August 27th, 2008 — GM
Retirement deal offered
General Motors Corp. is offering retirement incentives to eligible salaried workers this week as it works to cut nearly 5,000 salaried employees.
The cuts are part of a plan to cut $10 billion in spending and sustain GM until 2010. GM aims to cut about 15% of its U.S. and Canadian salaried workforce.
GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson said eligible U.S. salaried workers this week will receive sealed, individualized offers based on age, years of service and work history. Those workers will then have 45 days, plus a seven-day grace period, to decide whether to accept a buyout, he said.
GM would not detail the structure of the offers, but some salaried employees who were briefed said GM appears to be offering pension payments that are better than those they would normally receive. For example, a worker age 58 is expected to receive a pension payment more like what he or she typically would receive at age 62.
Flint OKs incentives
The Flint City Council on Monday night approved tax incentives to help persuade General Motors Corp. to build an engine plant that will build the gas engine for the Chevrolet Volt range-extended electric car and the Chevrolet Cruze compact car.
Continue reading →
Share This
August 17th, 2008 — GM
GM announced design improvements to the Chevrolet Volt, an electric car set to debut in 2010.
General Motors Corp. has added 6 or 7 miles of range to the Chevrolet Volt through aerodynamically driven design changes to the production-version of the vehicle, the vehicle’s chief designer said.
Speaking at the Management Briefing Seminar in Traverse City, Bob Boniface, the director of design for the Chevrolet Volt and E-Flex studio, said that the automaker has removed 120 counts of aerodynamic drag, or extended the electric range of the vehicle by about 6 or 7 miles.
Continue reading →
Share This
August 17th, 2008 — GM
Al Smith spent the last 12 years filling in the shell of his cherry-red 1957 2-door Chevrolet Bel Air.
And today, it became a part of history, driving in a parade of 100 General Motors Corp. vehicles to celebrate the automaker’s 100-year history at the Woodward Dream Cruise.
“These cars are automotive art,” said Smith, whose wife is a financial manager at GM, which was founded almost 100 years ago – on Sept. 16, 1906.
Continue reading →
Share This
August 13th, 2008 — GM
General Motors Corp. said Wednesday that it has pushed back the closure of an upstate New York powertrain plant to help boost its casting capacity, as the automaker shifts its product lineup focus toward cars and crossover vehicles.
The Detroit-based automaker said in May that it would phase out work at the Massena, N.Y., plant by the end of 2008 as part of a shift toward more precision-oriented manufacturing technologies.
But as a result of a steep increase in consumer demand for smaller vehicles, GM is now delaying the plant’s closure until mid-2009, GM spokeswoman Lynda Messina said.
Continue reading →
Share This
August 13th, 2008 — GM, chevrolet
Current chevrolet Colorado
General Motors is preparing to invest US$445 million (15 billion baht) in a diesel engine plant and production line retooling in Thailand as part of its strategy for growth in emerging markets.
The new plant in Rayong will supply diesel engines for Colorado pickup trucks, taking the place of the local Isuzu diesel engine factory, as GM has divested its holdings in the Japanese automaker.
Slated to begin production in 2010, the plant will make 2.5- and 2.8-litre engines for small pickups and would have a capacity of more than 100,000 units annually. It would initially employ 340 workers.
The 14,492 square-metre facility will be GM’s first diesel engine plant in Southeast Asia. It will be located next to the assembly plant that opened in 2000 and now employs 2,000 people.
GM said the remaining investment would be used for engineering development and retooling of the vehicle manufacturing plant in Rayong as well as production of the next-generation Colorado small pickup for sale in Thailand and abroad.
Continue reading →
Share This
August 13th, 2008 — GM
General Motors Corp. (GM) said Wednesday it will invest $445 million to build a diesel engine plant in Thailand and in upgrading an existing assembly facility.
The plant, which will produce engines for small pickup trucks, is slated to begin production in 2010 and will have an annual capacity of over 100,000 units, the U.S. auto manufacturer said in a statement.
“The 14,492 square meter facility will be GM’s first diesel engine plant in Southeast Asia and will provide four-cylinder diesel engines for use by Chevrolet in Thailand and other global markets,” the statement said.
Thailand is a major regional production center for foreign auto-makers, manufacturing one-ton pickup trucks and sedans for the domestic market and for export.
The engine plant will be located next to GM’s vehicle assembly facility in Rayong province, which opened in 2000 and has a staff of about 2,000.
The assembly plant will be upgraded for production of the new model Chevrolet Colorado small pickup truck.
The diesel engine plant will initially employ 340 workers.
Source:CNN money
Share This
August 6th, 2008 — GM, Opel, chevrolet
General Motors Corp. plans to sell a version of its Volt plug-in hybrid vehicle in Europe by late 2011 and may need sales incentives because of the high cost of the new technology, the automaker’s chief for the region said.
The European version initially will be under the Opel and Vauxhall brands and then later as a Chevrolet, Carl-Peter Forster said in a posting on a GM blog. Chevrolet Volt production is to begin in late 2010 for the United States, he said.
“This assumes that we will continue to attain all of our goals and milestones for the battery and integration of the power electronics,” Forster said in the posting.
Continue reading →
Share This
July 30th, 2008 — Auto Sale Ranking
Volkswagen AG moved ahead of Ford Motor Co. as the world’s third-largest automaker by vehicle sales in this year’s first half, according to figures the companies released last week.
Volkswagen reported a 7.2% increase to 3.31 million cars and trucks, while Ford said its sales fell 11% to 3.09 million.
Ford is headed for another decline in the annual global sales rankings, after yielding the No. 2 spot to Toyota Motor Corp. in 2003.
Ford’s U.S. sales fell 14% as gasoline prices rose above $4 a gallon, crimping demand for large pickups and SUVs. Its figures also exclude Jaguar and Land Rover, sold to Tata Motors Ltd. in June.
Continue reading →
Share This
March 18th, 2008 — GM, chevrolet
General Motors may have been a little slow in capturing the India growth story but it is trying hard to make up for lost time. The company, which lays claim to barely 3 per cent of the domestic passenger car market, is pulling out many stops to script the growth saga: a second small car priced lower than the Spark is under development and if things work out well, low-cost commercial vehicles such as pick-ups and vans would also be sold in India.
The auto giant’s second manufacturing facility with 1.4 lakh unit annual capacity at Talegaon is ready for trial production; a separate powertrain facility is also already in the works.
Continue reading →
Share This
December 3rd, 2007 — Auto Sale Ranking, GM
By TIM HIGGINS
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
General Motors Corp. sales dropped 11% in the U.S. market last month compared to November 2006, the company announced today.
GM’s U.S. dealers sold 263,654 cars and trucks last month.
Bright spots for the automaker include a 40% increase in the Chevrolet Malibu retail sales. The launch of the new CTS helped Cadillac car sales increase 15%.
“Integral to our strategy is to grow our share in the key car segments. The retail performance, especially from the new Chevrolet Malibu and Cadillac CTS, demonstrates the enthusiasm customers have for these outstanding new vehicles,” Mark LaNeve, GM North America vice president for vehicle sales, service and marketing, said in a statement. “The recognition of the 2008 CTS as Motor Trend’s Car of the Year reinforces what we are hearing from customers about this phenomenal car. And, not to be outdone, the new Malibu is flying off dealer lots.”
The three top Japanese automakers all posted small gains in November, giving each a record for the month. Rival Ford Motor Co. also showed a small gain in November — its first increase after 12 months of declines. Chrysler LLC sales declined slightly.
Share This
