Full-size truck sales may have plummeted over the last two years, but that doesn't mean this segment is just going to go away. During the Detroit auto show, both General Motors and Nissan said they're working on redesigns of their full-size pickups, the Silverado/Sierra and Titan respectively.
The Chevrolet Silverado-GMC Sierra redesign was already in the plans but had been delayed by GM's bankruptcy. Now it has been approved at a cost of several hundred million dollars.
The Titan's future had looked far more doubtful after Nissan's short-lived partnership with Chrysler ended, eliminating any possibility of Nissan doing up its own version of the next-generation Ram. However, Mike Levine of PickupTrucks.com interviewed Larry Dominique, Nissan's vice president of product strategy, who told him that Nissan will go ahead and engineer a new Titan in-house. The tentative launch date is 2014.
Interestingly, Dominique again raised the idea that Nissan might build a heavy-duty three-quarter-ton version of the Titan. Such a truck would share its architecture with a possible production version of the NV2500, the commercial van concept Nissan unveiled in late 2008.
Detroit News, PickupTrucks.com
Categories: Chevrolet,GMC,Nissan,Trucks
# NAIAS
Say what you will about the concept of GMC doing its rendition of a Scion xB (goodness knows we've had a couple of choice words). But once you see the thing up close and in person, it's actually really well executed.
Sure, it wouldn't look a third as cool if it ever made it to production. But its beautifully finished interior, cool wheels and clever body surfacing serve as a nice counterpoint to the chrome-laden, body-kit-having crossover excess that is the GMC Acadia Denali parked next to it.
There is hope.
Categories: Concept Vehicles,Detroit Auto Show,GMC,General Motors
No one in the media had leaked anything about the GMC Granite yet, so General Motors took on the deed by itself. This detail photo was released today on the GM Labs design blog ahead of the Granite's debut next week at the Detroit Auto Show.
GM has described the Granite as an urban utility vehicle concept, which likely means it has all the toughness of a daisy combined with some really clever storage solutions for your smart phone.
Also, based on this computer-drawn silhouette, the Granite is smaller than any current GMC production vehicle, including the Terrain. It's also virtually identical in size and shape to the Scion xB.
So GMC is building us a box-shaped car named after an igneous rock.
GM Labs via Jalopnik
GM Labs Flickr
Categories: Crossovers,Detroit Auto Show,GMC,General Motors,SUVs
Bob Lutz has written up a list of New Year's resolutions for GM and we've published them exclusively here on Inside Line. Think of it GM's 2010 to-do list.
Product is on top. Lutz writes, "GM builds cars and trucks and crossovers. That is what we do. In 2009, we were given an opportunity to continue doing so, and we must not squander that opportunity. Therefore, we are resolved, if you will, not to lose sight of the fact that if we don't build the best cars, trucks and crossovers on the planet, that opportunity will go for naught."
Also on the list: Changing people's minds.
"It's not arrogant to think you have great vehicles, so long as you do, and to try to spread the word about them. No one at GM has said that every vehicle we have is world-class -- we still have room to improve. And no one at GM, including me, has said that the consumer is too dumb to realize how good our new products are. All we've said is that the consumer perhaps is unaware of said fact. That's a far cry from being dumb."
Read the full article and tell us what you think of Lutz's, and GM's, order of priorities.
Inside Line Exclusive Feature -- General Motors: The Year Ahead
Categories: Auto Industry,Buick,Cadillac,Chevrolet,GMC,General Motors
Ken Cole, vice president of governmental relations for General Motors, will retire after 8 years on the job. In his place, GM's interim CEO, Ed Whitacre, will install his own men, John Montford and Bob Ferguson, both former AT&T executives.
Cole was tangled up in all the Capitol Hill battles during the year of upheaval at GM; his counterpart at Chrysler, John Bozzella, has already moved on to take a position with Cerberus Capital, former owner of Chrysler. Cole will stay on with GM as an advisor "until his retirement later in 2010," according to GM.
Montford (top headshot) will serve as a special advisor to Whitacre, while Ferguson (lower headshot) will hold the formal of title of vice president of government relations. They'll both be on the job January 1.
Detroit Free Press
Categories: Auto Industry,Buick,Cadillac,Chevrolet,GMC,General Motors
Toyota recalled nearly 4.9 million vehicles in 2009 -- the most of any automaker in the U.S., the Detroit Free Press reports. This is the first time Toyota has ever led in annual recalls, and of course this milestone is the result of the floor mat debacle during which 4.3 million vehicles were recalled.
