This spanking new offering from GM appears to be the right car at the right time. This is the car that could put GM back in the minds and wallets of those looking for efficiency, fuel economy and some styling to go with a small car. There has been a lot of hype around the partially electric Volt but the Cruze is the car that can make or break GM with a new generation entering the market for vehicles.

Even though I’m not sold on the styling yet, at 40m.p.g. on the highway and more trunk space than it’s competitors the Cruze has a real chance to be a top seller for the new GM.

From the Detroit Free Press:

Chevrolet has built a better mousetrap. The 2011 Cruze sedan gets better fuel economy than most subcompacts and offers the passenger and luggage space of a midsize sedan.

Those achievements will mean nothing unless Chevrolet convinces customers to check out the Cruze before they buy a better-known model like the Honda Civic, Hyundai Elantra and Toyota Corolla. Years of reliability and fuel-efficiency give those models credibility with small-car buyers.

Chevy can’t match that history. The mousetrap needs cheese.

“Our job is to tell buyers why they have to look at the Cruze: fuel economy, safety, refinement and quality,” said Margaret Brooks, Chevrolet director of small-car marketing.

Read the full article here.

I had to wait a few days before commenting on the so called death of the Chevy name. A memo was leaked from inside GM and it appears the brass in marketing want to move the nickname of Chevy aside and refer to the brand only as Chevrolet. I just said Chevrolet a few times and you know what? It sounds so good that I’m sure GM can add a few thousand bucks to each Chevrolet they produce because it just sounds more expensive. That little Chevrolet Aveo can now easily fetch what a Jaguar would set us back right? Ok let’s get serious here. The nickname Chevy is going nowhere and with the pull back we now are watching from the bigs at Chevrolet they realize it too. Long live the Ford Vs. Chevy wars!!!

From the Detroit News:

GM makes Chevrolets, but people own Chevys.

That’s the message lost in all of the silly name games that hit the fan Thursday.

If you haven’t heard, here’s the short version: GM tried to kill the Chevy name, and the automaker now faces attempted manslaughter charges in the court of public opinion.

The more realistic version is this: A couple of bigwigs — namely Alan Batev, vice president of Chevrolet sales, and Jim Campbell, GM’s vice president of marketing — drafted an internal memo to the marketing team declaring “Chevy” was now a dirty word and to never use it.

Read the full article here.

Between new Cadillac dealers coming back online and strong sales GM will be building more Cadillac SRXs. I can say that of all of the SUV’s on the road today that the SRX is one of the best looking and right sized of them all. Cadillac got it right on the SRX and since it is still a relatively new design (launched last summer) this should turn into a solid profit center for The General.

From AutoNews.com:

DETROIT — General Motors Co. is planning to make more Cadillac SRX crossovers, in part to supply reinstated franchises, a Cadillac executive said Tuesday.

“We have some plans to increase production, but probably not till the fourth quarter,” said Kurt McNeil, Cadillac’s U.S. sales chief, in an interview.

About 500 former wind-down Cadillac franchises are rejoining the fold this summer via reinstatement or arbitration after being prohibited from ordering new vehicles for about a year. GM’s need to restock their lots and the expectation of growth in U.S. light-vehicle demand figure in to the automaker’s plan to increase production.

Read the full article here.

Gas mileage is all the rage now, even in your favorite pick up trucks. Very good to see and we welcome the focus on efficiency! GM is testing new grilles on the big boy trucks and according to the design engineer the new grille works like a flap, with movable louvers, integrated with the grille assembly. Hey, they actually don’t look bad either.

From AutoGuide.com:

With fuel economy still one of the primary buzz words in the auto industry these days, manufacturers are looking to do what they can to boost the mileage of their vehicles. When it comes to light trucks, any savings in gas mileage helps, especially in view of impending CAFE regulations. One method General Motors is seriously looking at, concerns louvered radiator grilles.

Read the full article here.

