By Keith Barry The Chevrolet Volt has joined baseball and apple pie as an unassailable, non-partisan symbol of American can-do and know-how. General Motors won't start selling the plug-in hybrid for another 18 months (at least), but that hasn't kept it from becoming the most important political accessory since the flag lapel pin. The two leading presidential candidates have practically tripped over each other meeting with GM CEO Rick Wagoner, who stopped bailing water long enough to tell the candidates what they can do to help his sinking company build cars that won't destroy the planet. Both Sen. Barack Obama and Sen.  read more »

The Bush Administration has shown its support for plug-in hybrids by promising a measly $30 million to get them on the road within eight years, a figure and a timeline some automakers and plug-in advocates say is too little and...


Chuck Squatriglia

Bob Lutz says the future of the automobile can be summed up in two words: Proportion and propulsion. That's a snappy way of saying big cars aren't going anywhere, but at least they'll be electric. The way Lutz sees it,...


Chuck Squatriglia

GM would prefer you look at the big picture, announcing today that it sold 9,369,524 vehicles worldwide. This brings them to a tie with Toyota, which announced they sold 9.37 million vehicles (but has yet to give us the total number). Globally, this was a 3.0% increase over 2006 and the second best global sales number in the company's history. All of this was despite a 6.1% year-over-year decrease in North American sales, which still makes up more than half of the company's total sales volume. Compared to 2006, GM Europe saw a sales increase of 8.9%, GM Asia Pacific saw an increase of 15.1% and GMLAAM (Latin America, Africa, Middle East) increased 19%.  read more »

GM's new contract with the United Auto Workers (UAW) was sold to all and sundry as a necessary step to protect U.S. jobs. Meanwhile, GM continues to send jobs overseas. The Times of India reports that GM's set to triple parts production on the subcontinent, ramping-up to $1b worth over the next three years  read more »