CAW Strikes a Deal with Ford, Gives GM and Chrysler More Time to Make Up Their Minds

Negotiations between the Canadian Auto Workers’ union and Ford resulted in a tentative deal concerning the new four-year contract between the workers and the automaker, averting the proposed strike that would start on Monday midnight if a deal couldn't be reached.
Though the deal still needs to be ratified by the union members, it includes creating 600 new jobs, modifying the two-tier wage system, paying CAW members US$9,234 in bonuses over the life of the contract and eliminating guaranteed cost-of-living wage increases. Moreover, new hires will start at about US$21 an hour, but will receive full wages of about $35 an hour after 10, instead of six, years.
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New 2013 Buick Encore Priced from $24,950*, Goes on Sale Early Next Year

After telling us that the new Buick Encore has received an EPA certification of 28mpg combined, General Motors has now announced pricing for its Nissan Juke-sized small crossover that will arrive in U.S. showrooms in the first quarter of 2013 starting at $24,950, which includes a $750 destination charge (*).
The Encore is offered exclusively with a 1.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder gasoline engine churning out 138-horsepower (140PS) and 148 lb.-ft. (200Nm) of peak torque. All-wheel drive is available on all models for $1,500.
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GM Wants to be the Best in Customer Loyalty, Gain More than US$4 Billion Annually

The Holy Grail in any industry is customer loyalty. All manufacturers are fighting to improve their retention rate, that is, the percentage of customers who, when the time comes to replace a product, will remain loyal to the brand.
The automotive industry is no different. In the U.S. market, the current leader is Toyota, with a 58 percent retention rate. General Motors’ percentage is around 52-53 percent, close to the automotive industry average. Clearly, GM execs think that this should change; and there’s a very good reason for that.
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Buick and GMC to Present Nine New Models in the Next Year Including Regal, LaCrosse and Sierra

It’s going to a busy time for General Motors and its Buick and GMC brands as the company's executives told dealers today that the two automakers plan to launch nine all-new or "significantly" refreshed models in the next 12 months.
The first models to arrive will be the brand-new Buick Encore small crossover and the revamped GMC Acadia SUV this fall.
In the course of 2013, Buick will introduce the Regal sedan and LaCrosse (most likely facelifts), while GMC, the new Sierra and Sierra HD full-size pickups, as well as the Yukon and Yukon XL full-size SUVs.

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Sandy Hits East Coast Car Sales, Lowers October’s SAAR By Nearly a Million Units

Not that there’s ever a “good” timing for a natural disaster, but for East Coast new car dealers, especially those in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, traditionally very big markets for light vehicles, hurricane Sandy had a devastating effect as far as sales are concerned.
That’s because, apart from any damages dealers suffered, they also had to shut down their showrooms at the end of October, when their daily sales are at their peak.
Moreover, deliveries scheduled for early November are likely to be affected, though dealers are expected to make at least part of that up by buyers seeking replacements for their totaled cars.

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Marchionne Refutes Bloomberg Report on Fiat, Peugeot and Opel Tie-up

On Tuesday, we ran a story based on a report by Bloomberg News that Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne has been talking to PSA Peugeot Citroen and Opel executives about the three carmakers merging into a single entity. Today, however, Marchionne refuted the report describing it to Automotive Europe as “bizarre”.
The Fiat-Chrysler CEO admitted that he had been talking with GM and PSA CEOs Dan Akerson and Philippe Varin, respectively, but he stressed that the discussions were misinterpreted by the report.
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Once More: Marchionne Wants to Merge with Peugeot and Opel, Outgun VW in Europe

All mainstream European carmakers are, to a higher or lower degree, facing problems due to the debt crisis that’s storming the continent.
Ford has started closing down plants, Opel and Peugeot are burning cash each day for the past eight months while they try to figure out how to work on their partnership and, as for Fiat… well, thank God that Chrysler is profitable.
The sole survivor in this mess seems to be the VW Group that’s still very profitable, much to the annoyance of its rivals and especially Marchionne who accused Wolfsburg of not playing by the book. However, even the mighty VW has been forced to trim its estimates, as the crisis begins to knock on Germany’s door.

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GM and PSA Axe Plans for Mid-Size Models, Narrow Their Partnership

Even though it hasn't been that long since General Motors and PSA Peugeot-Citroen announced big plans for an elaborate partnership, the two companies have failed to come to an agreement on a number of projects.

After dropping plans to jointly develop a small car for Latin America and a dual-clutch gearbox earlier this year, we now learn that GM and PSA have also scrapped plans for a joint mid-size car program that would have seen models like the next-generation Opel/Vauxhall Insignia, Peugeot 508 and Citroen C5 sharing parts.

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GM to Move Production of Next Camaro from Canada Back to the U.S., CAW Not Happy…

The next iteration of the Chevrolet Camaro won't be built in Canada, as is the case with the current model, but at GM's Lansing Grand River (LGR) Assembly Plant in Lansing, Michigan.

General Motors made the announcement today citing "lower capital investment and improved production efficiencies" as the key factors in its decision to shift production of the car back to the States.

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GM Plans to Buy Back 200 Million Shares from the U.S. Treasury for US$5.5 Billion

When should one sell their stocks? Well, that’s a question faced by each and every stock holder around the globe. The U.S. Department of the Treasury, which after the 2009 bailout, owns 32 percent of General Motor stock, has been deliberating the issue for some time and decided to take action today.

GM and the U.S. Treasury both announced on Wednesday that the former plans to buy back 200 million shares of its common stock for the price of US$27.50 per share, for a total of US$5.5 billion. The price agreed is, as GM notes, 7.9 percent above the closing price on December 18.

