Many people choose their car because it is an extension of themselves, their personality, their style and their passion. These folks tend to forge a deep attachment with their automobile, an inanimate object void of emotion. Despite that fact, a vehicle has wants and needs of its own, and some can be more demanding than a small child. As with any parent, there are curious automobile owners who often wonder, where did my baby come from? Recently 134 Chevrolet Cobalt fans got the chance to find out.
Back on September 27th, GM opened up the Lordstown, OH plant for 85 lucky owners and their guests. It was a rare chance for many to view the inner workings of an automotive assembly line, without a need to join the UAW. Event attendees received a full facility tour, on site lunch meet and greet, and of course freebee swag. Not surprisingly, the majority of the Cobalt fan base stemmed from the website CobaltSS.net.
The SS is about the only Chevy compact that can muster up an emotional following, as evident in the video of John Heinricy tossing the 2008 model around the Nurburgring. The turbocharged ECOtech powered econo car is just one of the models currently produced at the Lordstown plant. The massive facility is also slated to make the Cobalt replacement, the Cruze. Check out the gallery below to view photos from the event.
With GM facing well-publicized challenges -- along with just about everyone else who needs a little thing called money -- certain high-profile and expensive programs are crowding up on the back burner. Even America's sports car, the Corvette, is not exempt, with CAFE regulations clouding the view inside the 'Vette Nation's crystal ball. Motor Trend, commenting on the C7 Corvette's delayed arrival, has said that the new coupe won't appear until the 2014 model year at the earliest. The mid-engined route has also been scrapped, since it would simply cost too much to re-engineer the entire car for the purpose of easier integration of fuel saving tech like cylinder deactivation.
That means a six-cylinder is still being talked about -- by GM outsiders only, at this point -- as an option for the C7. If we take the Camaro as an example, that 2014 introduction date could mean late 2012, but that still only gives you four years to mentally prepare for a budget- and economy-minded V6 Corvette. Get cracking.
Posted Oct 7th 2008 1:59PM by Chris Shunk Filed under: GM
One thing's for sure, General Motors is not very good at playing the real estate market. Last May the world's biggest automaker finally bought its world headquarters in downtown Detroit called the Renaissance Center for the sum of $626 million. It had initially bought into the complex of seven buildings back in 1996 for $75 million, but had continued leasing office space there until the purchase earlier this year. Here we are not five months later after the purchase and GM is reportedly considering selling the RenCen to raise $500 million fast.
Rather than selling the RenCen at a loss, the preferred plan reportedly would be to mortgage the property to one or both of Detroit's pension funds to the tune of $500 million, but seeing as they're both already heavily invested in downtown Detroit property, that's not likely to happen.
GM's ultimate goal is to quickly raise $5 billion by selling any non-essential assets, including things like the RenCen, HUMMER and its medium-duty truck business. If the RenCen were sold, GM would forego working out of a cardboard box by going back to leasing the office space it's currently using.
Click above for high-res gallery of the 2008 Chevy Corvette Z06
I received an Indy 500 poster on my birthday in 1986 that featured a Yellow C4 Corvette pace car leading the pack. My dad hung the poster above my bed, and I can honestly say that I stared at it every night for years. The Corvette was my dream car for my entire childhood, but as an adult I turned my attention to European rides like the Porsche 911 and the Ferrari 360 Modena.
When the C6 Corvette hit the scene for the 2005 model year, the Bow Tie brand's halo vehicle again had me pining for some General Motors muscle. GM gave the base Vette the same 400 horsepower as the C5 Z06, and I figured it was all the power I could ever want. That is, until the 2006 Z06 came along. The Z06 was kicking ass on the track and in enthusiast magazines, and it was toppling competition that far exceeded the Corvette's $70,000 price of entry. We never had the Z06 in the Autoblog Garage, so we were more than happy to take it off Chevy's hands for a week. Hit the jump to see if the Z06 met our lofty expectations from childhood.
Leasing is down industry-wide by about 50% from 2007 levels, but General Motors' captive credit arm took an even bigger bite out of its vehicle leasing in September. GMAC leased only 2% of all GM products in September, and the decision to do so had everything to do with the recent events of the financial markets. While leasing was down GM-wide in September, GMAC and Chevrolet were hit the hardest. The General's two volume brands accrued only .6% and .7% of its sales through leasing, compared to 11.2% and 13.6% respectively last year. Leasing is virtually non-existent for vehicles with low residuals, and Cadillac, which typically leases over 40% of its vehicles, leased at an 8.4% clip last month.
Nobody on Wall St. is purchasing securities right now, giving GMAC very little money to offer leases to its customers. A controlling interest in GMAC was purchased by Cerberus well before the private equity firm took control of Chrysler. Chrysler stopped leasing all together on August 1 in response to the huge losses it took on returned leases of SUVs and trucks. Both GM and GMAC say the break from leasing is only temporary, but with the financial markets still in flux, don't expect this trend to reverse itself any time soon.
You know what they say: "Buy low and sell high." General Motors stock closed at $9.45 on September 30, which is 78% below its 52-week high of $43.20. That little piece of news, coupled with GM's enormous financial losses and declining sales, makes stock in the 100-year-old company sound like a bad bet, but employees don't agree. The low price of GM shares has lead workers to snatch up all available employee purchasable stock, which is capped by volume in the company's two 401(k) programs. As a result, GM employees can no longer buy stock in the automaker through the company. Because of the share freeze, GM executives are also not allowed to buy, sell or trade any of the company's stock during this time due to the Sarbanes Oxley act. To obtain more employee purchasable shares for its 401(k) program, GM has to register more shares with the SEC, which is expected to happen on November 9.
