Gmc News

As carmakers turn to the environment as the next tool to market their wares, GM has raised the bar with their Ecologic sticker. It is a step up from the standard fuel consumption stickers seen on new cars in Australia and the US and comes after GM realised many potential buyers want information on what impact their purchase will have on the planet. All 2013 Chevrolets sold in the US will have an Ecologic sticker affixed to the rear driver side window explaining the vehicle's impact on the environment throughout its life cycle. GM North America president Mark Reuss said at last month's Washington Car Show that "customers want companies to be honest and transparent about their environmental efforts and sustainability goals, and rightly so.Putting an Ecologic label on each Chevrolet is just one more way for us to share our environmental progress." The Chevy Sonic that goes on sale in March will be the first vehicle to have the Ecologic labels applied.The sticker shows the environmental impact in three areas: Before the road - aspects related to vehicle manufacturing and assembly. On the road - fuel-saving features such as advanced engine technologies, aerodynamics, lightweight components or low-rolling resistance tyres. After the road - what percentage by weight of the vehicle can be recycled at the end of its lifespan. The data will be verified by Two Tomorrows, an independent sustainability agency that audits companies' environmental initiatives. Holden spokesman Sean Poppitt says there are "no immediate plans" to introduce the innovative label in Australia."As with all GM product and initiatives, we'll look at it to see if it's appropriate for this market and `never say never' as it's a very nice idea," he notes. 

Despite decades of pressure on big engines as emissions and fuel economy legislation squeezes, they're still being made. General Motors today will build its 100-millionth small-block V8 engine - 56 years after the first production small block - that stands as engineering defiance of a global trend to engine downsizing. Chevrolet introduced the small-block in 1955 and the production milestone comes in the same month the brand marked its 100th anniversary. The small-block engine has been used in GM vehicles around the world and is currently found in the Holden/HSV models, Chevrolet, GMC and Cadillac. "The small block is the engine that brought high-performance to the people," said David Cole, founder and emeritus chairman of Center for Automotive Research. Cole's father, the late Ed Cole, was the chief engineer at Chevrolet and oversaw development of the original small block engine. "There is an elegant simplicity in its design that made it instantly great when new and enables it to thrive almost six decades later." The milestone engine being made today is a 475kW (638hp) supercharged LS9 small block - the power behind the Corvette ZR1 - which is hand-built at GM's Performance Build Center, northwest of Detroit. It represents the fourth generation of the small block and is the most powerful engine ever built by GM for a regular-production car. GM will preserve the engine as part of its historical collection. The small block has been adapted throughout the auto industry and beyond. Newer versions of the original Gen I engine are still in production for marine and industrial uses, while "crate" engine versions available from Chevrolet Performance are used in their thousands by enthusiasts to build hot rods. The 4.3-litre V6 used in some Chevrolet and GMC vehicles is based on the small-block, just missing two cylinders. All of these versions contribute to the small block's 100-million production milestone. "This tremendous achievement celebrates an engineering triumph that has reached around the globe and created an industrial icon," said Sam Winegarden, executive director and group global functional leader of Engine Engineering. "And while the small-block's enduring design has proven adaptable to meet performance, emissions and refinement challenges over the years, it has more importantly delivered them with greater efficiency." The engines now feature aluminium cylinder block and heads in car and many truck applications to help save weight and contribute to better fuel economy. Many applications feature fuel-saving technologies such as Active Fuel Management - which shuts down four cylinders in certain light-load driving conditions - and variable-valve timing. And despite the years, they still are powerful and relatively economical. The 430hp (320kW) LS3 version of the Gen-IV small-block is used in the 2012 Corvette and jets it from rest to 100km/h in about four seconds, run the quarter-mile in just over 12 seconds and achieve a top speed of more than 288km/h while achieving EPA-estimated highway fuel economy of 9.1 litres/100km. "The small-block engine delivers guilt-free performance," says Winegarden. "It is the quintessential V8 engine and a living legend that is more relevant than ever." GM also announced this week that the fifth-generation small-block under development will feature a new direct-injection combustion system that will help enhance efficiency over the current-generation engine. "The small-block architecture has continued to prove its relevance in a fast-evolving industry and the fifth-generation engine will build on the performance legacy with a significant advance in efficiency," says Winegarden. GM is investing more than $1 billion in manufacturing facilities associated with producing new small-block engines, resulting in 1711 jobs that have been created or retained. The Gen-V engine is expected in the near future and is guaranteed to have 110mm bore centres which has been part of the small-block's architecture from the beginning. GM started on the V8 following World War II, after Chief Engineer Ed Cole transferred to Chevrolet from Cadillac where he oversaw the development of its premium V8 engine. Cole's team retained the basic overhead valve design that was a staple of Chevrolet's inline-six engine - affectionately called the Stovebolt. It was seen as one of the Chevrolet car line's selling points, reinforcing a message of simplicity and reliability. Cole challenged his engineers to tighten the new engine package to make it more compact, less costly and easier to manufacture. Upon its debut in the 1955 Chevy lineup, the new V8 engine was physically smaller, 23kg lighter and more powerful than the Stovebolt six. It was not only a better engine for Chevrolet cars, it represented a better way of building engines, with a minimalist design that took advantage of streamlined production techniques. After only two years on the market, the small-block began a steady march upward in displacement, power and technological advancement. In 1957, a version equipped with mechanical fuel injection was introduced, dubbed Ramjet. The only other high-volume manufacturer to offer fuel injection at the time was Mercedes-Benz. Mechanical fuel injection was discontinued in the mid-1960s, but the small-block debuted electronically controlled fuel injection in the 1980s and established a benchmark with the 1985 launch of Tuned Port Injection. This electronically controlled port fuel injection system was advanced in its day and its basic design is still used on most passenger cars and light-duty trucks more than 25 years later. The small-block's 110mm bore centres would come to symbolise the compact, balanced performance of the small-block. It was the dimension around which the Gen III small-block was designed in 1997. In 2011, the small-block is in its fourth generation, powering Chevrolet's full-size trucks, SUVs and vans, midsize trucks and the Camaro and Corvette performance cars. The first 4.3-litre (265cu.in) engine in 1955 produced up to 145kW (195hp) with an optional four-barrel carburetor. Today, the LS9 6.2-litre (376cu.in) supercharged small-block in the Corvette ZR1 is rated at 638hp (475kW), making it the most powerful engine ever installed in a regular-production Chevrolet or GM vehicle.

