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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- GM could one day be Chinese owned. A shocking concept for the ultimate all-American company, but one some auto industry experts say isn't too far-fetched. "I can tell you right now the Chinese are shopping heavily in the U.S. auto sector," said David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research, a Michigan think tank. Cole said such a deal isn't imminent and wouldn't happen until GM starts selling shares to the public, likely a year or more from now. But he says buying GM would be a major opportunity for the nascent Chinese auto industry....

It's an economic contradiction to order the industry to build small cars but not encourage people to buy them. The government is trying to push us into smaller, fuel-stingy vehicles. The plan is not working. Motorists don't seem excited by the small cars out there. They'll sit on their hands rather than buy. The end result is not so much fuel efficiency as depressed sales of new cars. The top seller in the American market is still the big Ford f-150 pickup. Then comes the family-size car, the Toyota ( TM - news - people ) Camry, then the big...

DETROIT – Chevrolet affirms its commitment to fuel solutions and building refined, eco-friendly vehicles with the debut of the U.S. production version of the Cruze sedan at the Los Angeles Auto Show, on Dec. 2. The Cruze, along with the much-anticipated Volt electric vehicle, will give visitors to the L.A. show a close-up view of Chevrolet’s expanding lineup of gas-friendly to gas-free products. “With expected highway fuel economy up to 40 miles per gallon, Cruze will be extremely gas friendly while the Volt electric vehicle can be operated gas-free," said Brent Dewar, vice president, Chevrolet. “Chevrolet's focus is on forward-looking...

DETROIT – Chevrolet affirms its commitment to fuel solutions and building refined, eco-friendly vehicles with the debut of the U.S. production version of the Cruze sedan at the Los Angeles Auto Show, on Dec. 2. The Cruze, along with the much-anticipated Volt electric vehicle, will give visitors to the L.A. show a close-up view of Chevrolet’s expanding lineup of gas-friendly to gas-free products. “With expected highway fuel economy up to 40 miles per gallon, Cruze will be extremely gas friendly while the Volt electric vehicle can be operated gas-free," said Brent Dewar, vice president, Chevrolet. “Chevrolet's focus is on forward-looking...

Firm plans to retire $6.7 billion loan years before it is due General Motors is expected to announce on Monday that it will begin repaying its debt to the United States next month, years earlier than required. The nation's largest automaker plans to pay $1 billion per quarter until the $6.7 billion loan is repaid, according to a source familiar with the matter. The plan does not cover all of the $50 billion the United States has invested in the company. How much the government will receive on its investment depends on GM's eventual stock value. In exchange for the...

SPRING HILL, Tenn. - General Motors will shut down its' production of the Chevy Traverse at the Spring Hill plant on Wednesday, November 24; the day before Thanksgiving.About 1,000 of the remaining 1,800 GM workers will lose their job. "A lot of them was hoping that they was going to get their time out, you know, here and be able to retire and it hasn't happened," said Spring Hill barber Diane Colley. Colley said some of her clients have chosen the option to transfer to another GM plant. "They really didn't want to leave it, but they've got to work,"...

Barack Obama has stepped into the row about the future of Vauxhall and Opel as anger about General Motors’ decision to keep its European operations threatens to harm transatlantic relationships. President Obama is believed to have secured an agreement with Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, that she would “co-ordinate” with the US leader on the future of GM Europe during a phone call. The American government is the majority shareholder in GM but a spokesman for Ms Merkel said President Obama told Ms Merkel he had not been involved in the car maker’s decision to scrap the sale of Vauxhall...

General Motors last night staged a dramatic U-turn by choosing to hold on to its European Opel and Vauxhall subsidiaries in a major snub to Magna International and the German government. The surprise decision by GM places a further question mark over the future of the company’s van plant at Luton, which employs around 1,500 workers, but is likely to safeguard the future of its Ellesmere Port facility, where it employs about 2,000 workers. The 11th-hour volte-face, made during a GM board meeting in Detroit, is understood to have come as a result of the potential threat to the Magna...

General Motors (GM) closed its Wilmington, Delaware plant in July, leaving 550 active employees out of work, and another 500 laid-off hourly workers without the hope of being called back to work. Vehicle manufacturing used to be Delaware’s second largest private employer. Perhaps it will be again. Fisker Automotive announced on October 27 it signed a letter of intent to buy the plant for $18 million after a routine four-month evaluation period. Built by GM in 1947, the Wilmington plant produced 8.5 million cars, and has a production capacity of 300,000 cars a year. The Wilmington plant will support the...

