General Motors announced today they will cut production in the first quarter of 2009 by 250,000 units, or approximately 30% of total capacity, affecting 21 plants in three countries.  read more »

 read more »

<!-- ALL ADSENSE ADS DISABLED -->

The declining automotive industry has caused a lot of changes in the advertising contracts, too. According to The Detroit News, Tiger Woods’s agent, Mark Steinberg, and Larry Peck, marketing manager for the golf division of GM’s Buick line, are currently talking about the famous golfer’s contract, which ends next year. Though GM is in big trouble right now, with stock falling 74 percent and 53,000 workers laid off, the company says that it plans on continuing the Woods sponsorship. “I want to see where they are, and they want to see where we are,” Steinberg said. Tiger Woods was recently ranked #1 in BusinessWeek’s “Most Powerful People in Sports” list.  read more »

By Keith Barry There may be no more appropriate commentary on the state of motoring these days than three recent car shows that represent the past, present and future of personal transportation. Ford is throwing a party in Richmond, Indiana, this week to celebrate the centennial of the iconic Model-T . Just up I-75 in Flint, Michigan, the Buick Club of America is putting the wraps on the 105th anniversary of portholes and bench seats, while this past weekend microcar enthusiasts from across North America put-putted around Newton , Massachusetts in postwar European fuel misers. The three events offer a snapshot of where the automobile's been and where it's going. The Model-T marked a turning point in the nation's development. Americans got the chance to explore their vast country for work and pleasure, and communities developed with mobility in mind. From Dust Bowl migrants to exurban commuters, the American love affair with both freedom of movement and fossil fuels began when the first Tin Lizzies rolled off the assembly line . For nearly a century, Americans had the luxury of going where they wanted, when they wanted, at a price they could afford. Only recently have environmental and economic concerns ushered in an era of $4 a gallon gas, staycations and transit-oriented development. Perhaps the week-long celebration of the Model-T will be more nostalgic than expected, what with Americans facing real constraints on personal transportation for the first time since the gas shortages of the 1970s. From Harley Earls 1939 Y-Job to the 1970s Shaft-tastic Electra deuce-and-a-quarter , Flint was Buick City. These days that honor might go to Beijing, where Shanghai General Motors Park Avenue is the ultimate status symbol. Though American Lucernes come standard with Florida plates and Ask me  about my grandchildren bumperstickers, Chinese Buicks like that slick black number in the picture have Bluetooth and massaging seats, and they're popular with diplomats and business tycoons. Some of the worlds worst drivers are using their newfound purchasing power to make China the worlds fastest growing automotive market, where not only is Buick the most-popular model , but one in seven cars that rolls out of a showroom is made by GM. Such success is possible in part because Chinese labor requires little investment from GM and pollution controls in smoggy China are virtually nonexistent (with the notable exception of a shutdown in anticipation of the Olympics ). With Michigan in decline and China rising, the current reality of the American auto industry is darker than a Beijing afternoon and the developing worlds nascent oil addiction threatens to keep sea levels and fuel prices at all-time highs. Postwar Europeans lived la dolce vita behind the wheels of cars like the BMW Isetta and Fiat 500, enjoying the freedom of personal mobility that had been so terribly constrained during both World Wars. Microcars like the Messerschmitt KR200, Reliant Robin, and Morris Minor were the solution to limited resources and narrow streets. While a two-seat runabout barely making 30 horsepower was no match for an elegant prewar Benz, a microcar was the most fun one could have on four (or three) wheels. More importantly, microcars were appropriate solutions for the transportation challenges of the time. The future of personal transportation depends on similarly appropriate solutions that address new challenges, such as increased demand for a finite supply of oil, and the multiple dangers of the tailpipe emissions from internal combustion engines. Photo by Flickr user 2 dogs .  read more »

The other day we told you about General Motors' plan to develop driverless cars . As wild as that idea sounds, company Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner told people at the Consumer Electronics Show that GM is serious about it. Wagoner didn't spent a lot of time discussing the proposal, which was buried deep in his keynote address, but he did say GM is developing vehicle-to-vehicle communications that will "minimize traffic jams and, more importantly, greatly reduce traffic accidents and fatalities with minimal and possibly even no roadway infrastructure required." That's not quite the same as driverless cars, but Wagoner cited the Boss , the autonomous Chevrolet Tahoe GM and Carnegie Mellon University developed for the DARPA Urban Challenge , as an example of where the technology stands and where it might be headed. GM is the first auto company invited to address CES, and of course Wagoner's speech focused on technology the company is developing for tomorrow's cars. He said a lot about what's coming for OnStar and promised to bring 1 million E85 flex-fuel vehicles to market in 2008 (he also said GM plans to offer flex-fuel versions of half its lineup by 2011). GM's touting E85 at every opportunity, but with fewer than 1 percent of the nation's gas stations actually selling the stuff, it's clearly not the game-changing technology the General's making it out to be - and Wagoner touched on that, too. He spent a lot of time discussing the Chevrolet Volt and said "we're moving as fast as we can to bring it to market." He also promised a plug-in version of the Saturn Vue hybrid "as soon as we can." We got a transcript of Wagoner's speech from GM...  read more »

UPDATE: Rick's just driven out in a Chevy Volt. No clue what it's got under the hood, but it looked to be running under it's own power. Who knew?  read more »

No content available