Toyota not only lost top spot for the first six months of this year but the disruption to its production from the earthquake and tsunami saw sales slip by 23 per cent and it trailed the Volkswagen Group into third place globally. GM sales grew by 8.9 per cent to 4.536 million vehicles, ahead of 4.13 million VW products and 3.71 million vehicles wearing a Toyota bade, Lexus, Daihatsu or Hino badge. The strength of the yen is also affecting profits for the Japanese-based carmakers. Nissan this week announced it was aiming to reduce exports to try and limit the impact of the currency. The Wall Street Journal noted Nissan plans to maintain a target of one million cars for the year but is aiming to sell 600,000 of them domestically. That contrasts with local sales of 460,000 for the year ended March 31 (the Japanese financial year). Nissan has the highest export exposure of any of the Japanese carmakers, the WSJ reports, with 60 per cent of its Japanese-built products exported in the first six months of the year. Toyota shipped 56 per cent of its locally built vehicles overseas at the same time, while Honda and Suzuki export 37 per cent and 28 per cent of production respectively. The news is better for the Germans where Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz had record first half results. BMW led the pack with 18 per cent growth to 833,366 vehicles from Audi on 652,970 and Benz on 610,931. Beemers growth has been led by demand for the new 5 Series and X3 models, largely in Asia, a market where long wheelbase vehicles such as Audis A6L and A8L are popular prestige models. The growing global acceptance of Hyundai and Kia products pushed the automotive group into fifth place in the sales charts. The South Korean duo sold 3.19 million vehicles in the first six months of 2011 to post a record growth rate of 15.9 per cent. The popularity of models such as the Sonata, good price and quality competitiveness and sharp improvements in brand image contributed to better sales," a Hyundai Motor Group spokesperson said in a press release.