China to launch case against U.S. Big Three automakers Doug Palmer Thu, Oct 29 08:37 AM China has told the United States it is launching a trade investigation that could lead to new import duties on autos and sports utility vehicles made by Chrysler, Ford and General Motors, a U.S. industry official said on Wednesday. The action comes as U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, Trade Representative Ron Kirk and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack are in China for high-level talks aimed at resolving trade irritants between the two countries. President Barack Obama, who will visit China in mid-November, angered Beijing last...

WASHINGTON (AP) - General Motors Co. CEO Fritz Henderson said Wednesday that government-imposed cuts to his own salary, and the pay of other executives at seven companies that received taxpayer money, were "fair" and "thoughtful." Henderson was among executives who will see their base salaries slashed under a plan by Kenneth Feinberg, the Obama administration's "pay czar." Henderson, between meetings with lawmakers on Capitol Hill, said the changes were "tough, but the situation is tough."

The Ford Fusion was rated higher in reliability this year than its counterparts- Honda Accord and Toyota Camry. The only car in the family sedan category with better ratings compared to Fusion was the Toyota Prius, the magazine said yesterday. “It’s rare for Consumer Reports to see family sedans from domestic carmakers continue to beat the reliability scores of such highly regarded Japanese models,” David Champion, senior director of the Yonkers, New York based magazine’s Automotive Test Center, said in a statement. World class production Ford’s reliability will translate into future gains as it will help the company capture a...

Audio From Glenn Beck's Radio Program (Aired LIVE 10.22.09)- Did you know OnStar has the ability to shut off your engine, deflate your tires and listen to what you are saying inside your car?? It's true. They never used to use this technology, though it has been available- but now that the government is running GM, apparently they have decided to go ahead with it..Did we miss that press release? At the very least, it should concern you..with this kind of technology in the wrong hands.. Part 1-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDoDwEPKYMA Part 2-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhXEzJHWF1c

Pay Czar Feinberg, Not Obama, Behind Decision to Slash Executive Pay White House pay czar Kenneth Feinberg did not seek President Obama's approval to order steep pay cuts from bailed-out executives. Thursday, October 22, 2009 White House pay czar Kenneth Feinberg was the driving force behind the move to order steep pay cuts from bailed-out executives, and did not even seek the president's approval before making his decision. The Treasury Department is expected to formally announce in the next few days a plan to slash annual salaries by about 90 percent from last year for the 25 highest-paid executives at...

<p>When two Visalia, Calif., police officers swung their cruisers behind a sport utility vehicle that had been carjacked at gunpoint early Sunday, they prepared for a dangerous high-speed chase.</p> <p>The 2009 Chevrolet Tahoe roared away with officers in pursuit, but shortly after the suspect made a right turn, operators at General Motors Co.'s OnStar service sent a command that electronically disabled the gas pedal and the SUV gradually came to a halt.</p>

Well GM and Chrysler begged to be bailed out...... I really don’t like this guy. I didn’t like him when he was appointed and I like him less now. But … GM and Chrysler begged for the money, they got it, and now … well … The Obama administration will soon order the nation’s biggest bailed-out companies to drastically cut pay packages for their top executives, according to several reports published Wednesday.

DETROIT—General Motors Corp. will replace its traditional health care plan for salaried retirees younger than 65 with a consumer-driven health plan linked to health savings accounts effective Jan. 1, 2010.Under the new arrangement, posted on a GM retiree Web site, the annual deductible will be $2,500 for individual coverage and $5,000 for family coverage. The maximum annual out-of-pocket expense will be $3,500 for individuals and $7,000 for families. A GM spokesman was not available for comment. After deductibles are met, GM will pay 80% of the cost of medical services and prescription drugs delivered through in-network providers and 60% of...

[Full title was edited to comply with space requirements, here's unedited version:] "Well-Kept Media Secret: UAW Conceded No Base Pay, Health, or Pension Benefits in GM, Chrysler Bankruptcy Run-ups" A New York Times article by Nick Bunkley on Friday targeted for print on Saturday about the status of contract talks between Ford Motor Company and the United Auto Workers piqued my interest in a previously neglected but important matter. Ford and the UAW are apparently close to an agreement. In describing what Ford workers are being asked to give up, Bunkley wrote the following (bolds are mine throughout this post):...

