It was a sad day when General Motors all but mothballed its Oshawa, Ontario assembly plant — a manufacturing site that had cranked out cars since 1907 — but new production will soon be underway.
Not of sedans or pickups, the latter of which happened to be the plant’s last vehicular products when it ceased assembly in 2019, but masks. A lot of masks. (Read More…)
After spending years in development and even longer in the imaginations of Corvette enthusiasts who longed for something a little wilder, a little more European, the mid-engined C8 Corvette drove straight into a series of roadblocks.
The first was a six-week strike by unionized General Motors workers that pushed C8 production into a new calendar year. Just when it seemed the coast was clear, along came a virus that sent those workers home for an altogether different reason. As such, the C8 is having difficulty leaving the gate. Those looking for al fresco motoring are so far out of luck. (Read More…)
The great General Motors ride-sharing experiment is over. At least for now. Maven, which hit parking lots in 2016 and eventually expanded into the nation’s driveways, was GM’s attempt to put its vehicles to work, rather than sell them to retail or fleet customers like some kind of dinosaur.
For a fee, users could access the GM-owned fleet of Maven products to perform random driving tasks. Short trips, mainly, in the absence of an Uber or Lyft ride or participation in a more formal car-sharing agreement. Tap that app, find the car, unlock it, and drive off. Abandon somewhere after you’re done.
Well, that’s what GM just did with Maven. (Read More…)
While it remains to be seen whether the revamped 2021 Cadillac Escalade enters production on schedule this summer, other details about General Motors’s loftiest SUV have begun leaking out.
One item concerns the vehicle’s price, while the other tidbit might interest those who have a difficult time separating their eco-consciousness from their economic reality. (Read More…)
It’s big and it sells very well, but the upcoming Chevrolet Traverse is having something of an identity issue. Unveiled in top-trim form last month, the refreshed version of the second-generation Traverse was expected to go on sale late this year as a 2021 model.
Fast-forward a few weeks and that plan’s off the table. (Read More…)
This series featured a Callaway creation once before — the incredible and Teal Time upholstered Speedster from 1991. While the Speedster showed what Callaway could do with a Nineties Corvette, the company dabbled in similar era Camaros as well.
Let’s see what they created.
Rare Rides reviews another Pontiac today. And much like the recently featured Bonneville, it’s large and in charge, from the Seventies, and has two doors. Let’s see how much horsepower the 1977 Can Am gained through stickers and spoilers.
To its credit, General Motors was already preparing a foray into ventilator production when President Donald Trump invoked the Defense Production Act, locking the automaker into a pact to build truckloads of the life-saving equipment.
On Thursday, details of the no-profit deal became clear. (Read More…)
Have you ever wished for a very luxurious coupe for grand touring purposes — one with an unconventional engine placement and the underpinnings of an economy car?
Well, we’ve got a car for you: the 1988 Zimmer Quicksilver.
Sometimes, if you find yourself lagging behind the pack and eagerly wish for a quick way to catapult yourself ahead, it makes sense to piggyback on someone else’s work. And in the realm of electric vehicles — brow-furrowingly pricey and time-consuming to develop as they are — automakers are coming to the conclusion that perhaps someone else should do the heavy lifting.
Subaru has Toyota, Ford has Rivian (and Volkswagen), and Honda now has General Motors. (Read More…)
We can’t tell you how the Chevrolet Trailblazer, reborn as a vastly different vehicle for 2021, drives (thanks to a first drive program scuttled at the 11th hour by coronavirus), but at least we can tell you what to expect at the pump.
As the model starts quietly trickling onto dealer lots at a time when most Americans are scared to leave the house, the Environmental Protection Agency has gotten around to testing the model’s full range. Two three-cylinder engines and two transmissions are on tap. Let’s take a look. (Read More…)
One should never pay too close attention to social media, but sadly, that’s where a lot of diplomacy takes place these days. Especially today.
Since dawn broke over the nation Friday, President Donald Trump has chastised General Motors and Ford for their perceived foot-dragging in getting much-needed ventilators into production, urging them to pick up the pace and suggesting that he might invoke the Defense Production Act — a wartime measure aimed at aligning industrial output with America’s immediate defense needs. In this case, the enemy is microscopic, but packs a punch.
We’re already on it, Ford and GM replied. (Read More…)
News arose yesterday that General Motors’ and Ford Motor Company’s battle plans rely heavily on SUV and pickup sales, rather than electric vehicles. Details of the corporate strategies, first shared by Reuters, soon circulated through the media, with many outlets upset that the pair seem to have oversold the role electrification will play in their respective lineups through 2026. One wonders how they could possibly be this surprised.
Using data issued to parts suppliers from the two automakers, AutoForecast Solutions predicted North American production of SUV models from GM and Ford will outpace the assembly of traditional cars by more than eight to one in 2026. Roughly 93 percent of those models are expected to be dependent upon gasoline. Meanwhile, Reuters compared the manufacturers’ strategy against Tesla — a company that only exists for the explicit purpose of selling EVs and has never assembled a gas-powered automobile — as if all manufacturers are equal in scope and cater to the same type of customers. (Read More…)
Not much time passed after Ford chopped compensation for 300 top executives before General Motors decided to free up financial breathing room via payroll costs.
The automaker has enacted a sweeping plan to weather the coronavirus storm by cutting the pay of its salaried workforce by 20 percent, with 6,500 U.S. workers incapable of working from home placed on leave. Employees aren’t expected to swallow the loss out of the goodness of their own hearts, however — GM promises they’ll see the missing money one day. (Read More…)
Following in the footsteps of rival Ford, General Motors is drawing on credit to bolster its cash reserves. The company, which announced a temporary shutdown of its U.S. assembly plants last week, is in the same basket as pretty much any other automaker operating in the country.
As well, GM — again, like Ford — sees no value in its now-outdated guidance issued for 2020. That bit of predictive analysis, like a lot of things, fell victim to the sudden and disruptive appearance of the coronavirus. (Read More…)
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