The long-wheelbase Commodore is already set for Chevrolet police cruiser duty in America and now a civil program is being assessed by General Motors.  If it works it will happen within five years. The potential for a renewed overseas connection for Commodore comes following the collapse of a major export program with Pontiac during GM's bankruptcy last year. The Pontiac G8, based on the Commodore SS, was just starting to make significant sales when it died along with the Pontiac brand. "We want to take a look at re-introducing a civil version as a high- end Chevrolet," the vice-chairman and product czar of General Motors, Bob Lutz, said in Detroit yesterday.  "I'm a great fan of the Commodore rear-wheel drive architecture and we had big plans for it. We were going to bring the ute over as either a GMC ute or a Chevrolet and then it was going to be a Pontiac sport truck, but then sadly the decision intervened to wind down Pontiac. "We are now working with US law enforcement agencies to see about the long-wheelbase Commodore architecture being used as a specific law enforcement vehicle. The police do like rear-wheel drive, they do like lots of power and they like lots of room, and the Commodore satisfies all those needs." The police car program was announced late in 2009 and will begin to ramp-up soon, starting in California, but Lutz said there is more potential in the Commodore.  His news on the Statesman was welcomed by Holden chiefs in the USA for the Detroit Motor Show, although they hinted the luxury plan is more likely to be based on the Calais than the long-wheelbase car. In any case, Lutz again showed his enthusiasm for the Holden engineering work and the Commodore as a car.  It has already been morphed into the Chevrolet Camaro coupe, which is built in North America, with Lutz confirming a right-hand drive version in the near future. The only stumbling block could be the number of cars needed to make the program economical for Australia. Lutz said a Chevrolet version of the Commodore ticks the box with enthusiast drivers.  "When you get right down to it, the thrill of high performance driving is unmatched by anything that doesn't have rear-wheel drive and bags of torque and a nice transmission. That's why the Camaro feels so good. "(So) There is a possibility  of a high-end Chevrolet sedan that would be sold in limited numbers, kind of a premium Chevrolet high- performance sedan. Think of it as a four-door Corvette."  The research work begins soon, just as Holden is finalising a mid-life update and cosmetic tweak for the VE Commodore later this year. Lutz said the timing is right, but warned it would not be a big seller.  "For the police version, and a potential Chevrolet version, we're talking well inside five years.  "The reason we say limited volume and relatively high prices is, with US fuel economy regulations, we can't afford to sell too many."

It will also challenge your skills against the car's autonomous drive systems. Its designers say the concept will actually teach a beginner to drive or challenge the experienced driver to improve their skills. Getting started is easy.Drivers can enter their destination into the navigation application on a smart phone and the car takes care of the rest. It will let you ‘play along’ and try to match the skill level of the system. As you become more proficient, the Car Hero ‘unlocks’ vehicle controls to the point where the autonomous system is overridden and the driver is in complete control.This is where things start to get interesting. As the Car Hero gamer demonstrates skill and mastery, the car's ‘transmorphable’ architecture turns up the intensity by creating a more challenging driving experience.Car Hero's configuration will reward a driver's increasing skills by gradually changing from a four seater, to three seats and then the ultimate challenge, a single-wheeler. Car Hero also has peer-to-peer applications like ‘friends drive’ where anyone can come along for a digital joyride.GM likens the experience to having a Twitter with wheels. For those bored and stuck in peak hour traffic, ‘fantasy drive’ gives the driver access to insane environments such as running with the bulls in Pamplona or taking on ace US rally driver Ken Block in a drifting contest.

GM needed the support of 90 per cent of the bondholders to swing the deal – which would have given them 10 per cent of the auto giant — but reports overnight suggested acceptance was in the ‘single digit’ region.The failure was a serious setback for the carmaker, after United Automobile Workers union leaders recommended their members agree to a deal that would slash GM’s debt to a retiree health care trust fund.Under that arrangement, GM would have given the UAW 17.5 per cent equity in a restructured company, later rising to 20 per cent if the share price improved, with the addition of another US$6.5 billion worth of preferred stock and a US$2.5 billion note.It is expected that GM will make a move before the June 1 deadline for restructuring.         

Vehicles Move the shedding of Hummer, Saab and Saturn forward to the end of this year, with Pontiac gone by the end of 2010. Cut production by 190,000 in the second and third quarters. Dealership network Slash dealerships by 40 per cent to 3,605 from 6,246. Workforce Reduce the workforce from 61,000 to 40,000 – 7000 more than suggested in the viability plan put forward in February. Financial Execute a debt-swap and restructure that positions the US Government as a majority owner of about 50 per cent — in exchange for forgiving half the debt of the $US15.4 billion already loaned to GM, and adding another $US11.6 billion to it. The United Auto Workers union pension fund would own 40 per cent in exchange for half of the $US20 billion it’s owed. Holders of GM’s $US27 billion worth of bonds would end up owning 10 per cent, with the carmaker exchange 225 common shares for each $US1000 principal amount of outstanding notes. If the bondholder approval rate falls short of the required 90 per cent, GM will file for bankruptcy protection, with bondholders estimated to get just 5c in the dollar – a far cry from the 33c tipped earlier this year.