American car maker agreed to sell a majority stake in GM Europe to Canadian automotive group Magna after filing for bankruptcy protection in June. In a sign that the deal could still collapse, GM has said it wants to see progress on talks with European governments about funding and job cuts by the end of the week, according to sources close to the talks. Although they insist GM is confident a deal can be done, the company is keeping on the table the alternative plans it drew up for Opel and Vauxhall before agreeing to the Magna deal, such as...

Hummer, the off-road vehicle that once epitomized America's love for hulking trucks, is now in the hands of a Chinese heavy equipment maker. General Motors Co. and Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Corp. finally signed the much-anticipated deal for GM to sell the brand on Friday. Tengzhong will get an 80 percent stake in the company, while Hong Kong investor Suolang Duoji, who indirectly owns a big stake in Tengzhong through an investment company, will get 20 percent. The investors will also get Hummer's nationwide dealer network. Financial terms were not disclosed, although a person briefed on the deal said...

Will another bidder for General Motors‘ Saturn brand come out of the woodwork after a deal to sell the division to Penske Automotive fell through? Not likely, industry observers tell The Detroit Free Press. General Motors said Wednesday that it planned to close its Saturn brand after Penske abruptly called off an agreement to buy the division. Penske said Wednesday in a statement that it could not proceed with the deal because another manufacturer, which it did not identify, rejected plans to build vehicles that would be distributed under the Saturn brand name. The Detroit Free Press, however, said the...

Until last week I had been one of General Motors' most reliable customers for more than 15 years. But my relationship with GM ended the very day the company announced that it was closing its Saturn operation

General Motors said Tuesday it would wind down its Saturn brand after talks broke off with Penske Automotive Group on a bid for the nameplate. GM said in a statement that Penske "has decided to terminate discussions" to acquire Saturn "because of the inability to source new products beyond what it had asked GM to build on contract." "This is very disappointing news and comes after months of hard work by hundreds of dedicated employees and Saturn retailers who tried to make the new Saturn a reality," the US automaker said.

Penske Automotive Group (PAG.N) said on Wednesday it has terminated discussions with General Motors Co GM.UL to acquire the automaker's Saturn brand. GM said in a separate statement it would wind down the Saturn brand and its dealership network.

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. (WXYZ) - The Penske Automotive Group has announced that it has terminated talks with GM on acquiring the Saturn brand. Penske says negotiations with GM regarding the future supply of vehicles caused the breakdown in talks. G In a statement issued by General Motors, the company is very disappointed about Penske's decision. This will ultimately be the end for the Saturn brand as GM prepares to wind down production and dealership network. STATEMENT FROM GENERAL MOTORS: Today we learned that Penske Automotive Group (PAG) has decided to terminate discussions with General Motors to acquire Saturn. This is...

GM To Shut Down Saturn After Penske Ends Talks Production agreement with another manufacturer falls through, killing deal GM to drop Saturn after Penske ends talks Sept. 30: General Motors Co. says it plans to shut down its Saturn brand and dealer network after talks with Penake Automotive Group fell apart. DETROIT - General Motors Co. said Wednesday it would shut down its Saturn division after an agreement to sell it to Penske Automotive Group Inc. fell apart. The Bloomfield, Michigan dealership headed by auto racing magnate Roger Penske walked away after it was unable to find a manufacturer to...

You fell in love with that $22,000 Chevy Malibu because of its color, style and price. After driving it home, you realize it's not what you wanted. Maybe it's the way it handles on the highway, the location of the cup holders or the shape of the seats. Don't worry. Bring it back for a refund, no questions asked, says GM's Chairman and new TV pitchman Edward Whitacre Jr.

Hummer LLC plans to locate its new headquarters in Michigan once General Motors Co.'s sale of the sport-utility vehicle maker to China's Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery is finalized, Hummer spokesman Nick Richards said. The new headquarters, expected to be located at a refurbished site in either Detroit or a northern suburb of the city, promises to provide a modest lift to a Michigan economy that has been battered by the rapid decline of the U.S. auto industry and other economic pressures. The region has lost tens of thousands of white- and blue-collar automotive jobs in the past year due...

The EU will investigate the billions of euros of state aid offered by the German Government to the Russian-Canadian rescuers of GM Europe. Within hours of the deal being sealed between General Motors, Magna and Russia’s Sberbank, the European Commission said it would examine the financial support offered by the German government, totalling €4.5 billion. The German bailout, funded by its taxpayers, also came under fire in Belgium where a big Opel factory will be closed. Joelle Milquet, Belgium’s vice-premier, criticised the deal that safeguards the future of four Opel plants in Germany while a plant in Antwerp, employing 2,700...

