that they are paring down their corporate jet fleet. General Motors started this year with seven jets in their corporate fleet but the Detroit News reports that they turned in two in September and plan to jettison two more as a result of drastic cutbacks in travel expenses. The Big Three automakers all faced angry words from lawmakers on Capitol HIll when their CEOs flew in on private jets to ask for federal aid. Regulatory filings reveal that General Motors spent 256,793 on personal use of the company's aircraft by CEO Rick Wagoner, Chief Operating Officer Fritz Henderson and Vice Chairman Bob Lutz,. Ford spent $752,203 last year on CEO Alan Mulally's personal use of the company's aircraft using the jet for all business and personal travel for security reasons. Ford also spent $29,107 last year on first-class commercial airfare for Ford Americas President Mark Fields' to fly to and from his Florida home. Chrysler doesn't own any corporate jets but leases or charters planes per trip as needed and says they try to fill the jet whenever possible including giving children rides to Detroit hospitals from other cities. The corporate jet has been seen for years as a necessary perk for CEOs who frequently travel but like lavish holiday parties, luxury boxes at sporting events, and corporate retreats, the private jet now serves as a symbol of greed and foolish expense.

Source

Tags: ceos, general motors, GeneralMotors, private jets, PrivateJets

Russia's Richest Man to Buy Hummer from GM?

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

Oleg Deripaska (right), 40, the richest man in Russia with a fortune of $28 billion and the 9th richest man in world (Luxist fave Roman Abramovich is #15), has reportedly held talks with General Motors about acquiring their beleaguered Hummer division.

As my colleague Deidre Woollard reported last month, Hummer is in financial trouble in the wake of the oil and gas price explosion, with sales of the SUV having tumbled some 40 percent through June. Ailing GM has announced plans to unload the brand, and Deripaska, whose company Russian Machines recently acquired a major stake in Canadian auto parts manufacturer Magna International, is a natural buyer.

In the wake of the reports, Russian Machines issued a statement saying it was "not strategically interested in such a deal", which sounds to us like a non-denial denial. We would hardly expect him to invite counter-offers by publicizing a planned acquisition before the deal is signed. This past New Year's Eve Deripaska paid Barbadian signer Rihanna $500,000 for a private 40 minute performance for his friends.

Tags: General Motors, GeneralMotors, GM, Hummer, Oleg Deripaska, OlegDeripaska, Rihanna, roman abramovich, RomanAbramovich, russian billionaires, RussianBillionaires, SUV

Hard Times For Hummer

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

For years, the Hummer from General Motors has been a symbol of American exuberance. The beefy road-dominating car was a freeway favorite for its spacious interior even spawning a whole fleet of Hummer limos. But with gas and oil prices at all time highs, the brand is in big trouble. In an article in the Baltimore Sun, new figures from Autodata show that sales of the SUV are down 40 percent through June. The Hummer has the dubious honor of being the worst selling car brand in America right now. Hummer owners are also facing increasing scrutiny from the more environmentally-minded drivers who see the car as a vehicular affront to green values.

Still, there will always be Hummer fans. Those who are very tall and those who have money to spend on big cars with low gas mileage such as professional athletes will always have room in their garage for this car. The Hummer's brash masculine style still drives people to showrooms but the recent economic woes have weeded out those who are not hard-core enthusiasts.

Source

Tags: autos, cars, general motors, GeneralMotors, hummer

Say Goodbye to the Hummer H1

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

The Hummer H1 is being discontinued by General Motors this year, which means that the last ones will be built in June. The car was the cornerstone of the Hummer brand, and though the company has sold 12,000 of the $140,000 (base price of $106,000) vehicles since they were introduced in 1992, spokespeople say that they plan to focus on models that will have a broader appeal. GM reps also noted that rising gas prices didn't impact their decision because their customer base for the massive SUV isn't comprised of people who typically worry about that sort of thing. They do, however, worry about more luxury options, which is where GM will be taking the brand.

Source

Tags: discontinue, general motors, gm, hummer, hummer h1, suv