GM Sweeps Auto Show's Truck, Car Awards

[Mark E. Smith]

DETROIT - General Motors Corp. swept the 2007 North American Car and Truck of the Year
awards Sunday, with top honors going to the new Aura produced by its Saturn division and
the redesigned Chevrolet Silverado pickup.

The Aura beat out the other two finalists for the car award, the Honda Fit and the Toyota
Camry. The Silverado bested the Ford Edge and the Mazda CX-7.

The sweep represents the first time in the award's 14-year history that a single U.S. auto
maker has won both awards. Last year, Japan's Honda motors won both the car and truck
title, the first time any carmaker had taken both spots.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16513647/

World Class Union Made American steel. Hope you're OK with that.

[billbuckhead]

1. Aura is copy of Opel

In fact most Saturns will soon be US versions of Opels, i guess it's better than what they were.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

11. Oh my God it's a fucking Vectra!

Run away! Run away!!!

[Mark E. Smith]

14. You obviously have no idea of what you're talking about

I own an L300, also based on a European Opel design.
180,000 trouble free miles. My third Saturn.

Going to trade it in for an Aura.

My experience has been great.

[Larkspur]

2. Was this the Gas Guzzler award sweep?

The GM CEO is planning on laying off thousands of more GM employees because GM's sales are way down. This CEO thinks building more gas guzzlers is the wave of the future when Americans are looking to purchase hybrids.

I have no problem praising American made stuff, but I have problems when American corporate leadership is run by neanderthals who think we still live in the 1950's.

[Dover]

10. Their confidence probably stems from their ongoing support of the Iraq

invasion for oil. And Iran is now on the menu. Oh boy! A round of oil for everyone at the bar!
Guzzle up.

[AX10]

3. Quite sad to see that gas guzzlers got these awards.

That's why Toyota and Honda are the future of the automotive industry.

[Ibleedgreen]

5. Toyota unveils its biggest truck

Why no attention to Toyota introducing even biggest truck? If this been one of the Big 3 there would be endless critism.

http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070107/BUSINESS03/70107018

[A Simple Game]

7. Welcome to DU Ibleedgreen.

Perhaps there is no attention paid to Toyota's bigger truck because it isn't about the size of the truck, it's who makes the truck.

I have never owned a foreign build car or truck, and never plan to, there is no need, American cars and trucks are built very well. I have never had a major problem with any and I have owned several. Then again I was a union member for 30 years and still feel that unions are good for America and any other country.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

20. heh heh. My GM product (a small pickmup device) is for shit.

a manufacturing flaw caused the radiator to get blocked, causing 3 blown trannies and one engine. only the engine was covered. (the radiator also cooled the transmission, causing it to overheat)

knobs for the seat control broke off. The brakes developed a leak, an installation error caused a cracked windshield, AND the spare fell off last week on a highway because the mechanism holding it underneath the body of the pick up decided to break off. The vehicle has 51,000 miles on it.

I will NEVER EVER BUY GM AGAIN. EVER. NEVER EVER.

The only thing worse than their quality control is their response to service requests while under warranty.

Oh, on edit, my neighbor has a similar model, with similar problems. Both were made in the USA.

[MindPilot]

23. I've worked for GM, Ford, Chrysler and Toyota.

And my experience has been that GM's support of their service departments are far and away the worse in the industry.

[tabasco]

12. Maybe because Toyota has been supplying us with economical,

reliable, and efficient vehicles for years now.

Go buy a clue. :dunce:

[JCMach1]

19. There are many US models that are the same, or better

than their Asian cousins. There are many U.S. models that stand up well. In the U.S., I owned several Buicks. The 1989 Wagon will basically run forever. No rust through. Original paint job was still fine. When my father sold it to a neighbor it had 250,000 miles. All you do is change the oil, tires, and brake pads when they wear out. Even the air conditioner was fine. It was a V6 family sized station wagon that got 28mpg.

The guy my dad sold it to is still driving it even long distance to this day. I get to see it go by on the highway when I come home.

