Category Archives: General Motors

News about General Motors automobile manufacturer. News about General Motors recalls, technical service bulletins (TSB), and problems regarding General Motors vehicles.

GM Invests In Michigan Plants

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GM hopes to capitalize on consumers growing trust in American fuel efficient cars by investing $257 million in Kansas and Michigan plants. GM CEO Ed Whitacre announced that $136 million would go to the Fairfax plant as the Malibu’s main production facility, and another $100 million would expand production at the Detroit facility.

The factory investments in Kansas and Michigan won’t create new jobs, but will preserve jobs at both plants. The Kansas plant, which employs 3,869 workers, builds the midsize Buick LaCrosse luxury sedan. The Detroit-Hamtramck plant, which has 1,048 employees, now builds the Cadillac DTS and Buick Lucerne and is gearing up to make the Chevrolet Volt rechargeable electric car.

Ed Whitacre appearance at the company’s Fairfax Assembly Plant was filled with even more good news as he formally announced the automaker’s early payback of $8.1 billion in government loans to the U.S. and Canada. The government payments came five years ahead of schedule, a sign that the automaker is on its way toward reducing government ownership of the company.

NHTSA Investigate GM Brake Failure

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is opening up an investigation into corroded brake lines in Chevrolet and GMC pickup trucks and SUVs after receiving over 100 complaints from consumers. The problem could affect 6 million vehicles from 1999 through 2003 and has been blamed for three crashes, none of which injuries were sustained. The NHTSA suspects that the problem comes from vehicles driving in snowy northern states where salt is used for icy conditions.

GM spokesman Alan Adler said the company is aware of the issue and is working with NHTSA to look at possible causes and consequences of the alleged defect.

GM On Facebook And Twitter

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If you have been complaining about your GM vehicle on Twitter or Facebook, don’t be surprised if you actually get a response form GM offering to help you with your problems. In order to be more proactive in dealing with customers, GM is hiring customer service agents to monitor social networking websites looking for people who are not satisfied with their GM vehicles.

Because social networks connect people at low cost, businesses can use it to expand their contacts, act as a customer relationship management tool and advertise products and services around the world. Companies no longer need to spend countless hours developing new methods of customer service. Instead, customers can post messages, complaints, stories, and other sources of information about companies. With this data, companies can act quickly to trace, correct, and learn from mistakes.

Auto Industry Seeing Imprpovements?

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General Motors Co. said Tuesday that they plan to pay off their government loans this year, five years ahead of schedule. They say that production and sales have increased in the beginning of 2010 and repaying government loans has been a top priority. The government’s autos task force set a repayment deadline of 2015, but GM has already paid back $2.4 billion and plans to pay the rest by June. The money is expected to come from public stocks which will be offered when the markets and the company are ready.

But GM may have some competition. Ford Motor Co., which didn’t take government aid, reported a $2.7 billion profit for 2009, outselling GM in February for the first time in over a century. Toyota Motor Corp. came close to outselling GM last month when it used heavy incentives to lure buyers after a series of safety recalls.

Things are also on the mend at Chrysler Group LLC, which also went into bankruptcy protection last year and is now managed by Fiat SpA. Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said last week that the automaker has $5 billion in cash on hand and expects to break even this year.

But the improvements in the auto industry has come with sacrifices. Auto manufactures were forced to downsize by stopping production or selling off some brands, closing down dealerships and laying off thousands of employees.

GM Installs Brake Override System

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As federal regulators consider making brake override systems mandatory on all vehicles, General Motors is taking the initiative to install the system in all its new vehicles world wide by 2012.

GM has not had major problems with unintended acceleration, but the company said it was taking the step as a means of reassuring customers about the safety of its vehicles. GM plans to install the software for the system in the electronic throttle control systems of newly manufactured vehicles. The automaker already used it in several models in the United States, mostly high horsepower vehicles like the Chevy Corvette.

GM Dealership Closures Sketchy

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It was good news for General Motors dealerships when earlier this month GM announced it would keep over 600 dealerships open. Despite a congressional deadline of July 15, many dealerships targeted for closure are still not sure which dealerships will be closed and which will be saved. According to attorneys and auto industry executives, some dealerships are in negotiations while others have heard no news at all.

Details are limited due to a confidentiality agreement between GM and the dealers. Dealers don’t want customers to know they might close chasing away potential buyers of vehicles still on the lot. GM has also declined to identify dealers, saying it is up to the dealers to disclose whether they were being reinstated or not.

GM Developing Heads Up Display For Autos

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General Motors R&D, Carnegie Mellon University and The University of Southern California are working together to develop a heads up display for automobiles. Working similar to the heads up displays for aircraft, the technology will make driving at night and in bad weather safer.

The vehicle will be armed with infrared cameras that identify where the edge of the road is and lasers will be used to paint the edge of the road onto the windshield so the driver can see it. When driving in weather with reduced visibility the enhanced vision system combines night vision with the head-up system to identify and highlight the precise location of people, animals, and even road signs along the side of the road that they may not be seen by the driver

Enhanced vision systems are a 21st Century take on Head up display technology that GM was the first to market in 1988. They were designed to help keep driver attention on the road by displaying important information such as vehicle speed, lane change indicator status and vehicle warning messages directly into the driver’s field of vision. Heads up display systems are currently available on the GMC Acadia, Chevrolet Corvette, Buick LaCrosse and Cadillac STS.

GM Dealerships To Stay Open

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Last year General Motors announced that they would be closing dealerships due to the low demand for cars and trucks. Many dealerships argued the decision saying the auto maker did not offer enough details explaining how they decided which ones would be closed. Complaints to congress lead to a bill giving dealerships a chance to dispute their closure depending on their past success. This week GM announced that it will be reinstating more than half of the dealerships that disputed the closures. GM executives said that more than 600 dealerships out of the 1,100 seeking to stay open with GM will receive letters giving them the option to remain with the auto maker.

Below is GM’s statement regarding the dealer arbitration:

General Motors is taking a major step toward its goal of creating positive, lasting relationships with its dealers.

GM carefully reviewed each of the approximately 1,100 dealer reinstatement claims that were filed with the American Arbitration Association. We conducted these individual reviews, keeping in mind our goal of moving quickly and effectively to complete the overall arbitration process, and determined that we would send more than 600 Letters of Intent to the involved dealers. The Letter of Intent contains our usual core business criteria. This action will allow these dealers to conduct normal dealership operations as soon as they comply with the terms of the Letter of Intent.

“We are eager to restore relationships with our dealers, and get back to doing what we do best – selling cars and taking care of customers,” said Mark Reuss, president, GM North America. “The arbitration process creates uncertainty in the market. We believe issuing these Letters of Intent is good for our customers, our dealers and GM.”