Free Press writers crunched the numbers on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Web site. Ford came up second with 4.5 million recalled vehicles -- most of them covered by recalls for cruise control switches that can catch fire, a chronic defect in older Fords.
Next up was GM was 2.2 million recalled vehicles, followed by Hyundai with just over 1 million and Nissan with 700,000+. Chrysler rounded out the top five with 590,000.
You can see the full list in the Free Press article.
Categories: Buick,Cadillac,Chevrolet,Chrysler,Dodge,Ford,GMC,General Motors,Hyundai,Infiniti,Jeep,Kia,Lexus,Lincoln,Manufacturers,Mercury,Nissan,Toyota
Although GM's headlining act at next month's 2010 Detroit Auto Show is the 2011 Cadillac CTS-V coupe, leaked reports across the internet indicate that the automaker will also show a Buick Regal GS. If approved for production, the GS would be the high-performance mode in the Regal line.
Inside Line has learned that the show car uses many parts from the European-spec Opel Insignia OPC shown here. There has been no confirmation of which engine is in the show car, much less any commitment on the motor that might be used in a hypothetical production car. But perhaps we'll see some Recaro seats and Brembo brake calipers.
It has also been leaked that GM will unveil a concept version of the Chevrolet Aveo called the RS (said to be larger than any production Aveo to date), plus a GM concept car called the Granite. The latter is described as an "urban utility vehicle," and you know how much we love those.
First Drive: 2011 Buick Regal
Categories: Auto Industry,Buick,Chevrolet,Detroit Auto Show,GMC,Opel,Sedans
After tidying up the executive ranks, new General Motors CEO Ed Whitacre set about in earnest to appoint a new chief financial officer. Today the company announced it has found one in the ranks at Microsoft. Chris Liddell will take over as GM vice chairman and CFO, effective January 2010. Liddell has been the CFO of Microsoft since May 2005.
Liddell takes over for current CFO Ray Young, who fell out of favor when the President's automotive taskforce laid into GM for its poor financial management. Young has been reassigned as CFO of GM's international operations and will be relocating from Detroit to Shanghai.
Before coming to Microsoft, Liddell was the CFO of International Paper, and before that, he was the CEO of Carter Holt Harvey Ltd., a paper products company in New Zealand. Liddell is a native New Zealander and holds an engineering degree from the University of Auckland, plus a masters in philosophy from Oxford University in England.
Categories: Auto Industry,Buick,Cadillac,Chevrolet,GMC,General Motors
Comedic levels ran high in Week 3 of the Straightline Friday Caption Contest. We laughed (hard) over very single one of captions you see here, including the winner submitted by thejohnp.
Hey kid! C'me here. I'll trade you this cool hat for your toys. (afdubas)
GM Board opens new oversight position in PR toy drive, to monkeys, because the old crew is busy making 80's dance videos and fixing its aftermath. (inlinesix)
I Promised? All I said was that you'd have a ball playing with your very own Terrain! (zc1)
You better not cry, better not pout, evil leering Monkey Paws is coming to town! (ergsum)
Thanks for applying kid, but your knowledge of automobiles and your above average language skills make you unsuitable for an executive/marketing job at GM. (roadburner)
GM offers a lesson in SUV parking for adults and toys for the kids. (vwthing1)
Curious George and his Manic Monkey Mafia demand protection money in the form of toys. (estreka)
Jeez people; we can at least PRETEND to be happy...... (mrryte)
And be sure to check out the caption contest winner over on our Long-Term Road Test blog.
Categories: GMC,Trends
Here's a scene from a General Motors-sponsored toy drive during which a GMC Terrain was used to haul the toys. But why is there a monkey in the driver-side rear window staring right into the camera? And why is he wearing a baseball glove?
While you're considering that, write a caption for the Long-Term Road Test Blog caption contest.
Categories: Crossovers,GMC,Trends
Nothing says, "I'm the life of the pre-game tailgate party," like an SUV with a chrome honeycomb grille. The 2011 GMC Acadia crossover will get the Denali treatment just in time for next fall's college football rivalry games.
Unlike the Yukons and Sierras of the recent past, though, there's no V8, nor any increase in horsepower, on the Acadia Denali, which has the same 288-hp, direct-injected 3.6-liter V6 as other Acadias. So you've got to like the chrome, as manifested on the grille and the almost-tasteful, two-tone 20-inch wheels.