I still love Buicks. High quality and long-lasting

[tinymontgomery]

30. First American Car I brought

was a buick regal back in 01. Will never buy another, 2 months after the 36 month warranty the engine blew. The front end went out and the heated driver seat element had to be replaced. Has had a small oil leak that is almost impossible to get to to stop. Replaced all the items that broke and the heat element went out again at 13 months. Will never buy a buick again. Have had 2 Mazda's and drive them forever. My protege has 187,000 miles and keeps on ticking (knock on wood).

[screembloodymurder]

13. Actually the GM truck has pretty good EPA mileage numbers ...

over 20 mpg on the highway. Let's give credit where credit is due.

[JohnnyRingo]

4. It's about time

As a retired GM auto worker, I've watched helplessly for years as corporate accountants made design decisions.

I watched Chrysler roll out the Magnum and the 300, the PT Cruiser and now the retro Challenger. Ford introduced the new Mustang to breath youthful vigor into their line.

Japanese automakers led the way with SUV crossovers, filling a niche between mini vans and pretentious SUV battle tanks. They mass produced left-hand vehicles with Americanized names like Highlander to tap a vast car loving market.

All the while, GM remained conservatively frugal, relying on unemployed domestic autoworkers to loyally buy the same old front wheel drive bubble cars adorned with cosmetic updates.

Their desperation shone through as they discontinued the F body (Camaro) and the someday classic GTO because rear wheel drive cars cost an extra $75 to build. They refused to explore vast asian and Euro markets by producing a car with the steering wheel only on the left side, though with the dollar on the decline, they would be a remarkable value there. It would be years before they "discovered" live axles or rack & pinion steering. GM's idea of innovation was well placed cup holders.

All the while, shoulders were shrugged at board meetings as they looked for a scapegoat for their own lack of vision. Of course, that scapegoat turned out to be...me.

They bought the jobs of myself and thousands of my friends and union brothers and sisters to reduce costs, apparently unaware that discharging the people who build your product makes little sense and creates a class of people who can no longer afford the product that can only be marketed domestically.

Now that as a retiree I've adopted the unfortunate label "legacy cost", I know the bean counters still hold the purse strings, but I hope they have the survival instincts to let a car guy like current CEO Bob Lutz take over design and marketing.

There's a story about Lutz when he came to GM a couple years ago:

He held his 1st meeting with an easel featuring a picture of an Aztec mini van.
He asked the design bureau how such a short lived, ugly, and expensive project ever went from drawing board to assembly line.
The answer was that Lutz's predecessor was thrilled with the design. Thinking he had his elderly and very unhip finger on the pulse of America's youth he seeked the approval of those who collectively make the transition from drawing board to showroom.
Since dissent was not a way to a successful career at GM, the room turned into a group of eager yes men and the Aztec went to tooling and into hasty production.

That CEO soon went on to a lucrative retirement deserving of a corporate mastermind.
I've yet to hear the GM accountants refer to Battenburg as a "legacy cost".
In light of their recent success at the auto show, I hope the best for GM and finally see some light at the end of a long, dark, and cold conservative tunnel.

Thanx for posting

JohnnyRingo
AFL/CIO Local 717

[sarcasmo]

6. Johnny, What plant were you at? My Dad is retiring when his plant closes in Saginaw.

He also worked at the plant in Defiance, Ohio during the 80's cutback time.

[JohnnyRingo]

17. In Warren, OH

What is now Delphi, formerly Packard Electric Division of General Motors.
When I started in 1972 with 14,000 other co-workers, they were hiring at 100 a day. I almost considered quiting and taking an offered job at the Lordstown Fab plant where they were building the Camaros. I stayed for 30 more years as my father did before me.

I stayed and watched as my union was forced to accept concession after concession.
First it was the "branch plants" where they moved us to various satellite plants around the county, then they bargained to open a plant in Mississippi which also unionized. Then came the Mexico move. We agreed on condition that no one here would ever lose our jobs. The company assured us that "only labor intensive jobs would go south", retaining the "high tech" jobs here.

The company agreed that jobs would only be exported as workers retired or left the company. When greed took over, the "jobs bank" was formed to occupy those whose jobs were being increasingly performed out of the country.