The car was sent to death row yesterday as General Motors put the sword to the whole Pontiac brand in its efforts to survive the global economic crisis. Pontiac will be dead by the end of 2010 as GM focusses its revised viability program on four key brands in the USA - Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC. There is no clear picture yet of how the G8 decision will affect Holden's factory at Elizabeth in South Australia, although its output had already been slashed in reaction to falling local sales of the Commodore and in anticipation of the Pontiac decision. "We will work with Pontiac to manage the phase-out of the G8 through to the end of next year. The announcement has only just occurred so we don’t know what their expectations might be, as the car is currently selling really well," GM Holden spokesman, Scott Whiffin, said this morning. "Notwithstanding the fact that this has only just been announced, we don’t envisage there will be any job losses at Elizabeth as a result of this decision." The bad news on the G8 was balanced by no news of any potential sale of GM Holden. General Motors has talked recently about selling its Opel and Vauxhall divisions in Europe and Britain - in addition to Saab and Hummer - but there was no mention of GM Holden when GM president Fritz Henderson worked through the latest viability plan in Detroit last night. The end of the G8 means GM Holden will shift its focus very quickly to the export potential of its new small car, the Cruze, which goes into production alongside the Commodore next year. The business plan for the car was originally only based on Australian sales but the car - and particularly the hatchback model - will now be pushed as a potential winner for GM outposts in other countries around Asia and also South Africa. It could also join the Commodore in the Middle East, where a version of the VE is sold with Chevrolet badges.

Lutz, a former fighter pilot and Chrysler engineer, was brought into GM to shake the product tree and did a pivotal job at a crucial time.Much of his real work is still to be seen on the road.But Australians can thank Lutz, a fan of the Commodore from the first time he saw one, for helping to forge the export deals for the Monaro and then the VE Commodore. Both went to the USA with Buick badges and the full support of Lutz.GM says Lutz will become a 'senior advisor' on April 1 and will retire at the end of this year, when he will be 77.He has been with GM since 2001 following time with Ford, BMW and Chrysler.Lutz's duties have been handed to Tom Stephens, currently GM's global head of powertrain development and product quality. He is 60 and picks up the product portfolio from April 1. 

Even with my car – not the transport one, the real one – off the road, my Christmas break was still predominantly about cars, and family, the two most important things in life.Not to say I don't like other things as well. They just need to have an engine... or in this rapidly changing era – a motor. The distinction between the two is driven home on all occasions by my father in-law, an electrical engineer.So what does a car nut do in a motor-deprived break? Sorts his magazine and book collection of course... re-organises the book shelves to better accommodate the year’s new additions while trying to allow room for the next. Not an easy job when you have been collecting for over thirty years. The outcome is inevitably hard decisions on what else to archive to the roof cavity. I worry about the weight up there sometimes.Reading the landmark 1000th issue of Motor Sport while enjoying a number of beers, Paul Newman’s obituary stands out, which reminds me that Phil Hill and Paul Frere also passed in 2008 - that’s three of my all time favourite car guys. Hill and Frere, besides being brilliant drivers were great writers.Flicking though a years worth of Motor Sport, F1 and Autosport re-enforced yet again what a soap opera Formula One is. There were literally hundreds of pages written on the wrap up of Stepneygate and the Mosley affair. It will be a good year when Mosley and Ecclestone finally move on. Unfortunately it doesn't look like it is going to happen in '09.Still on motor sport and here in Australia we saw the terrible situation of Mark Skaife and the inappropriate end to his illustrious career.And the motor industry imploded... In the US, GM sales for December where down 23% from the previous year. Honda down 34% and Toyota 15%.Here in Australia Holden was down 11%, Honda 13% and Toyota up 1%. .. I have asked this before... why do we, here in Australia continue to buy Aurions and Camrys instead of Commodores. Toyota - the builder of the world's most boring cars… why why why do you keep buying them. At least TRD disappeared this year and Toyota can now stop pretending they aren't boring. Honda though seem to be the biggest losers, cancelling their F1 program, the NSX, the S2000 replacement, their V8 development and their rear drive platform. Which makes an already boring car company even more boring.On a brighter note there were some highlights; Ford and Lowndes won Bathurst, the F1 season was actually pretty good and the classic car market faired very well with new record sales. Certainly a lot better than the share market anyway.Will 09 be a good one? No - it will just be a year of sorting things out. A quantum shift in the business model and strategy for car manufacturers, significant changes to F1 and who knows what for other races series - manufacturers are dropping support like hot potatoes.Here's to 2010 everyone should work towards making it a good one.