News flash! Another dumb idea from GM! The brain trust at GM have apparently decided against selling the all new Chevy Orlando in the U.S. because they want to focus on “other” Chevy products??? OK, So GM is calling this new stylish and sensible vehicle a “minivan” and guess what? 1.) GM/Chevy have no minivan for sale in the U.S. 2.) GM/Chevy have no other vehicle with 3 rows that compares to the Orlando 3.) With gas prices likely to rise soon the Orlando (which is off the same platform as the Volt and Cruze will get close to 35mpg on the highway) would be a home run in the U.S.

Oh well, I guess GM/Chevy are happy with losing market share to other companies like Ford and Hyundai so keep one of the better new products to come out of their stable in awhile and sell it basically everywhere but the U.S.

From AutoGuide.com:

The Chevrolet Orlando crossover will not be sold in the United States after all. In an interview with Bloomberg, Margaret Brooks, GM’s product marketing director for small cars and crossovers said that “The best thing to do for Chevrolet is to focus on the brands we’ve already brought to market: the Traverse, Equinox, Malibu and, soon to come, the Cruze.”

Read the full article here.

Is it or isn’t it? Rumors were strong and and judgment passed that the Cadillac Converj was dead and now it shows up in Beijing. That’s right the Cadillac Converj is back into the “still kicking” mode and just might see an assembly line one day in the future. GM needs to build this vehicle as it is one of the sleekest cars on the circuit.

From AutoGuide.com:

Cadillac’s Converj electric car, reported to be dead, has made an appearance at his year’s Beijing Auto Show, sparking speculation that the opulent alternative fuel vehicle is still alive and kicking.

The Converj, which mates the Chevrolet Volt’s electric powertrain with the features and amenities of a Cadillac, can travel about 40 miles on electric power alone, and then uses a gasoline motor for propulsion. The car can be plugged in to recharge its batteries as well. And did we mention it looks awesome?

Read the full article here.

The Beijing auto show is opening and guess who is making a statement there? It’s Buick and if anyone ever wondered why GM kept Buick this show is one of the main reasons. Buick is still on fire in China and it shows no signs of relenting.

From the Detroit News:

Beijing — In China, Buick has a cachet that might surprise many Americans.

The brand struggles with image problems at home, but Buick has been crucial to General Motors Co.’s success in China.

In this market — the world’s largest — Buick attracts the kind of young, wealthy customers that GM dreams of capturing in the United States.

“The average Buick customer is 28 years old, university educated, fast-tracked in his company, with a wife who has a career,” said GM China President Kevin Wale.

Buick is one of GM China’s strongest brands, with sales up 53 percent this year. The automaker is showcasing three Buick models at China’s premier auto show here that feature some of the latest European and American technology: the Excelle XT hatchback, and new Regal and LaCrosse sedans.

Read the full article here.

The jury is still out on the Chevy Volt but news like this will help it’s case. AutoGuide.com is reporting that once the electric charge is used up the Volt will achieve 50mpg with the gas powered engine powering the vehicle. That is very impressive and will be a big selling point for those traveling over 40+ miles per charge.

Remember all that nonsense about the Chevy Volt getting 230-mpg? Well, after the EPA denied coming up with the number and Chevy admitted there was no standardized way to compare the fuel consumption of a range-extended electric vehicle like the Volt with a conventional gasoline vehicle, the whole business died down for a while – or at least it did after Nissan claimed its fully electric Leaf gets 367 mpg.

Read the full article here.

With auto sales starting to come back it feels like the auto bailouts happened some time ago even though it’s only been about a year. Well, According to a recent poll many Americans clearly want the government out of the auto business. The poll states that 48% feel the government has a “conflict of interest”. That should be short term once the government exit’s from their current equity stakes.

From theTruthAboutAutoCars.com:

According to the latest Rasmussen telephone polling [via The Financial], 48 percent of Americans believe that the government’s ownership stake in GM and Chrysler means it has a conflict of interest in regulating competing automakers. 25 percent disagree, saying that the government’s bailout doesn’t affect regulation, and another 26 percent aren’t sure. When it comes to recent criticism of Toyota by administration officials like Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, only 25 percent believe the criticism stems from a desire to help GM, while 38 percent disagree and 37 percent aren’t sure. But the polls most interesting results have nothing to do with politics, and everything to do with perception:

Read the full story here.