In the wake of last week’s bruising hearing on Capitol Hill about the safety of the Chevrolet Volt (which itself followed an investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that concluded plug-in vehicles do not “pose a greater risk of fire than gasoline-powered vehicles”) former General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz has written a column for Forbes that strikes back against the media (especially conservatives) who are attacking the car he thought would be one of his most important legacies.
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The mid-size pickup truck segment should get a much-needed shot in the arm when the global Chevrolet Colorado reaches our shores in the near future. We’re not exactly sure when the Colorado will be built and sold here, but thanks to its 2011 reveal we have a good idea of what it will look like. We also don’t know any specs for the North American model, and we haven’t received confirmation whether a GMC variant will follow to replace the current Canyon model. Read More »
Cadillac is gunning for BMW. The company’s recently unveiled ATS is a clear shot across the bow of the German automaker’s 3 Series, and Bloomberg BusinessWeek reports the small sedan may be the first of a larger product offensive. Kurt McNeil, vice president of sales with Cadillac, said the luxury brand is currently looking into the possibility of a small CUV designed to lure in BMW X3 buyers. The vehicle would be smaller than the current Cadillac SRX, which saw an 11 percent increase in sales last year.
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The numbers are officially in for 2011, and once again, Ford, General Motors and Chrysler sold more pickup trucks than any other model. The Ford F-Series was the top-selling vehicle through November of last year with 516,639 units rolling off of dealer lots. That number handily trounces the Chevrolet Silverado in second place with 367,343 units sold. The Ford Escape and Ford Fusion fell into third and fourth places, respectively, leaving Ram Trucks to fill out the top five domestic automaker-built vehicles, with 218,750 units. Read More »
‘Tis the season for thin news cycles and cheesy top ten lists. Yahoo! Finance has thrown its hat in the top ten ring with its list of the biggest flops among all consumer goods introduced for 2011. Both the Fiat 500 and Chevrolet Volt have made it among the chosen few, rubbing elbows with such luminaries as Netflix’s Qwikster and Disney’s Mars Needs Moms. Read More »
Four of General Motors’ full-size truck plants, three of them in the U.S., will go intermittently silent for a total of 21 weeks in order to retool for 2013 model year production. The Fort Wayne, Indiana and Flint, Michigan plants have both been in the news lately as recipients of multi-million dollar investments for just this purpose. Read More »
GM may have designed the Chevrolet Volt to cancel out potential “range anxiety,” but the company is responding to a new type of worry today: fear that the Volt’s battery will catch fire.
* The problem? A Volt that had been crash tested in May caught fire three weeks after the crash conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. This was revealed in early November.
* The cause? A ruptured coolant line in the battery, which prompted a new safety investigation that was announced this past Friday.
* The solution? GM’s just-announced free vehicle loaner program and more tests.
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