Car Throttle

Over the past few days, all the automotive news outlets have been reporting manufacturer production totals with the announcement of Volkswagen's ascension to Number One. The information supplied has been from Global Insight, a research firm in the industry. Global Insight is usually very accurate, however this new set of information has left out some very important data. GMInsidenews has done some research to compile the true sales figures for the year. Global Insight failed to include production figures from GM's Chinese joint ventures, which have always been counted as part of the final global tallies. With those included properly, General Motors is actually on top so far this year, followed by Volkswagen, Toyota and Ford. Apparently, Volkswagen being on top is too sensastional of a story

Saturn has been sold to The Penske Group, and to continue sales until the new owner finds a vehicle supplier, GM has contracts to continue producing the Aura, Vue and Outlook. All is good, right? Well, that deal doesn't include the Vue Plug-In which was slated to go into production. Those plans are now in limbo. There is still is the remote possibility the vehicle could be built for Penske as the contract negotiations are ongoing, but that scenario is unlikely given GM's desire to use the technology in other applications. What vehicle will be using it then? Some have speculated the new Chevrolet Equinox and Cadillac SRX could be candidates for the technology. However, it could be used for a new crossover for Buick. I've heard rumors

Just 4 GM brands made the cut and will be continue part of the new leaner, meaner, faster, smarter (ok ok that's enough) "New GM". Buick is one of the brands that made it. Doesn't make sense you say? Actually no, it makes a lot of sense. The Buick brand is huge in China and cutting Buick here would have a big impact on that. Even if Buick lost money in North America (which it doesn't) it would make sense keeping it open for the big profits and sales in China. Furthermore, great products have come (Enclave) and are coming (2010 LaCrosse) that hold a lot of promise. GM has a really big opportunity to go after Lexus with Buick, offering cars with some style. Leave Cadillac to take on

GM is in bankruptcy and in the midst of all that they're working to present a positive face to the public through advertisements and in speaking to the news. Today comes the news that Ed Whitacre, Jr. is to become chairman of the "New GM" once it emerges out of bankruptcy at the end of the summer (if all goes to plan, at least). The announcement was made by GM's interim chairman Kent Kressa, who will still serve in that post during the bankruptcy process. This is a good announcement for GM, putting someone with a successful business experience and valued brand name (AT&T) in connection with GM. Of course, I couldn't make a post about AT&T without mentioning the iPhone! Yesterday was WWDC where Apple announced

Just when you try to get a better outlook about General Motors' future, they go and do something stupid. Word today has come of two SS model cancellations, caught on GM's Online Ordering Guide via GMInsideNews (who originally broke the first story on the Impala SS cancellation).   Certainly with the Impala SS, the cancellation isn't a huge loss. But what about taking up the slack from Pontiac? It's true that Pontiac's mission could easily be folded into SS models of Chevrolet vehicles, I've said that before. These cancellations don't fit into that at all though.  The biggest mistake in my opinion is cutting the Cobalt SS Sedan. The best thing that the Cobalt has going for it is the SS trim level. The standard car is merely competitive but the performance models have gone above and

Big surprise; red ink continues to rule for April's car sales numbers. While the economic crisis may be easing, sales are still down across the board.  Who would have thought? (Sarcasm intended). However, there was some interesting facts in April's sales data dump though, so let's take a look. Every single automaker has experienced declining sales this month in comparison with with April 2008 (year-over-year). That includes brands that have been faring better (even posting increases) this year like Subaru, Hyundai and Kia. They're still outperforming the rest of the market though, with sales at Hyundai down by 13.56% and at Kia, down 14.8%. That number was good enough to gain market share and as a result Hyundai-Kia pulled ahead of Nissan as the sixth largest automaker in the United States. The most surprising numbers