$30 billion is gone, but it could have been worse

This was a bad year for both the auto industry and the American taxpayer. The Obama administration’s effort to save General Motors and Chrysler will cost taxpayers $30 billion. The Detroit News reported last week that the losses were less than expected. Earlier forecasts projected a loss of $44 billion of the $82 billion loaned-out.

GM received $50 billion of the money, with $43 billion given in exchange for 61 percent of the company.
A large portion of the $30 billion loss is due to Chrysler. Chrysler has had much of its $12 billion debt forgiven. The government is requiring Fiat to pay back $6 billion in loans before it can increase its 20 percent stake in the company, said Detroit News.

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General Motors announced last week that it is looking at ways to reduce energy and water use, by turning to renewable energy at all of its manufacturing plants. The company also said it plans to make fifty percent of its 160 manufacturing operations landfill-free by the end of 2010.

With Earth Day happening this week, this announcement by GM is a wise move at exactly the right time. With GM struggling to rebound after getting hit hard by the economy and unpredictable fluctuations in the prices of gas, the carmaker is taking a proactive approach to being green.

GM is already a very solar-power friendly company– it’s plant in Zaragoza, Spain, has the world’s largest rooftop solar photovoltaic power installation. It covers about 2 million square feet of roof at the plant with about 85,000 solar panels. The company has two of the largest solar power installations in the United States–in Rancho Cucamonga and Fontana, California.

GM’s plants did metal scrap sales of more than $1 billion last year, and recycled 17,000 tons of wood, 20,000 tons of cardboard, and 4,000 tons of plastics

Ever since I was a kid, American car companies in general, and GM in particular always seemed to be whining about one thing or another. To hear them tell it, it would be the end of the company if the government mandated seatbelts & safety glass (‘they’ll think our cars aren’t safe!’) or, like in the early 70s, when the first emission regs came into being (‘American’s don’t want small cars! We can’t make cars that are clean and give performance!’), and yet outfits like Toyota and Honda were able to do both. Another thing you’ll notice about GM is that at the end of the war, they were THE preeminent manufacturing concern on the planet; the #1 industrial company on the planet AND the largest automaker in the world. Yet despite having access to resources and engineering talent that were the envy of every other car manufacturer out there, Read the rest of this entry »

Finally some good news (sort of) from General Motors. It looks like Saturn, one of the GM divisions most often mentioned to be on the chopping block, might actually be spun off into its own independent company.

Last week General Motors said that Black Oak Partners along with other investors and a group of Saturn’s dealers are interested in buying the firm’s Saturn division. Black Oak Partners is a private equity firm, but GM has remained silent on who the other investors might be.

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By Kurt Gensheimer

The only thing more nerd-herdy than a gaggle of Segways touring the streets of New York City manned by touristas donning cockeyed helmets a size too large, is a sea of two-seater Segways navigating the streets of New York City as legally registered automobiles. You heard right, a Segway car. GM and Segway today announced a partnership that will not only potentially help ease urban congestion, but will also help make undeniable dorks out of each and every person who buys into the concept.

Dubbed the PUMA (Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility) Project, the partnership between GM and Segway is focused on achieving an urban-focused, renewable energy-powered, zero emissions vehicle which is safe, always connected (through OnStar), affordable (perhaps), fun to drive (debatable), and the biggest befuddler…FASHIONABLE?! About as fashionable as a pair of black orthopedic shoes, perhaps.

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Uh-oh, this is bad, and looks like terminal news for what once was General Motor’s supposed harbinger of the way it world work in the future. GM product kingpin Bob Lutz intimates that Saturn is on its way to meet up with Ford’s Edsel and Kaiser’s Henry J in the great auto graveyard in the sky.

Says Maximum Bob, “We spent a huge bundle of money in giving Saturn an absolutely no-excuses product lineup, top to bottom. They had a better and fresher lineup than any GM division, and the sales just never materialized. So we have to act on that. It’s our duty.”

Which is another way to say, “it’s over”.

Which is sad, because initially, Saturn DID look like a good way to future success for GM. Everyone, it seemed, had great things to say about Saturn dealerships, and the whole experience of buying one of their cars, but in between there and now, something happened. For whatever reason, Saturn sales dropped, and dropped more than other GM divisions. And what was called “the Saturn dealer experience” turned sour for some. A lot of people went in to Saturn expecting not only the car-buying event to be different, but the car to work better than it actually did. It wasn’t, and so, we find ourselves where we are: looking at another funeral invite.

Source: Edmunds

Today we have hit a major milestone. 10,000 people have signed up on our waiting list, expressing their desire to buy a Chevy Volt. This site was started on January 12, 2007 in response to GM unveiling the Chevy Volt five days earlier. It was my intent to create a place where like-minded people interested in driving this car could convene to observe and discuss the development and eventually create an ownership community. Read the rest of this entry »

DETROIT – General Motors will introduce several vehicles among its Cadillac, Saab and Saturn brands at the 2008 North American International Show. GM’s NAIAS portfolio emphasizes design and technology that deliver capability and performance while reducing environmental impact. The show opens to the public on Jan. 19. Read the rest of this entry »

Extended-Range Electric Vehicle Will Electrify The City By The Bay

LOS ANGELES – December 10, 2007 – General Motors’ extended-range electric vehicle concept arrives in San Francisco on Thursday, providing a rare, up close preview of the highly-anticipated Chevy Volt. The vehicle will be on display at some of the Bay Area’s famous locations including Fisherman’s Wharf and Union Square from December 13 through December 18. San Francisco is one of only four U.S. cities to host the Chevy Volt around town, providing an opportunity for locals to see the car of the future.

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Racing legend Rod Hall earns 19th career win in 40th Anniversary race

DETROIT – Team HUMMER once again demonstrated the inherent off-road capability of the HUMMER H3 as Rod, Josh and Chad Hall piloted their stock class H3 Alpha and H3 nearly 1,300 miles to become the first stock class vehicles to finish the 2007 SCORE International Baja 1000.

The 2007 Baja 1000 marked the 40th anniversary of the grueling off-road race and covered 1,296.39 miles from Ensenada in Baja California to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, Baja California Sur. It ran from November 13-15, 2007.

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