General Motors is hoping to jump-start its revival by guaranteeing car buyers that if they don't like their new Chevrolet, GMAC, Buick or Cadillac, they have 60 days to bring it back for a full refund. The marketing effort that starts Monday is called "May the Best Car Win" and aims to win back customers leery of GM since it filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year. The nation's largest automaker needs to improve sales so it can repay billions in government loans and stay in business. ((snip)) GM must show that its cars and trucks are better than competitors'...

Buy a new General Motors car. Don't like it? Return it and get your money back. General Motors, in a bid to appeal to consumers upset about decades of poor quality and the carmaker's government bailout, is launching an unusual program: money-back guarantees. Between Sept. 14 and Nov. 30, buyers will be able to return Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet or GMC products within 60 days if they don't like them, the automaker announced Thursday. Such programs are commonplace in other businesses, but not for cars. For one thing, cars cost, on average, about $25,000 and they lose a lot of value...

General Motors Co. Chairman Edward Whitacre Jr. will be the pitchman who starts the automaker's new advertising campaign this weekend with television spots urging people to try GM's new vehicles, a person briefed on the campaign said Wednesday.

US automaker General Motors has called a press conference on Thursday in Berlin to unveil its plans for the German unit Opel, the head of Opel's works committee told German television. The GM briefing would take place at 1230 GMT, Klaus Franz told the public station ZDF, following a GM board meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday in the United States. GM negotiator John Smith was to inform the German government of the US group's decision before the news conference. Berlin still officially supports a bid for Opel by the Canadian auto parts maker Magna, backed by the Russian bank Sberbank,...

General Motors was not so long ago the largest motor company in the world, who would have thought one day would be taken over by the miniature Japanese autos. This documentary struggles to answer this very question.

Taxpayers face losses on a significant portion of the $81 billion in government aid provided to the auto industry, an oversight panel said in a report to be released Wednesday. The Congressional Oversight Panel did not provide an estimate of the projected loss in its latest monthly report on the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program. But it said most of the $23 billion initially provided to General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC late last year is unlikely to be repaid. "I think they drove a very hard bargain," said Elizabeth Warren, the panel's chairwoman and a law professor at...

General Motors Corp. is dropping the franchises of 70 percent of Cadillac dealerships nationwide and southeast Wisconsin is no exception, leaving only two area dealerships confirmed as continuing beyond 2010 — Metropolitan in West Allis and Crest in Brookfield. Metropolitan Cadillac, in fact, is running commercials urging customers whose dealers are closing to switch to its dealership. “My understanding is that there are a lot of Cadillac stores closing,” said Metropolitan president Max Stephenson. “The only two that are staying open are Metropolitan and Crest.” General Motors will not disclose the identities of dealerships that are closing. Only one area...

Bring on the war of words. In a frank conversation with MSN writer Lawrence Ulrich, Audi of America President Johan de Nysschen has said that the Chevy Volt will fail and that anybody who buys the car is an idiot. Not only that, de Nysschen has lumped proponents of any type of electric car into a category of “intellectual elite who want to show what enlightened souls they are.”

Bring on the war of words. In a frank conversation with MSN writer Lawrence Ulrich, Audi of America President Johan de Nysschen has said that the Chevy Volt will fail and that anybody who buys the car is an idiot. Not only that, de Nysschen has lumped proponents of any type of electric car into a category of "intellectual elite who want to show what enlightened souls they are." I'm guessing that means a fair amount of the people reading this would be considered idiots and pompous intellectual elites in Mr. de Nysschen's book. Funny that. Hearing an Audi executive...

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SHANGHAI (Reuters) - General Motors said on Sunday it has agreed to set up a light commercial vehicle production venture with major Chinese automaker FAW Group, with total investment of 2 billion yuan ($293 million).

"General Motors has quit working with a partnership that collects toxic parts from scrapped cars, jeopardising an effort to prevent mercury pollution just as hundreds of thousands of clunkers are headed to recyclers. Participants in the environmental programme told The Associated Press the timing of GM's departure could hurt their work. The government's "cash-for-clunkers" programme will lead to trade-in and recycling of an estimated 750 000 vehicles, some of which contain mercury switches. GM says it's a new company, formed with substantial government aid in the wake of bankruptcy protection, and is not a member of the partnership because it...

