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  • Keith Whann
    8:01 am on May 17, 2010 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
    Tags: android, general motors, , , , onstar,   

    General Motors to Offer OnStar on Android Phones? 

    The Wall Street Journal reports the General Motors and Google are discussing a deal that would link cell phones using Google’s Android operating system with the automaker’s OnStar driver information service.  The Journal says that users of Android-based smartphones will likely be able to use OnStar features from their phone while not in their car.  One example, users could get information about their vehicle’s maintenance needs through the Android phone.

    Owners of a Chevrolet Volt (GM’s upcoming plug-in electric vehicle) may be able to use the technology to help an owner keep track of the car’s battery charge from a distance, the paper said.  Partnerships like this are yet another indication of how electronics and in-car information systems are becoming of utmost importance  for carmakers.

     
  • Keith Whann
    3:17 pm on April 28, 2010 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
    Tags: , , dealer reinstatement law, dealer terminations, general motors, ,   

    Chrysler Has Asked U.S. Bankruptcy Court to Block the New Colorado Dealer Reinstatement Law 

    Chrysler has asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to block a new Colorado dealer reinstatement law.  Chrysler has taken similar action against laws of this kind in four other states.  Chrysler is asking the Bankruptcy Court in New York to determine that the Colorado law, enacted last month, is pre-empted by federal bankruptcy laws.  The new Colorado law requires Chrysler and General Motors to offer a rejected dealership the right of first refusal if the company wants to reopen a point in the rejected dealer’s old market. If the automaker already has re-awarded such a franchise, it must offer to reinstate the rejected dealership or compensate it.

    In December, Chrysler filed complaints in the same Bankruptcy Court last December seeking to block similar laws enacted by Illinois, Oregon, Maine and North Carolina.  While North Carolina backed off enforcement of its law in a settlement with Chrysler this month; Illinois, Oregon and Maine are continuing to contest Chrysler’s complaint.

     
  • Keith Whann
    10:28 am on March 28, 2010 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
    Tags: , general motors, , ,   

    General Motors Unveils New Electronic Concept Car of the Future 

    General Motors unveiled a new electric concept car in China, aiming to bolster its image as a supplier of non-polluting cars tailored to the crowded mega-cities of the future.  GM showcased the EN-V, short for “Electric Networked-Vehicle,” in China with its joint venture partner, SAIC Motor Corp.  It will be shown during the World Expo to be held in Shanghai from May through October.

    The two-seater EN-V, which would communicate with other cars to help avoid accidents and ease traffic in congested major cities like Shanghai, is only at the conceptual stage — it would not hit showrooms for another 10 to 20 years, and would require regulatory changes for it to be allowed on roads.

     
  • Keith Whann
    4:04 pm on March 8, 2010 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
    Tags: dealership terminations, general motors, , ,   

    GM Seeks to Reinstate 661 Rejected Dealerships

    General Motors said it plans to reinstate 661 of the 1,160 rejected dealerships that applied for arbitration to get their franchises back, scrapping a nine-month plan to reduce its showroom network by 40 percent. The decision to begin settlement procedures as early as next week stemmed from a desire to avoid the rigors of congressionally mandated arbitration, GM executives said.

    Letters of intent are scheduled to start going out as early as Wednesday, March 10. The process could take just a few weeks for some dealers and as long as several months for others, they said. GM hopes to have the effort completed by mid-summer. “By doing this we save a lot of time and energy and dollars,” Jim Bunnell, GM’s general manager of dealer network support, said during a conference call with reporters. Susan Docherty, GM’s U.S. marketing chief, said the company decided “it would have been impossible to arbitrate 1,100 cases in a 120-day period.” (More …)

     
  • Keith Whann
    3:37 pm on February 25, 2010 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
    Tags: general motors, , Hummer, ,   

    General Motors to Wind Down Hummer 

    General Motors will wind down its Hummer brand after a proposed sale to China’s Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machines Co. Ltd. fell through.  GM said in a statement that Tengzhong “was unable to complete the acquisition.”  Reports have indicated that the company failed to win Chinese government approval of the sale.  GM has said it will honor warranties, provide spare parts and will support service for Hummers worldwide. GM currently has 153 Hummer dealers in the United States.

    The failed deal likely seals the fate of the last of GM’s four unwanted U.S. brands. GM is winding down Saturn after its sale fell through in September. Pontiac is also being phased out. GM yesterday completed the sale of Saab to Dutch niche carmaker Spyker Cars NV.  GM is open to receiving other bids for Hummer as it winds down the brand, the source said. The sale of Saab arose out of a similar situation: Spyker entered a bid after a proposed sale of Saab to another party fell through in November. Many believe the chances of resurrecting Hummer are viewed as slimmer than they were at Saab.

     
  • Keith Whann
    8:23 am on January 12, 2010 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
    Tags: cadillac, , converj, general motors, , plug-in,   

    General Motors will produce the Cadillac Converj plug-in concept car that was introduced at last year’s Detroit auto show according to Vice Chairman Bob Lutz. The two-door Converj uses the same technology as GM’s Chevrolet Volt plug-in electric vehicle, due to be launched late this year. No definite timing for introduction of the Converj has been given, but it has been said it would be after 2012.

