Car Throttle

It's a sad day for car people.  If you've been on the internet, especially Facebook, and especially General Motor's Facebook page, you probably heard today's big news. Saab filed for bankruptcy in a district court in Sweden today.  We don't make a habit of reporting industry news here at Car Throttle, but this is Saab we're talking about, and this story has been leading to this inevitable conclusion basically since Spyker bought Saab from GM.  With no money to buy the parts to build cars, or pay the workers to build the cars, Saab was in a rough spot.  With accusations of their funding coming from shady places it was hard to secure additional funding to float the company.  And with GM unwilling to supply

General Motors today has a radically different product development culture than it did 10 years ago. Products are developed with much less red tape and bureaucratic messes. Hopefully, the corporate development culture has been changed for the good. The change in approach is owed in large part to Bob Lutz, who was hired in 2001 by then-Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner. That's why it was a bit disconcerting to some when he retired from the company in May 2010. Now GM has announced that Maximum Bob is back, in a consulting capacity, providing counsel to the senior leadership of the company. This is good news - Lutz championed performance vehicles and the "secret weapon" journalists the company brought in to provide critique of new

General Motors is on the comeback trail after a difficult past few years. Sales are up and most importantly, new models are selling to retail customers with little incentives. Perhaps the brand that has been doing the best of all is Buick. That comes as a surprise to many industry observers who left the brand for dead. The Enclave started the revolution back in 2008, being a competitive product. It followed with the LaCrosse and now the European-sourced Buick Regal is doing well. What's next for the brand? A small car to slot into the emerging small premium segment. We've been hearing about a Buick small car for quite some time, and the rumors have been true - officially confirmed today by GM. Not only have they been

Last year was a difficult year for the automotive industry - iconic brands being lost and lots of changes in the order of things. Porsche was bought up by Volkswagen, and over at GM Pontiac, Saturn, and now HUMMER have all disappeared. Saab was almost added to that list more than once, until an unlikely bid came from Spyker that saved the brand. Now, the car that everyone hopes will save the brand - the 9-5, is getting official pricing for the United States market. It is good to be talking product again! The 9-5 a product many thought would never get to see the light of day. Autoblog attended the opening of Saab's new U.S headquarters in Royal Oak, Michigan and while they were there,

Right now, the golden children in the media are Hyundai and Ford. That isn't without reason either - both Ford and Hyundai have released a slew of competitive new products, and both manufacturers have the sales numbers to match. Some peg the Hyundai Sonata and Ford Fusion as being the new leaders of the mid-size segment. We have yet to test either to know for sure, but we would be inclined to agree. General Motors, on the other hand, has been largely flying under the radar as it has made impressive gains. The new Equinox is an extremely impressive product, and a lot of underlying data on sales for GM corporate-wide has gone unnoticed. They results are showing up with consumers. Auto Trader has just released it's automotive research data that shows

Under promise, over deliver. It is always a pleasant surprise to have something better than you first expected. General Motors seems to get this lately. If more power is better, and in our case it certainly is - than the 2011 Camaro is better than we first thought. Under re-certification, the Camaro's V-6 gained 8 extra horsepower and 5lb-ft of torque, bringing the total to 312 and 278 lb-ft of torque. Not much, but we'll take all we can get. Tom Sutter', the V'6's chief engineer, had this to say: "The 304 horsepower in the 2010 Camaro was actually a conservative rating on our end.....but we knew already that this award-winning engine produced at least the amount of power we stated, (and) but now we've gone the extra

Yesterday, General Motors demonstrated its new full-windshield Head-Up Display (HUD) that it is developing in partnership with Carnegie Mellon and the University of Southern California. It isn't just a simple projection of vehicle information however, it is an augmented reality system that uses sensors and cameras to get information, using that to project images onto the windshield. In foggy conditions that make visibility difficult, it highlight the lines of the road to increase safety. Also, it can be used to highlight road signs in concert with the navigation system. The possibilities really are endless, and it is nice to see GM at the forefront of new technology again - a leader. To explain the new system, GM has created this video. It is worth a watch - lets

With a bankruptcy and bailout all unfolding over months last year, it goes without saying that the image of General Motors as a brand was tarnished significantly. Prior to this period, someone at GM had the bright (not!) idea of adding a small GM badge to every one of its vehicles and brands. The company has since made an effort to correct this misstep by removing the badge. For Cadillac though, more needs to be done. With GM the name that was plastered all over the news for months, it is no wonder that individual brand names Buick, Chevrolet, GMC and Cadillac are viewed much more positively. GM has taken the steps to give those brand autonomy and that is needed if they are to meet success (which,

After the bankruptcy, many were wondering if the all the "New General Motors" talk was just that - talk. Since then, GM has taken steps to show that they really are a different company now, and in our opinion they have done a pretty good job. The most important change of all is product. The company has really been impressive with new introductions, as well as ones currently on the market like the 2010 Buick LaCrosse and 2010 Chevrolet Equinox. The Equinox has done very well in the market. Part of the "New GM" is a new tone too, in advertising and connecting with customers. This fun new video for the Equinox demonstrates that. Way to go guys! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLpJuCmu5EI

Finally! The Saab story isn't coming to an end after all. Thankfully though, it does seem like this chapter of it is. General Motors' financial problems resulted in the decision to sell the brand, along with Saturn, Hummer and Opel. However, for whatever reason each of the asset sales fell apart - Saturn with Penske Automotive Group, and then Koenigsegg with Saab and now it looks like the same situation is happening with Hummer. Opel didn't work out, but only because GM backtracked on its desire to sell. Since the Saab sale fell apart, GM has been attempting to find a suitable buyer, and that hasn't worked out as well as they hoped - until now. Spyker, like Koenigsegg, is a small sportscar company (which also happens to