All along the way, we tried hard to compete with both Japanese and domestic wiring suppliers..."Beat Yazaki" and "Essex will overtake us". these bogus competitions cost us much of our health care and stagnated wages on the faith that we were protecting our jobs.

Around then I began working the shipping floor and for years watched as machines were banded to skids and sent to the border in the same trucks that brought the wiring harnesses here for distribution to GM plants nationwide.

By the millennium we were down to about 4000 jobs and continued to cooperate with the new Delphi to cut labor costs. Last year Delphi gave us a "take it or leave it" offer to buy out the remaining jobs for a one time payment to walk away and cut all ties. this has left about 1200 workers who will probably just be laid off permanently this year.

Now the GM plant in nearby Lordstown, one of the most modern assembly plants in N America where they now build the Cobalt is telling the workers there that they will have to "compete" with other US and foreign plants for the next platform when Cobalt production ends next year or they will mothball the plant.

The handwriting is on the wall, low wages...or no wages.
GM made Trumbull County a good place to live and work, now they leave behind broken dreams, un-affordable mortgages, and boarded up businesses.

Through the span of 30 years we never struck either plant and worked hand in hand with the company to lower costs and increase production. I have a hard time accepting responsibility for any failures by management, but hope GM can be turned around with a return to domestic hiring and international sales instead of the other way around.

You see, I have grandchildren here.

[JNelson6563]

18. Thanks for the insightful posts Johnny

I really appreciate your insights and hope other DUers do too. So easy for all to just toss out a snappy one liner about how Toyota or Honda are so great and to totally forget the human part of the equation.

I hope the perspective you've shared here will help with that.

Julie--whose dad was a GM man for many years

[yardwork]

25. Thank you for this informative post!

Many of us who would prefer to buy Detroit-made have watched the same stupidity, greed, and indifference drive domestic car design into the ground. It's the same problem throughout the country, with all our industries.

It's the same problem with our entire energy sector, actually. We could have developed electric cars and solar energy decades ago, were it not for the greedy fools running the gas and petroleum industry and their collaborators in Congress and the White House.

[JohnnyRingo]

29. Agreed....Once was a time when a CEO worked to nurture a company...

...and leave behind a legacy of a stronger business model than when he/she took over. It was about pride and love of the business.

Now it seems obscenely overpaid CEOs strive to make certain they fatten their own wallets to ensure themselves a lifetime of luxery....while leaving an empty bankrupt shell of a company in the wake of their tenure. Certainly greed has replaced pride in today's corporate world.

I'm reminded of the recent departure of Home Depot's CEO who resigned in disgrace amid accusations of "improprieties at an executive level" and miserable stock performance.
He accepted his $240m severance package and cleaned out his desk.

The standard answer for why directors make such lofty agreements to execs is "to lure competent leaders from other companies".
Maybe they can give the next CEO an even half billion and hope he devotes his life to the company instead of shopping for his own Caribbean island.

Meanwhile blame the employees for being overpaid and lazy.

[Owl]

8. Great News!

It's great to see General Motors fighting it's way back with a re-newed vision and engineering prowess!

[Dover]

9. The E-Voting for Car Of The Year was conducted by Diebold.

The competition was organized by the producer of American Idol.

[depakid]

15. Too bad it took staring into the face of bankruptcy

for management to make a modest course correction.

[Psephos]

36. In business as in personal life, it's looming catastrophe that brings the deepest change

Let's hope they've learned.

Peace.

[Blue_Tires]

16. they better get that new Camaro out to market fast

to help turn things around (and the car needs to be damn-near flawless)

[CRF450]

32. Hell yeah!

I'v seen one at an auto show, and its a pretty damn fine car! I'm still keeping my 01 Trans Am though!

People, not all GM cars a crap. My T/A is my only vehicle now, and so far with 70k miles on it, its been a very reliable car, while averaging 24mpg, and it has reached 32mpg on a interstate trip. I still cant believe the new Mustang GT's are slower! Not by much in the 1/4 mile, but because they have the aerodynamics of a brick compared to an f-body, their top speed is much slower!