Click above for high-res gallery of the 2010 Chevy Camaro
The highly anticipated 2010 Chevy Camaro is now only a few months from hitting the showroom floor, and we're just getting the final scoop on standard and optional content that will be available for all five Camaro variants. Customers wanting to order a Camaro can choose from LS, 1LT, 2LT, 1SS and 2SS models, and standard and optional equipment varies greatly between each package. The base model LS comes equipped with OnStar, 18-inch rims, and a 300-hp V6 engine, and the only optional item is floor mats. The 1LT package includes optional 19-inch rims, a Boston Acoustics sound system and a sunroof. The 2LT gets standard 19s, the sound system, leather seats, ambient lighting and Bluetooth and USB connections.
If you want your Camaro to include a 422-hp V8, you'll need to step up to the SS. The 1SS package includes standard 20-inch rims, four-piston Brembo brakes, a limited-slip differential and engine and transmission cooler. Options include polished aluminum wheels, a sunroof, and the upgraded sound system. The 2SS model adds all the standard features of the 1SS package and the 2LT package plus options including dual rally strips, a sunroof, and the Inferno Orange Accent interior. All trims except for the LS model have the option of adding the RS package, which gets you 20-inch rims, HID lamps, a spoiler (for the LT model), a Midnight Silver paint finish, darkened tail lights, and body colored molding.
Camaro sales may still be a few months away, but you'll be able to order yours at a local dealer beginning October 13. The complete list of standard and optional equipment is available for your perusal after the jump.
Click above for high-res gallery of the Chevy Cruze LT
The Chevrolet Cruze is three kinds of car: small, American and important. And with the state of General Motors, it isn't even the individual words that mean the most: it's whether The General can combine them into a reliable, fuel efficient and cost effective package. True, we don't get to drive these things while they're parked under the lights, but to have a seat in the Cruze is to imagine a GM that begs the question, "Where was all this before the meltdown?" The studio imagery we've seen so far translates nicely into real life, and the center console looks and feels substantial – in fact, it looks like it could be foreign – even if the silver mesh treatment in the show car was a bit much. The car has a compact yet full-bodied stance, and will probably look even better on the road in a color other than scarlet, and not under klieg lights. Spring of '09 will welcome this first Cruze variant to Europe, after which other regions will get it, as well as a probable hatchback and wagon. It will be powered by a 1.4-liter turbo four-cylinder that charts up to 140 hp and is said to return 40 mpg. Have a look at the high-res gallery of live shots below to get a better idea of what to expect when the Cruze goes on sale here in a couple years.
Click above for high-res gallery of Chevy Orlando Concept live shots
Ever wish the Chevy HHR would evolve into something more cool than kitsch? What that would be is the Chevy Orlando Concept, a seven-passenger multi-purpose vehicle that will be entering production in Europe sometime in the near future. We sincerely hope General Motors considers selling the production version in the U.S. as a replacement for the HHR, as its slab sides and chunky stance impart a much more grown up and aggressive attitude than Chevy's current compact people mover. And just like the HHR is based on the compact Cobalt's platform, the production Orlando will be based on the same platform as the upcoming Cruze, which itself will be sold in both Europe and the U.S. There's really not a doubt in our minds that the Orlando is being developed to replace the HHR in the U.S. while it simultaneously enters a new segment in Europe for Chevy. As for when the production version will appear, we don't know. All we know is that this MPV has got a lot of promise. Check out our new gallery of high-res live shots below to see if you agree.
Bill Heard Chevrolet, which had been the largest Chevy dealer in the world by volume, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this week after closing down all of its 13 stores last week, and the tale of financial ruin is surprisingly bad. The dealer conglomerate owes $229 million to GMAC financing, BMW financing, and JP Morgan Chase, but with the Chapter 11 filing, much of the money owed will likely never see the light of day.
Bill Heard Chevrolet was the self-proclaimed "Mr. Big Volume" car shopping superstore that pushed Motown metal out its showroom doors even for customers with bad credit. The Georgia-based dealer seems to have had as many enemies as it had vehicle sales, and the state of Georgia just last month accused it of misleading business practices and forging signatures. The over 2,000 employees at the 14 dealerships are also considering a class action wrongful termination lawsuit that stems from the abrupt conclusion of their employment. Bill Heard Chevrolet was losing between $2 and $5 million dollars per month since mid-2007, and with woeful sales across the U.S., we're guessing it won't be the last dealership conglomerate to end abruptly. Thanks for the tip, Rahim!
Follow the Audi Mileage Marathon starting Monday morning
Paris 2008: MINI Crossover Concept
Paris 2008: Aston Martin One-77 (partially) revealed
Paris 2008: The GT by Citroen. No, the whole thing this time
Paris 2008: Lamborghini Estoque LIVE
In the Autoblog Garage: 2008 Chevy Corvette Z06
Autoline on Autoblog with John McElroy
Paris 2008: Le Day 1 Wrapup
Knight Rider: The Liveblog -- Season 1, Episode 2
By the Numbers - September 2008: Nobody Wins Edition
