GM dealers remain in limbo
Posted by Staff (03/12/2010 @ 5:06 pm)
Confusion with dealers at GM is not a good start to reinstatement. What has changed in the last year that GM now needs another 661 dealers? Why did they get rid of them in the first place? Who made the final call to ax these dealers last year?
From CNN.com:
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The 661 axed auto dealers General Motors is offering to reinstate aren’t ready to pop the champagne just yet. They’re still waiting to find out about the terms they’ll have to meet to regain their franchises.
“Initially, we were excited,” said Howard Braunstein, CEO of M&M Auto Group in Liberty, N.Y. “However, I am concerned that GM’s offer for reinstatement will mandate requirements that will be difficult or impossible for many dealers to meet, especially in the 60-day timeframe we were given.”
Read the full article here.
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Ed Whitacre clueless in Motorcity?
Posted by Staff (03/12/2010 @ 1:31 am)
Peter Delorenzo at Autoextremist.com is not feeling the love for GM everything Ed Whitacre.
No one could miss the headline screaming “Whitacre wants more sales – NOW!” on the top of the front page in this week’s Automotive News. And as the story attempted to flesh out Big Ed’s growing impatience with the whole “sluggish sales” quandary that continues to vex GM – and the reassignment and in some cases jettisoning of sales and marketing executives – and after observing the day-to-day chaos that seems to define GM of late, I’m getting the distinct impression that Whitacre still doesn’t have a clue as to what he’s dealing with here in the auto biz.
So I thought I’d give Big Ed a few pointed reminders…
Dear Ed:
I’m sure you’ve figured this out about now, but just in case you haven’t, this business isn’t about consolidating “Baby” Bells, or fixin’ to make deals, or playing phone and cable customers off against each other, either. And it’s not about packaging cable, phone and Internet service into tidy little bundles that people can deal with by the month, at the expense of a competitor you want to bury.
Read the full article here.
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GM to be more youth oriented?
Posted by Staff (03/10/2010 @ 3:21 pm)
Is this the future design of the fabled Corvette? Word has it GM wants a more “youth oriented” appeal with a smaller design for the next gen C-7. Whichever direction or market that they are targeting that is one smooth looking ride!
From AutoGuide.com:
General Motors sees rough waters ahead for the Corvette unless changes are made to the vehicle now. So in an effort to solve any potential issues before they actually become problems, Chevy has decided to look outside America for help.
So what would sort of problems could the incredibly capable American icon have? Well, according to a report in AutoWeek, GM saw a 48 percent sales decline for the Corvette over the last year, while the bigger issue might be that the average age of Corvette buyers continues to rise. Last year, the average age was 54. Chevy believes that in order to combat this issue and make the Vette more attractive to a younger demographic it needs a design change. After all, the car’s performance certainly can’t be in question.
Read the full article here.
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Hundreds of GM dealers could get their stores back
Posted by Staff (03/07/2010 @ 11:59 pm)
Something just didn’t feel right about the way GM and Chrysler planned to shut down their dealers and now we might be witnessing a huge reversal. Stay tuned!
From the Detroit Free Press:
General Motors said today that it is sending letters to 661 dealers that lost their franchises through a dealership consolidation program, which will give them an opportunity to apply for reinstatement.
To qualify, the dealers would need to meet a number of financial requirements, such as having adequate capital to operate and available financing.
“This has been a very, very tough time as the company has emerged from bankruptcy,” said Mark Reuss, GM’s North America president. “It is emotional and it is part of the rebirth as we start the company from a clean slate.”
Read the full article here.
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New no. 1. Ford sales top GM, Toyota
Posted by Staff (03/03/2010 @ 2:30 pm)
New no. 1. Ford sales top GM, Toyota! It’s a whole new ballgame and Ford just won the first inning. Looks like at this point in time Ford has the “right stuff”.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Recall-plagued Toyota Motor reported a 9% drop in U.S. sales in February, but it appears other automakers didn’t gain as much from Toyota’s problems as expected.
Even Ford Motor, which posted strong sales to vault ahead of Toyota and GM to claim the market lead in the U.S., said it didn’t believe its gains were a result of Toyota’s problems.
Ken Czubay, Ford vice president, said the company believes many traditional Toyota customers sat on the sidelines instead of buying a car from another automaker.
Read the full article here.
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GM changing for the better?
