Make sure to check back to FastLane this weekend for all things North American International Auto Show. We’ll post all of GM’s press conference videos right here, so stay tuned. And make sure to visit FYI on Saturday night for…
You might remember the Buick Riviera Concept that we wrote about last year here on FastLane. The Riviera will be at the North American International Auto Show this year, so if you’re going, make sure to check it out….
Troy Clarke, GM North American President, met with a group of bloggers at this month’s New York Auto Show to discuss the latest offerings from Chevrolet, including the new “triplet” vehicles, as well as the Volt. Troy shares his thoughts…
By Larry Burns
GM VP-Research and Development and Strategic Planning
At the Shanghai Motor Show today, GM unveiled the next iteration of our E-Flex electric architecture, this one configured with a hydrogen fuel cell system.
This is the same architecture that we debuted in the Chevrolet Volt electrically driven vehicle at the Detroit show in January. While that vehicle was battery-powered and fitted with a small biofuel engine powering a generator to charge the batteries, what we showed today features our fifth-generation hydrogen fuel cell system that, together with a lithium-ion battery, results in a range of about 300 miles. And that’s 300 miles of completely petroleum-free and emissions-free driving.
By Bob Lutz
GM Vice Chairman
First of all… let me lay one rumor running rampant through the blogosphere to rest: I have no plans to retire… not June 1, nor any other time soon. This was clearly an Internet prank gone hopelessly awry — and not a very clever one either.
Second, let me say one thing about all the posts some of you have left asking about the Park Avenue or one or more of the Chevy Triplets coming to America. You know better than to think we can respond to that, don’t you? We don’t like to use standard-issue corporate-speak here, but if we have to, here goes: We don’t discuss our future product plans.
There. Sorry I had to do that. But rest assured, we appreciate the enthusiasm and exuberance these vehicles inspired among so many of you, and if and when the time comes when we have an announcement to make about any of them, you’ll be among the first to know.
We caught up with Ed Welburn and Dave Lyon, GM Director of Design for the Asia-Pacific region, during the New York Auto Show. Both Welburn and Lyon had discuss the small size of the new Chevy concept cars — the…
By Bob Lutz
GM Vice Chairman
Press days at the New York Auto Show have concluded, and GM enjoyed another successful show — it’s been a great time on the circuit for us thus far this year.
I must say I share Chevrolet general manager Ed Peper’s enthusiasm about Chevy’s “triplets”… the trio of small car concepts we unveiled in New York. I’m excited both about what they represent for the brand and about what they say about GM’s global product development system.
All three concepts were done by our design studio in Inchon, South Korea. One of GM’s 11 Global Design Studios, the Korean facility houses our experts in small car design and development. The triplets are based on GM’s global mini-car architecture, and they demonstrate the flexibility, creativity and innovative focus of design in GM’s Asia Pacific region.
The Chevy Beat, Trax, and Groove By Ed Peper General Manager, Chevrolet What an exciting year we’ve had here at Chevy! I could spend a whole post just talking about all the great stuff that Chevy’s already done this…
By Bob Lutz
GM Vice Chairman
The travel schedule for March is heavy, but I thought I’d check in with some news from Europe.
The Geneva show was another good one for General Motors. Among other introductions, we unveiled two sporty Opels that made a splash: the Opel Corsa OPC and the Opel GTC Concept, both great indicators of the current focus and direction of Opel Design.
We also showed, for the first time in Europe, the all-new Cadillac CTS, first unveiled at the Detroit show in January. In fact, Cadillac made a lot of news last week. We took the wraps off an all-new 2.9-liter, 250-hp diesel V6 that will be used primarily in Europe, and will be introduced in the Cadillac CTS in 2009.
In what is fast becoming an auto show tradition, Bob Lutz sat down with fellow bloggers for a question-and-answer session. Here are the highlights. -Bill Betts, GM Blogs Manager…
By Bill Betts Manager, GM Blogs Recently PodTech.net’s Matt Kelly had a chance to chat with Saturn General Manager Jill Lajdziak on the unveiling of the 2008 Saturn Astra at the Chicago Auto Show. Jill gives Matt a tour of…
By Bill Betts GM Blogs Manager The Chevrolet Volt “…is not hype…we’re going to get there…,” says Chevrolet General Manager Ed Peper at the Chicago Auto Show. Peper talks optimistically about plans to develop the Volt concept vehicle into a…
By Bob Lutz
GM Vice Chairman
Before the week ends I wanted to say just a couple of quick things about the Chicago Auto Show, which was, in a word, excellent. For GM, that is.
I arrived just as Jill Lajdziak was introducing the new Saturn Astra. When the press conference ended, the car was mobbed. And the reaction seemed to be overwhelmingly positive, for both the three-door and five-door models. It was great to see.
By John Larson
General Manager, Buick, Pontiac, GMC
I think that most auto enthusiasts agree that it takes three basic characteristics to make a great performance car: great power, great handling and great looks. It’s a timeless formula and, looking back through our history, one that the very best Pontiac cars have followed.
It’s also the essential DNA that we strive for with modern Pontiacs. The Solstice GXP is a great example of how to blend power, performance and design into a vehicle that stirs the passion of drivers and spectators alike.
Take a look at the reveal of the Pontiac G8 at the Chicago Auto Show. -Alicia Dorset, blog editor…
Take a look at today’s introduction of the Saturn Astra at the Chicago Auto Show. -Alicia Dorset, blog editor…
The Chevy Volt is a new electric concept car from General Motors. It’s designed to go up to 40 miles on a home plug-in electric charge. Since many people drive less than 40 miles a day, it’s possible they would…
Last week at the NAIAS, Bob Lutz spoke with a group of bloggers after the reveal of the Chevy Volt. Bob spoke freely about the technology needed to bring the Volt to life. And the bloggers took special advantage of…
By Beth Lowery
GM Vice President, Environment and Energy
Wow — what a great response!
I’ve been really happy to see all the comments generated by my recent post about the new Chevy Volt. What makes it even better for me is that the conversation across the blogosphere has been overall pretty positive, even among groups that have typically been very critical of GM.
In addition to the great blog discussions, I was thrilled to see that traditional media really ran with the Volt’s story, too. In fact, among traditional media, the Volt generated more than twice as many stories as the wildly popular Camaro concept did when we revealed it a few years ago.
By Bob Lutz
GM Vice Chairman
Media preview week of Detroit’s North American International Auto Show has come to a close, and as you probably know, it was a very good week for General Motors.
So what does that mean? Well, let me start by saying what it doesn’t mean. It doesn’t mean we’re going to trumpet our success and then rest on our laurels. It doesn’t mean the turnaround is complete. It doesn’t mean we’re exactly where we want to be — yet.
We’re going to continue doing exactly what we’re doing, and do it even better. We’re going to enjoy the success we had this week, use it as validation that we’re headed in the right direction, and consider it a motivator to do more.
We couldn’t have asked for a better official start to the week, with Sunday’s clean sweep of the prestigious North American Car of the Year and Truck of the Year awards. These awards are voted on by a broad jury of the continent’s top automotive journalists. For them to select the Saturn Aura and Chevy Silverado for top honors among a field of extremely tough competition is gratifying, to say the least. Our reaction was one of joy, and yes, a bit of vindication, but mostly gratitude, because it’s really a testament to the hard work and talent of the entire GM team that created, built and marketed those two vehicles.