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Detroit Three Offer Four-Figure Price Incentives to Clear up Inventories

Fancy a brand-new 2013 Ford Taurus for US$5,000 less than list price? How about four grand off a 2012 Chrysler 200? As the year inexorably comes to its close, U.S. dealerships and, in some cases, manufacturers themselves, are offering price incentives in order to clear up stock.

According to a report from The Detroit News, last week a man in front of Matthews-Hargreaves Chevrolet in Royal Oak, Michigan waved a sign reading, “rebates up to $8,000”.

So, are Detroit carmakers engaging in a price war like in the days of yore that, eventually, led to ruining their business?

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GM Idles 2013 Chevrolet Malibu Production in the U.S. as Inventory Piles Up

It’s no secret that the Chevrolet Malibu compact saloon hasn’t been received as well as GM hoped for, be that by the automotive press or the consumers.

That’s why earlier this month, GM CEO Dan Akerson admitted that the company is going following in the footsteps of Honda with the Civic and give the Malibu “a mid-cycle enhancement” just 18 months after its launch.

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Toyota to Regain Sales Throne, VW and GM Fight for Second in the Best Year Ever for Car Sales

Having dropped to third position after a number of disasters crippled its production in 2011, Toyota looks set to reclaim the title of the world’s largest automaker this year. This leaves General Motors and the VW Group to fight it out for second place until the last moment as they currently have a sales difference of less than 1 percent.

According to a report from Autonews, based on the automakers’ own data, Toyota is in first place through the first three quarters of the year with 7.4 million units, followed by GM with 6.95 million deliveries and the Volkswagen Group at 6.9 million sales.

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Future Cars: We Dream up Chevrolet's 2014 SS in a ZL1 Costume

As many of our readers are probably already aware, Chevrolet is entering next year's NASCAR championship with an entirely new model aptly called the SS, which was previewed in Las Vegas just last month.

The Super Sport racer will be unique to the championship as the production-going road car has yet to be revealed and won't even built in the United States; to find it's country of origin you'll have to get an atlas and turn it upside down; yes that's right, it will be built in the backyard that Crocodile Dundee calls home - Australia.

Based on the Zeta architecture, the new SS won't be entirely new to the market when it goes on sale next year as a 2014 model. In fact, it's GM's second attempt to get the Holden-based Commodore on US shores - with the last try drying up after the Pontiac division was dissolved.

GM realizes that they still have a good product with the Commodore down under, so coinciding with the upcoming Aussie redesign they have given it another chance. This update is expected to bring substantial technological and interior quality advances over the previous G8 / current Commodore.

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New Silverado and Sierra Pickups’ Success May Help the Government Offload GM Stake

President Barack Obama has always stood behind the 2009 bailouts of General Motors and Chrysler and he was vindicated as both companies made a surprising recovery in a very short time period.

While Chrysler is out of the picture, the U.S. government still holds a 32 percent stake in GM and is searching on how to implement an exit strategy without losing a large portion of the S$51 million it poured in the automaker during the bailout.

Analysts believe that the 2014 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra full-size pickups that were unveiled this week may provide the administration with the way out that it needs.

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2014 Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra Pickup Twins Unveiled [Photos & Videos]

Full-size pickup trucks are an important segment to General Motors. That’s why its 2014 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra models that were revealed ahead of their world premiere at the Detroit Motor Show in January may look similar to the outgoing versions, but they are quite different, and much more technologically advanced, under the skin.

GM’s new full-size trucks underwent more than 6 million miles of durability testing at the Milford Proving Ground, over the deserts and mountains of Nevada and across the frozen flats of Ontario. That’s equivalent to 240 trips around the earth. In addition, the trucks will accumulate more than 7 million real-world miles during final testing, bringing total test miles to more than 13 million.

That’s because, as executive chief engineer for full- and mid-size trucks Jeff Luke said, “Don’t let the work boots fool you. Truck customers are among the most discerning and demanding in the business”.

Almost two-thirds of the cabin structure, the main rails and key cross members of the frame are made of high-strength steel in order to improve rigidity and keeping weight down, while new shear-style body mounts help absorb body movements for a more relaxed drive.

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GM to Reveal 2014 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra this Thursday, Dec. 13

We already knew that GM plans to launch the all-new 2014 Chevrolet Silverado and 2014 GMC Sierra full-size pickups onto the market next year, and today, the carmaker reminded us to mark our calendar for Thursday, December 13, 2012, as it will debut both trucks during a special press conference at the Michigan Motion Pictures Studio in Pontiac, Michigan. Read more »

Volt Owners Pass the 100 Million Mile Mark in EV Mode, Save Two Supertankers of Gas

Two years ago this month, GM launched its Chevrolet Volt extended range plug-in hybrid. During this period, it faced some issues but now it is happy to announce that Volt owners have collectively surpassed 100 million all-electric miles (160 million km). Read more »

Chevrolet to Rush in a Facelift for New Malibu Next Year to Address Criticism and Lackluster Sales

Normally, automakers present a mid-cycle update approximately three to four years after the launch of a new model. If a refresh comes earlier, this means that a car manufacturer is disappointed by the way it has been received by consumers, the media or both.

Such was the case with the 2012 Honda Civic that received a makeover only 18 months after its conception, with the 2013 model making its official debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show last week.

Honda isn’t the only company to go down this road as General Motors is also planning to revamp one of its newest entries in the market, the 2013 Chevrolet Malibu.

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Chevrolet Volt November Sales Plunge by 50 Percent Due to Low Inventory

In September, Chevrolet delivered 2,961 units of its Volt plug-in extended-range hybrid. It was an all-time high, and it followed up from the 2,851 vehicles sold in October.

Then came November: one way to look at it is that Volt sales rose by 33 percent compared to the same month in 2011. That’s small consolation, though, for GM when total sales were just 1,519 cars – that’s nearly half the number of the preceding months.

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