Posted by Staff (02/27/2010 @ 11:52 am)
Whatever happens with GM in the future you can’t say they aren’t trying everything they can think of to drive sales now. This new idea appears to be a sound one and I say keep reinventing yourself GM and good things may follow. I can’t help but get the feeling that GM is really changing for the better!
 The trucks left Friday for a 40-factory road show to bring some of General Motors’ newest vehicles to the company’s workers across the country.
It’s part of GM’s effort to give more workers a chance to test-drive the company’s cars and trucks, and possibly lead to new sales for the automaker.
GM sales were up 14% in January, but the company is still rebuilding after emerging from bankruptcy in July.
Vehicles — such as the Chevrolet Equinox midsize SUV and Buick LaCrosse sedan — should arrive Monday at the first stops: GM plants in Arlington, Texas; Shreveport, La.; Defiance, Ohio, and Tonawanda, N.Y.
Read the full article at the Detroit Free Press.
Posted in: Cars, Classic Cars, New Cars, News
Tags: General Motors, General Motors rumors, GM, GM new ideas, GM news, GM rumors, GM sales, GM workers test drive, Headlines
GM bouncing back strong
Posted by Staff (02/24/2010 @ 9:39 pm)
Don’t mess with the General. GM announces the addition of a 3rd shift at Lordstown as the automaker ramps up for the new Chevy Cruze. If this vehicle is a hit GM will be “cruzing” into the Spark launch in the near future.
From the Detroit News:
 General Motors Co. has invested $1.4 billion in more than a dozen plants and created about 5,500 jobs since emerging from bankruptcy court in July.
The investment and job moves are a stark contrast to last year, when GM shed factories, implemented unprecedented production cuts and slashed thousands of jobs in bankruptcy.
GM emerged from bankruptcy with about $50 billion in federal aid.
Read the full article here.
GM could reopen plants
Posted by Staff (02/13/2010 @ 2:59 pm)
There is something going on in the auto industry that seems to indicate a rebounding economy. It doesn’t feel like a rebound out here, but pretty much all of the auto companies are increasing production and now GM is even talking about re-opening shuttered plants! Do they know something the rest of us don’t? We can hope that the auto companies will help lead the economy back from it’s current state of the blues but they still need buyers to make that happen.
From AutoNews.com:
 General Motors Co. is looking to add capacity by bringing shuttered plants back on line using labor-intensive tooling, Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said.
“We are looking at taking an unutilized plant and putting in less-automated systems that you can put in quickly and at low investment,” Lutz said in an interview on Friday. “The downside is more labor cost. But we’ll gladly pay that labor cost to get an additional high-margin unit.”
Read the full article here.
GM brings 1,000 jobs
Posted by Staff (02/09/2010 @ 7:48 pm)
A bit of good news coming to Lansing Delta Township, as GM will bring in 1,000 jobs at the assembly plant. This will ramp up the plant to three shifts Monday through Friday. Maybe GM knows something about the economy and maybe it’s good? Either way it’s an aggressive move that will add to the local economy immediately!
From the Detroit News:
Delta Township — In a throwback to an era when auto plant jobs made Michigan a land of riches, General Motors Co. intends to run its Lansing Delta Township plant day and night, Monday through Friday. GM, which plans to add a third shift at two other U.S. plants, contends it’s a bold step in efficiency; some analysts say it’s a risky move.
Regardless, the hiring of up to 1,000 workers for a late-night shift has created a minor boom in an area long battered by plant closings and job losses. The addition of a third shift in April will include 483 transplants from GM’s Spring Hill, Tenn., assembly plant, which ended production in November.
Read the full article here.
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Chinese auto market passes US market
Posted by Staff (01/13/2010 @ 8:05 pm)
The Chinese auto market passed the US market for the #1 spot in 2009 and now GM might be selling more cars in China than the US real soon. It’s called a global economy and GM appears to understand that!
From CNNMoney.com:
DETROIT (CNNMoney.com) — Chinese consumers bought more automobiles last year than Americans did for the first time. A top executive at General Motors thinks that it won’t be long before it too will sell more cars in China than in its home market.
In fact, Tim Lee, GM’s Shanghai-based president of international operations, said at the auto industry’s key trade show Tuesday that this day could come sooner rather than later.
“We did very very well,” Lee said about the company’s sales in China in 2009. “We don’t intend to stop with what we’ve done. We intend to grow.”
Read the full article here.
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