Following Toyota's presentation of the first production rear-seat center airbag on the Japanese domestic market Crown Majesta in 2009, General Motors is introducing the automotive industry's first front center air bag, designed to protect the driver and front passenger in far-side impact crashes.
This is not the first time that GM has stopped production at the plant where the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra are manufactured. Even though pickup sales in the US have increased from January until August by 9% to 1.1 million units, compared to the same period last year, GM seems to have badly misjudged demand for its models, resulting in an inventory of 122-days.
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According to automotive statistics website Polk online, in the first seven months of 2011, sales of non-dedicated hybrid models dipped 1.5% compared to last year. Analyst Tom Libby blames the sales slump on the lack of distinct styling; hybrid buyers want their cars to stand out from the crowd.
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A GM representative declined to provide further information, saying that the company will not comment on its future products, however, the most likely candidates for the pickup truck model are the successors to the Chevrolet Colorado or the GMC Canyon.
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Now, with ever-hardening CAFE regulations and overinflated fuel prices, one would think the Small Block’s time had finally come. Not so, according to Mark Damico, GM’s small-block design system engineer.
Though there’s been no official confirmation from GM itself, Mr. Damico swears that the fifth generation Chevy Small Block is currently under development. In fact, Mr. Damico claims that as much as US$890 million is being spent on its development.
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Now, GM decided to formally hire Lutz as an advisor to provide counsel to the senior leadership team of the company.
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According to the UAQ Local 2209 site, the Detroit automaker has cancelled Saturday shifts at its plant. A person familiar with the plan told Autonews that Saturday shifts had been cut in half since the beginning of 2011
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Among other measures is the massive reduction of platforms used by GM brands globally in order to cut development costs and benefit from economies of scale.
“More of our components will be common and more of our vehicles will be on global architectures” said the GM CEO, Dan Akerson.
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For example, the Detroit automaker plans to introduce 8-speed auto transmissions and downsized turbocharged engines in its new pickups, and also intends to fit more models with the eAssist light-hybrid technology.
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The first recall concerns 6,768 units of the Chevrolet Colorado and the GMC Canyon from the 2011MY due to a failure in a transmission clip that may not engage the “Parking” mode even though the driver has moved the lever to the appropriate position. GM’s dealers will repair the faulty automatic transmission free of charge, and the recall is expected to begin on July 19.
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“We will resume production at Shreveport as soon as possible, and at this point, we have sufficient vehicles to meet customer demand,” General Motors said in a written statement.
The Shreveport Assembly in Louisiana produces the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon compact pickup trucks.
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Set to debut at next week's North American International Auto Show, GMC says the concept model is an exploration of heavy-duty truck capability combined with greater off-road versatility. Even if the Sierra All Terrain HD Concept doesn't make it as is onto the road, chances are that it will inspire a future production version. Full HD gallery after the break.
General Motors is recalling close to 100,000 vehicles in two separate campaigns. In a posting with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration [NHTSA], GM said the first recall affects almost 96,000 Cadillac CTS sedans from the 2005-2007 model years over concerns that some of the vehicles have a condition in which repeated flexing of the passenger sensing system mat in the passenger seat may break the connection. The company said that if this occurs, the sensor may not detect the presence of a front seat passenger and will disable the air bag.
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Shorter in overall length than production Sierra HD models, the concept boasts a unique five-foot, eight-inch Crew Cab/short box body configuration with the wheels pushed to corners of the vehicle.
It also features a wider, 73-inch (1,853 mm) track for greater stability and approximately 3 inches (76 mm) greater ground clearance for a total of 21.1 inches (536 mm) at the rockers and 11.8 inches (300 mm) at the skid plates.
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Way back in September, GMC ran four-page ad in People's "Sexiest Man Alive" issue. Nothing special there. However, a part of the ad used Einstein's face on a model's body, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has the rights to his image (which earned $10 million last year)
Now the university is suing GM for $75,000, claiming Einstein's likeness was fraudulently used in the ad. GM spokeswoman Ryndee Carney defends GM by saying the automaker bought the right to use the image from a known firm, and that the ad itself (which only ran in that issue) was created by the Leo Burnett agency.
