Recorded on September 4, 2010

Shownotes:

• Check out the brand-spankin’ new GM Authority forum!
• Cause For Concern? GM U.S. Sales Down 24.9 Percent In August
• Breaking: Chevy Cruze Hatch Shows Its Face
• Report: GM Looking To Expand Opel Beyond Europe
• GM’s Next-Gen Compact Truck: Body-On-Frame Or Unibody? (With Poll)
• 2011 Buick Regal Earns “Good” Rating, Awarded Top Safety Pick
• Report: Cadillac To Gain All-New Slogan
• Chevrolet To Re-Appear In Super Bowl Advertising
• Ewanick Has Big Plans For GM’s Marketing
• Silverado Ads To Play On Chevy-Ford Rivalry

Starting September 7, we will begin seeing ads for the all-new Chevrolet Cruze. Four of the 30-second spots will be voiced by the very recognizable tone of Tim Allen.

Best known for his starring roles on the show Home Improvement as well as the Toy Story movies, voicing Buzz Lightyear, Allen could possibly steal the spotlight from the cars. According GM’s vice president of marketing Joel Ewanick, however, the stars of the ads will still be the cars.

Allen, who grew up in the suburbs of Detroit, is a well known automotive enthusiast who happens to be a Western Michigan University alum.

Will Allen also narrate the upcoming Chevrolet Superbowl ads? Only time will tell…

In other news, Howie Long is still missing.

View Press Release

The Saturn-badged Opel Astra was a cool little car that was fun and economical at the same time – a combination that has become quite rare nowadays. Nevertheless, this particular writer hopes that Chevrolet will make a three-door hatchback version of the Cruze five-door that will get its official debut in Paris. Anyone else hoping for a three-door Cruze?

While unexpected, the move to physically downsize the engine lineup of the most popular Chevrolet sedan makes sense, especially in light of new CAFE standards that are set to take effect in 2012 and last though 2016. More than anything, the decision underscores GM’s strengthened commitment to fuel economy.

While we aren’t privy to the actual four cylinder mills that will make their way into the new Epsilon II-based Malibu, we expect to see all the four-cylinder ECOTEC choices found in the Buick Regal, including the direct injected 2.4 liter LAF/LE9, the 2.0L low-output turbo (220 hp, 260 lbs.-ft. tq.) and the LNF high-output 2.0L turbo (260 hp, 260 lbs.-ft. tq.). A mild hybrid version of the ‘Bu will be offered as well.

What’s more, we’ve heard whispers that GM is working on an all-new 2.5 liter naturally-aspirated four cylinder ECOTEC, but this powerplant has not been confirmed at this time.

For those concerned about the availability of a six-cylinder engine in larger Chevrolet sedans, fear not: the next-gen Chevy Impala is rumored to offer a choice of six-cylinder engines, including the high-feature V6 (280 hp) and upcoming twin-turbo LF3. The latter may produce upwards of 350 horsepower and would match the power output of a V8 while attaining much better fuel economy.

The minute-long clip asks what you can do in 7 minutes, 59 seconds, and 32 one-hundredths. Of course, that’s the amount of time it took the mighty CTS-V sedan to lap the legendary Nürburgring, bestowing on the LSA-powered Caddy the title of the fastest production sedan on the planet.

The ad also gives credit where credit is due, mentioning the BMW M5 and Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG as vehicles that inspired Cadillac to engineer the CTS-V. The commercial closes with Caddy’s all-new tagline – The New Standard Of The World.

Just when we thought the Silverado SS was dead. Well, it still is – but it’s not stopping Callaway Cars from making a Chevrolet Silverado worthy of the badge. The 33-year-old tuning legend is currently in the very early stages of developing a high performance Silverado, most likely with the 6.2L V8 Vortec engine under the hood. The truck will probably receive all the goodies such as a supercharger and an all-new driveline.