     
  • Keith Whann
    12:37 pm on January 7, 2010 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
    Tags: , general motors,   

    At least 100 GM dealerships will be reinstated, Whitacre says
    By: Chrissie Thompson, Automotive News

    DETROIT — Ed Whitacre, General Motors Co.’s chairman, expects at least 100 GM dealerships will be restored in the arbitration process mandated by a new federal law. “I think a large number will get reinstated,” he said today in a meeting with reporters. “I think that’s a given. It’s in the hundreds.” The law, signed by President Obama last month, sets up a six-month period in which dealers can appeal their rejection to neutral arbitrators. Dealers have until Jan. 25 to give notice that they intend to file for arbitration.

    An arbitration judgment must be handed down by June 15. In bankruptcy last year, Chrysler rejected 789 dealerships, while GM said it would wind down 1,350 through October 2010. GM used a “pretty arbitrary” cut-off point in choosing which dealers to reject and probably made some mistakes by cutting some good dealers and leaving some bad ones, Whitacre said. “The way it came out, if you fell above or below a line, you were removed,” he said. “But you had to do it that way. You can’t just go around flipping coins, so you had to have a process.” It was impossible for GM to have a perfect process, he said.

    Arbitration could restore good and bad dealerships, Whitacre said. “The bad thing would be if they’re a lousy dealer that has a lousy storefront and through some process they’re put back in arbitrarily,” he said. “If they’re a good dealer and would really push GM in a classy manner, like we want it done, then it would be really good.”

    Won’t hurt profits
    Restoring dealers won’t jeopardize GM’s profits, Whitacre said. He thinks GM will be profitable in 2010. “You want to be a profitable company, and I think everything else just sort of flows from that — numbers of vehicles, how many fleet, how many in retail,” he said. “We’ve kind of restructured, put our priorities in the right place.” He said he does not feel pressure to take GM public this year. If the company does have an initial public offering in 2010, it would be late in the year, he said.

     
  • Keith Whann
    9:55 am on January 4, 2010 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
    Tags: , Detroit Auto Show, , Fiat, , general motors, ,   

    Detroit Auto Show: An electric cavalcade

    With federal mileage standards rising, automakers next week will show a fresh group of fuel-efficient vehicles at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Ford will unveil the redesigned production Focus, and Honda will show the production version of the CR-Z hybrid hatchback. Toyota and Volkswagen will roll out hybrid concepts; Audi, BMW and Fiat will display electric concepts.

    Show organizers are arranging various electric cars, including one from China’s BYD Auto, in a space on the show floor called Electric Avenue. But high performance will get its due. Judging by vehicles at the show, performance cars and econoboxes will coexist happily in the 2016 model year, when automakers must reach fleet averages of 35.5 mpg.

    At the Detroit show, Cadillac will unveil the high-performance CTS-V coupe, and Buick will show a performance sedan concept. General Motors and Chrysler Group may have replenished treasuries after surviving U.S. Bankruptcy Court in 2009, but their fresh resolve won’t be fully reflected on the show floor. Both automakers have modest unveilings. GM will have one production car: the CTS-V. Chrysler will have none. But Chrysler and partner Fiat are showing some concepts that explore their product planners’ ideas for the next few years. They will show a concept version of the Lancia Delta mid-sized hatchback with a Chrysler grille. They also will show an electric concept of the Fiat 500 minicar.

    By: Charles Child – Automotive News

     
  • Keith Whann
    10:10 am on December 28, 2009 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
    Tags: , , general motors, terminated dealers   

    Terminated Chrysler Group dealers have until January 25th to notify the company of their decision to seek arbitration, according to a letter sent last week to owners of all 789 rejected dealerships. The letter, sent by Chrysler pursuant to the timetable in legislation mandating the arbitration, does not spell out the criteria used to reject the 789.

    Chrysler will outline those criteria in individual letters to dealers that it will send before January 16th, according to Chrysler spokeswoman Kathy Graham. The dealers lost their franchises June 9 at the end of Chrysler’s six-week government mandated trip through U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

    The arbitration process was signed into law December 16th by President Barack Obama as part of a $446 billion appropriations bill. The legislation also affects General Motors which is terminating 1,350 dealerships.

    Spokesman Greg Martin said GM is working on its “administrative next step. We plan to communicate with dealers soon.” The legislation requires that arbitration must be wrapped up in six months. Chrysler said in the form letter last week that it is “assessing its rights and remedies” with respect to the legislation.

    Speaking to reporters at a company event Dec. 17, CEO Sergio Marchionne said restoring some of the large numbers of franchises could “cause havoc within Chrysler.” Earlier in December, Chrysler had proposed its own binding arbitration process to keep Congress from getting involved. But the negotiations ended with the introduction of the legislation. Marchionne said Chrysler’s offer would have “guaranteed a disgruntled dealer the opportunity to air its concern. Having said this, if Congress wants this, Congress gets this. And we’ll live with the consequences and react accordingly.”

     
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