When Han Yanmin replaced his motorcycle with a low-cost minivan, he rejected Chinese carmakers and opted for General Motors. "GM technology makes it very reliable," Mr Han, a 32-year-old Beijing deliveryman, said while waiting to unload his nine-month-old Wuling Sunshine at a vegetable market. "All the folks in my village have bought Wulings." Detroit-based GM, majority-owned by the United States government after emerging from bankruptcy, has boosted vehicle sales on the mainland 43 per cent this year, helped by state subsidies and prices starting at 25,800 yuan (HK$29,278). That is less than 20 per cent the cost of a Chevrolet...

GM to form China venture, invest $293 million Partnership with FAW Group will produce light-duty trucks and vans Aug 30, 2009 SHANGHAI - General Motors said on Sunday it has agreed to set up a light commercial vehicle production venture with major Chinese automaker FAW Group, with total investment of $293 million. The 50-50 joint venture, based in the northeast China city of Changchun in Jilin province, will make light-duty trucks and vans, GM said in a statement. "For us in China, this is an important complement to the rest of our portfolio," Kevin Wale, president and managing director for...

General Motors has signed up to a 2bn yuan ($293m; £180m) joint venture with the Chinese state-owned carmaker FAW to make light trucks and vans. The vehicles will initially be sold in China under the FAW brand, but could in future be exported under the GM brand. They will be produced at existing FAW facilities in the cities of Changchun and Harbin. GM sold 818,442 vehicles in China in the first six months of 2009, compared with 1,094,561 in the whole of 2008. Demand was particularly strong for its minivans and other small vehicles. "For us in China, this...

Immediately following Obama's coup at General Motors, and near-takeover of Chrysler as well, there was about two weeks of news coverage of the shocking number of dealerships summarily, and seemingly arbitrarily, put out of business. The demand for explanation of why and how one dealership was killed, while another was spared execution, was ever so briefly loud, then quieted, and finally silenced. This front page story moved to the back pages and, in short order, to oblivion - and the questions it raised were never answered. Case in point: Ron Marhofer, the owner of Marhofer Chevrolet in the little burg...

Reporting from Los Angeles and Fremont, Calif. - Toyota Motor Corp.'s decision to abandon its assembly line in Fremont marks the end of large-scale auto manufacturing in California, which over the years boasted a dozen or more plants building vehicles ranging from Studebakers to Camaro muscle cars. The Japanese automaker said Thursday that it would end production at the plant March 31, throwing 4,700 people out of work, and return some production to Japan. It's another hard blow for California, a state already grappling with an 11.9% unemployment rate -- its highest since World War II and the fourth-worst in...

GM killed the beautiful electric street cars! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_NcwTbpIDQ You see them all over Europe; but who killed all the electric street cars in America? Answer: GM – The same people you bailed out this year with billions upon billions of free tax payer money! Criminal conspiracy chargers were pressed resulting in a fine of one dollar. Meanwhile, places that lost their street cars like LA, will need 150 billion to replace just a small portion of the electric street car system! How beautiful the world would be if the USA wasn’t run by elites who legally bribe their politicians. I...

All the analysts warned GM about emphasizing GM branding before creating and marketing great products. Turns out Obama’s first big GM marketing push with eBay is an epic failure. The pilot GM eBay program, currently being tested at 225 California dealerships, has not generated substantial sales to the disappointment of GM executives. GM dealers have posted 16,000 new vehicle listings, but sold only 45 vehicles through the ‘click & drive’ promotion. And while the first four listings are free, eBay charges $20.00 per vehicle for an eBay motors insertion fee–or in GM’s case, $360,000.00–which does not include the successful listing...

FREMONT, Calif. — Toyota Motor Corp. officially confirmed Thursday that it will relocate production of the Tacoma pickup from a (unionized) plant in Northern California to its state-of-the-art (non-unionized) manufacturing facility in San Antonio by next summer. The announcement came hours after the Japanese automaker ended its relationship with a joint venture plant in the San Francisco Bay area as part of an effort to reduce excess production capacity at plants around the globe and return to profitability. As part of the plan to shift Tacoma production to San Antonio, Toyota will stop making vehicles at the New United Motor...

Toyota Motor Corp. announced Thursday that it plans to end production in March 2010 at the Fremont, Calif., plant it has run with General Motors Co.