The engine bay of the Callaway SC572 Camaro. Its LS3-based 6.2 liter V8 cranks out 572 horsepower and 541 lb-ft of twist - but what will the Silverado offer?

According to Pickuptrucks.com, a prototype version of the Callaway-tuned Silverado will materialize sometime by the end of this very year. However, what remains unknown is the output Callaway is aiming for with its latest project. Gauging from the 572-horsepower supercharged monster they created by tuning the LS3-powered Camaro SS (which normally puts out 426 hp), we could easily see a Silverado pickup punching out well over 500 hp and 500 lbs.-ft. of torque. Needless to say, we’re excited to see the rebirth of the high performance Silverado – and that Callaway chose Chevy once again. Stay tuned for more.

[Source:Pickuptrucks.com]

There is one thing that both teams and race fans never look forward to, and that is a red flag. A red flag that put an end to an exciting race at that. At 2 hours and 15 minutes in, Mosport ALMS 2010 presented by Mobil 1 was halted due to a devastating crash that left 60 yards of guard rail in disrepair. For Corvette Racing, it robbed them of another chance to win a race.

Before the race even started, Corvette Racing had a different strategy going into Mosport. Though winning the race was still the goal, the team decided to shuffle the drivers around, hoping for better driving combinations. Drivers Jan Magnussen and Olivier Beretta switched cars, pairing Magnussen with Oliver Gavin in the No. 4 Compuware C6.R and Beretta with Johnny O’Connell in the No. 3 car. The decision was made due to the drivers stating that they were more comfortable with a certain machine over the other. O’Connell started the race off in the No. 3 car, while Gavin began with the No. 4 C6.R, and the race got gritty for the team almost immediately.

Just before the 20th minute, O’Connell was forced to bring the No. 3 car to the pits due to damage on the side of the front bumper made from grinding with the Patron Tequila Ferrari 430. Though it was nothing a little bit of Bondo couldn’t fix, it forced the team into a bad spot early on, making the mountain to victory harder to climb. Nearly two hours after, the race came to an explosive halt.

Coming onto the Andretti Straightaway section of the track, Driver Luke Hines and the Orbit Racing Porsche 911 made contact with Jonny Cocker piloting the Drayson Racing No. 8 LMP race car, forcing Hines off the track and into the guard rail (watch it here). The Porsche smashed into pieces instantly, causing tires and debris to go flying all over the track. The car then recoiled of the rail and back into the track-  nearly into the Corvettes- and tore 24 posts and 60 yards of guard rail right out in the process. Luckily, Hines was no more than dizzy after the impact. The red flag was waved after a failed attempt to restore the mandatory guard rail, closing the race anticlimactically and bringing about the checkered flag to conclude the event. Corvette Racing program manager Doug Fehan has boiled down his team’s race into the following words:

“Success in racing requires 25 percent great car, 25 percent great team, and 50 percent good luck. We’ve got the first two handled, but we haven’t been able to get any good fortune. We had two cars that were good enough to win today, and after all that happened, they still had a shot to win it at the end. The premature end to the race was heartbreaking.”

It has now been ten races since Corvette Racing tasted victory. Corvette has one last chance to grab a win during the grueling Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta in Braselton, GA. The 10-hour/1,000 mile race will air on October 2nd at 11:15 AM and will be televised on SPEED from 11 AM to 9:30 PM ET.

This is the week when Dan Akerson officially takes the helm as CEO of General Motors, replacing Ed Whitacre. In hindsight, the timing was fairly predictable, although not many expected it. Whitacre was never intended to lead The General’s charge for the indefinite future, as his task was to restore the company back to profitability and, given the past two quarterly earnings, he has succeeded.

The GM board of directors, on which Akerson has served since July 2009, knew they would need to officially reveal the next CEO. The job required somebody who could successfully market the company to potential investors when it was time for the all-important Initial Public Offering (IPO), something Akerson is more than capable of: he has the attributes that should sit well with the wealthy crowd, given that they didn’t watch their previous shares of GM vaporize through bankruptcy.