I had a 94 v6 camaro as my first car, that had around 160,000 miles and have gona through 40k miles without any major problems. And it actually got worse fuel milage than the T/A too! I'll admit the interior quality is cheap & crappy feeling, but they dont rattle as much as my dad's 2000 S-10.

I'm a GM guy, and I know many of their past vehicles (except some of them) were garbage, but I have faith in them for a turn around. An earlier poster pointed out that the milage of the new Volt could range from over 50mpg to 150mpg, I'd say thats pretty damn good! Lets just hope they gain a better reputation in reliability, quality, and fuel efficiency in the next several years. Theire are some imports that I wont mind having in the driveway, but I'm waiting to see what GM releases over the next few years.

[Blue_Tires]

33. welcome to the site!!

[tammywammy]

34. I saw that new Camero last year

at the auto show. It's a definite sweeeeet ride. If I was in the market for a retro-muscle car I think that would be in my top choices.

[Javaman]

21. More bullshit and mirrors...

GM had the auto industry by the balls when they came out with the EV-1. But because of their basically back-wards thinking, they thought that by producing the EV-1 they were "giving in" to the environmentalists. I'm still trying to figure that one out. So they lobbied, they made backroom deals, they did negative PR and had the California law for a zero emission standards rolled back and they were once again happy as a pig in shit.

Fast forward today...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16516727/

GM dominates stage as Detroit show opens
Automaker sweeps awards, unveils plug-in concept, looks for gains in '07

(Snip)

On the first day of the 2007 North American International Auto Show, GM swept the car and truck of the year honors and wowed critics with its Chevrolet Volt sedan concept, which boasts a battery-powered electric motor that will be able to run for up to 40 city miles on a single charge.

So correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the EV-1 get 75-150 mile range?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_EV1

If you note in the article that GM doesn't state when the electric car is going to come out (sighting the need for more research into battery technology), it's just one more of their bullshit prototype cars that they parade out to make those of us who give a damn about the environment reason to salivate for one.
(didn't they do with this with a hydrogen car as well? what happened to that one?)
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/09/12/eveningnews/main2002959.shtml and here http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2006/08/gms_hydrogen_se.html
However, they are fully aware of what they are doing and have no intension of releasing a date or ever releasing that car on the general public.

And what is with this bullshit mileage of 40 miles to the charge? That was done purposely so people would say, "well, I will never buy that car, it doesn't go far enough". This is to insure that they still sell their gas guzzlers and at the same time show that they are "environmentally conscious".

So my question to all those who hail GM as making a comeback by spewing out more and more giant trucks, SUV's and Pickups and say woo hoo, they produce more 30 mpg cars than anyone one else and are happy about them producing 20 mpg trucks, take a gigantic step back and see what you are saying?

20 mpg??? Gas has gone up at the pump and the best people can yell about is 20 mpg for a truck????

Statistically, mpg on cars hasn't gone up but down over the last 25 years. We should be driving cars and trucks that get 40+ mpg by now!

This is in a nut shell why I will never ever buy a GM vehicle, why? Because what ever you think about them, they have set the pace in auto industry in this country if not the world for what people will buy regardless of what we demand. They called the shots and all the others followed; now the shoes on the other foot and die-hard GM buyers and supporters are pissed at those of us that refuse to buy into the whole support Gm/America bullshit, as Toyota leaps ahead.

Toyota is killing everyone because they are setting up the new rules. Their PR team knows what's going on and sees the writing on the wall. The general public’s opinion is changing.

Just more bullshit and mirrors from GM.

[Ibleedgreen]

26. double standard

The Volt is not a pure electric I suspect if this was Toyota concept you would singing its praises.

http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070107/BUSINESS03/701110330


The Volt is called a plug-in hybrid because its batteries can be charged from a standard household outlet. However, it also features a tiny 1.0-liter gasoline engine that replenishes the batteries that run its electric motor if they run low. It would never run out of electricity, even if driven around the clock. The engine functions solely to power an on-board generator. It never drives the wheels directly.