Other exterior additions include HID headlights and body-color moldings and flares. The cabin of the 2011 Acadia Denali is sealed off more tightly from enebriated fans, thanks to laminated glass and triple door seals. While you're in there, you'll lounge in perforated leather seats (capable of heating or cooling your backside up front) while your eye feast on the mahogany inlays.
Otherwise, the Acadia Denali is equipped like the Acadia SLT-2 and includes tri-zone climate control, a 10-speaker audio system (with a USB hookup) and Bluetooth. In addition, the dual-pane sunroof and navigation system with back-up camera that are option on the SLT-2 are standard on the Denali.
Pricing hasn't been announced for the 2011 GMC Acadia Denali, which will come in both front- and all-wheel-drive versions. But given the near-$43K base price on the AWD Acadia SLT-2, we think $45,000 to start is a good guess.
Categories: Crossovers,GMC,SUVs
A week after General Motors cleaned house, asking Michael Richards' to "pursue other interests" after only 9 days at the helm of Buick-GMC, a successor has been named: Brian Sweeney will lead the Buick-GMC division.
Sweeney, 42, is a GM lifer having started his career as a regional sales manager for GMC in 1990. Since then, he has held positions at every one of GM's U.S. divisions, save for Saturn. Most recently, he was general sales manager for Buick-GMC, and Jennifer Costabile, Cadillac sales manager for the Southeast region, was also appointed to fill Sweeney's former position today.
Sweeney had been presiding over Buick-GMC on an interim basis, which is to say, 7 days.
Categories: Auto Industry,Buick,GMC,General Motors
Apparently, one Mr. Ed Whitacre makes no idle threats. When he mentioned in a web chat Tuesday that current GM execs have "not long" to prove themselves (with a creepily cheerful emoticon), we didn't now he meant 24-to-48-hours not-long.
Yesterday, GM announced that Chevrolet General Manager Brent Dewar would be retiring April 1, 2010 to "pursue personal interests..." and so forth and so on. He is to be replaced by James Campbell, another current GM staffer.
Now the company is confirming that Michael Richards (pictured above) will be leaving his post as Buick/GMC General Manager to "...pursue other interests..." and so forth and so on. In what must be one of the shortest tenures since we discovered that our job at Taco Bell would entail cleaning the bathrooms, Richards lasted only eight days. The good news there is that Richards probably didn't have time to arrange his favorite Dilbert cartoons and bobble-head collection in his new (old) office. No permanent replacement has been announced but Brian Sweeney, the brands' current sales manager, will serve as interim leader.
The move leaves Bryan Nesbitt, of Cadillac, as the last general manager standing.
Anyway, uh, Happy Holidays.
Categories: Auto Industry,Buick,Cadillac,Chevrolet,GMC,General Motors
Curious whether the new 2010 Honda Accord has an optional neck massager? How about the tow rating on the Ford F-150? And what about those European cars, they're always adding some new totally nonessential technological "feature."
Now there's an easy way to find out. Our 2010 Buyer's Guide lists every model change from every manufacturer. From colors to options to full redesigns, it's all there.
2010 Buyer's Guide
Categories: Acura,Aston Martin,Audi,BMW,Bentley,Bugatti,Buick,Cadillac,Chevrolet,Chrysler,Dodge,Ferrari,Fiat,Ford,GMC,General Motors,HUMMER,Honda,Hyundai,Infiniti,Jaguar,Jeep,Kia,Lamborghini,Land Rover,Lexus,Lincoln,Lotus,MINI,Maserati,Maybach,Mazda,Mercedes-Benz,Mercury,Mitsubishi,Nissan,Pontiac,Porsche,Rolls-Royce,SMART,Saab,Saturn,Scion,Subaru,Suzuki,Tesla Motors,Toyota,Volkswagen,Volvo
Although the 2010 GMC Terrain is not the "Professional Grade" Division's first unit-body-type crossover model (that would be the Acadia), it's fair to say there's skepticism surrounding its launch. It comes with a four-cylinder engine after all.
Chiseled fender flares give it a more truck-like, less grocery-getter appearance than the Chevrolet Equinox or Saturn Vue, though. Apart from that, it's just a useful compact SUV. Its five-passenger cabin is spacious, and even with electric-assist power steering, the Terrain's handling is crisp.
And, we might even take the base four-cylinder engine over the optional V6.
First Drive: 2010 GMC Terrain
Categories: Crossovers,GMC,SUVs