Background

At the age of 61, Akerson has had a decorated career. He is a former naval officer, where he earned the reputation for being a results-driven individual. This is a quality GM needs when it comes to attaining our favorite automaker’s goal in the short- and long-term.

Akerson later earned his master’s degree at London School of Economics. He eventually went on to lead telecom giants such as MCI, Nextel and XO Communications. He’s also quite the mover and shaker in the financial investment community with the Carlyle Group, which he has been with since 2003.

Before taking on his position as CEO, he was the managing director and head of global buyouts for the Group. The experience and connections he has gained through working with The Carlyle Group will no doubt aid Akerson in pitching GM stock to first-round investors. The Carlyle Group was ranked as the largest private equity investment group in 2007 (during Akerson’s tenure) and its portfolio of firms employs over 415,000 people worldwide.

In With The “In” Crowd

Akerson’s private equity experience grants him respect in the investment cliques (a.k.a. Wall Street) and brings outside knowledge, point-of-view, and experience – attributes that GM veterans may lack. And while, at the age of 61, he may seem ripe for retirement, he is still young and energetic enough to hang around the halls of the Ren Cen for a while. He is also known to politically lean the conservative side.

Unfortunately, one of the drawbacks of yet another new CEO at GM is employees’ fear of even more change. Many significant shakeups and executive shuffles have occurred within the year GM has exited bankruptcy and another one could be only days or weeks away now that Akerson has take the reigns. However, outgoing CEO Ed Whitacre has vouched for Akerson – claiming he is ready to lead the company and that he already knows GM well, having been a member of the board of directors of the New GM for about a year.

An executive of a GM supplier commented that – above all else – the automaker needs stability in the executive level right now. Hopefully, Akerson can provide this stability and be the last new CEO for the next several years to come.

[Source: Freep]

Though General Motors is describing the unveiled version as a “show car” (meaning it’s somewhere in the middle between a concept and production version), the production model will see very few changes when it finally hits the streets. Expect the strings of LED lights on the lower front fascia and blue brake calipers to disappear. However, something that won’t go away will be the 400 L (14 cu.ft.) of total cargo space.

In Europe, hatchbacks make up around 65 percent of the entire compact market, which makes up 4.8 million vehicles across the board. Therefore, it’s easy to see why GM Europe will get the Cruze hatch first. Let’s hope for its eventual arrival in North America.

View Press Release

In North America, we know Opel in such vehicles as the Cadillac Catera, Saturn Aura, and Buick Regal. However, none of these products actually wear the Opel badge in their respective export markets. As such, it comes as a surprise that GM is looking to expand the Opel brand to international markets all over the world.
Currently, Opel is one of The General’s brands that has very little exposure outside of Europe. Earlier last year, GM tested Opel in the Chinese market by offering a limited range of Opel models, including the (old) Astra sedan and hatchback, Zafira, and Antara. The trial run moved 4,000 cars and contributed to GM’s decision to initiate a full-scale launch of Opel in China. The General hopes to position Opel as a premium European brand in the burgeoning country, joning the already-successful Buick brand.

Over the last few years, the Chinese auto market has been on a tremendous upswing, with a sizable amount of consumers attaining the ability to afford a premium vehicle. At this point, it is unclear how Opel will overlap with Buick in China and whether the two brands will offer the same vehicles with different badges (Opel Insignia and Buick Regal, Opel Astra and Buick Excelle). Needless to say, the GM Authority crew certainly hopes that GM isn’t up to its old tricks of badge engineering all over again.

In addition to China, GM is looking to bring Opel into Australia and various markets in the Asia-Pacific and South American regions. It’s currently unknown whether North America is a candidate for the European brand, but given GM’s decision to send Pontiac and Saturn to the automotive graveyard last year, we find it highly unlikely.

[Source: Left Lane News]

2011 Opel Insignia

2011 Buick Regal – GM Authority First Drive