Without starting the gasoline engine, the Volt could go 40 to 45 miles on a full charge -- a distance GM says covers daily commuting for 78% of the American public

In pure electric mode, the Volt would not use any gasoline. For longer drives where gas is used, fuel economy would range from a low of about 53 m.p.g. to a maximum of more than 150 m.p.g., depending on the length of the trip and how often the engine ran to charge the batteries.




You can't complain about GM spewing more pickups and SUV while Toyota is doing the same thing. There seems to be a double standard it's perfectly fine for Toyota introduce a bigger truck to better compete with Big 3.

[Javaman]

28. No double standard, just more GM bullshit...

Yeah, GM's "new" car is a "hybrid" yeah it plugs in, but the point is is to be off of fossil fuels period. AND it's still a concept car.

I'm fully aware that toyota came out with a giant SUV, but my point of my post was that GM is failing miserably because they have lost the PR war with more and more bullshit. They don't listen to a public that want more fuel efficient cars. They just shove down our throats what will get them the biggest pay off. Perhaps if they build something that gets more that 25 mpg they public would buy it. As it is, their sales are flat because they don't listen to the public.

GM had a great car in the EV-1 and chose against better judgment to destroy it. now they are coming out with a concept car that has no production date. More bullshit on their part.
GM had the EV-1 and the got rid of it Why? answer me that.

Hell, at least toyota is actively producing hybrids. And building on what they have by producing newer and better versions.

What does GM do? They come out with concept cars and SUV's that get 20 mpg.

Sorry your argument doesn't work for me.

[MindPilot]

22. Geez, could that thing be any more difficult to look at?!

GM has built some of the ugliest vehicles on the road in recent years. They haven't quite matched the Chrysler 300 for sheer eyeball abuse but they are a close second.

And as far as these "awards" go, they are handed out by automotive magazines, judged by the writers of those magazines, who are of course totally dependent on car company advertising revenue. It's a sham.

[Sadie5]

24. JohnnieRingo-check this out

QUOTE<By the millennium we were down to about 4000 jobs and continued to cooperate with the new Delphi to cut labor costs. Last year Delphi gave us a "take it or leave it" offer to buy out the remaining jobs for a one time payment to walk away and cut all ties. this has left about 1200 workers who will probably just be laid off permanently this year.>

They are not without a job. Those workers who remain are being placed in other GM plants. many of them are now in Indianapolis.

[JohnnyRingo]

31. Delphi Warren is not GM

Packard Electric was spun off from GM several years ago to avoid appearance of association in order to gain trust and business from other car makers.
It seemed to work as the newly formed Delphi gained business from auto Mercedes, Chrysler, and Ford. (I worked the shipping floor)

No one from Warren was offered a transfer to another plant, GM or otherwise.
I found that only about 500 remain employed here with about 3100 accepting the buyout. Delphi is currently hiring low wage temps to keep the wheels moving while they phase out the operation. I know this because many of my friends were forced out and none of them were offered a transfer.

Perhaps some management employees relocated, but I haven't heard of it:

____________________________________________________________________________

Some 3,130 out of Delphi Packard’s 3,800 hourly work force took buyouts or retirement to leave the auto parts maker, whose parent, Delphi Corp., is reorganizing in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

http://www.tribune-chronicle.com/business/articles.asp?articleID=12817

workers 50 or older with ten or more years on the job and buyouts of $140,000 for workers with ten or more years who agree in exchange to sever all ties with GM and Delphi.

http://www.laborradio.org/node/2863

The union made gains in the buyout offerings by creating a third tier for workers compared with an earlier attrition program available to both traditional and competitive rate workers. Whether retirement eligible or not, workers with at least 10 years' seniority can take a $140,000 buyout payment to sever ties with the company. Workers with between three and 10 years' seniority are eligible for a $70,000 buyout, while those with between one year and three years' seniority can receive $40,000. Workers taking the buyout will give up any claim to retiree health benefits.

http://www.cwa-union.org/news/page.jsp?itemID=27711755

[jarab]

27. The remaining GM workers needed some good news for a change. nt

...O...

[AtomicKitten]

35. I trust they will regret literally burying their EV1

now with Chevy's Volt unveiled. Chris Paine's "Who Killed the Electric Car?" is really starting to resonate.