General Motors may bring ChatGPT to vehicles, saying the technology is going to be in everything.”
ChatGPT has taken the world by storm, with Microsoft working to integrate its successor into its Bing search engine. Companies across industries are following suit, looking for innovative ways to tap into the power of conversational AI.
According to Reuters, GM sees potential in integrating ChatGPT with its vehicles. The tech could be used to help program garage door openers, access information that would normally be found in the manual, or access scheduling information.
“This shift is not just about one single capability like the evolution of voice commands, but instead means that customers can expect their future vehicles to be far more capable and fresh overall when it comes to emerging technologies,” a GM spokesperson said.
“ChatGPT is going to be in everything,” GM Vice President Scott Miller told Reuters.
General Motors is investing $650 million in Lithium Americas to help develop the Thacker Pass lithium mine in Nevada.
As automakers transition to electric vehicles, the lithium needed for battery production is quickly becoming one of the most important elements to the automotive supply chain. GM wants to ensure it has access to all the supplies it will need and is willing to invest in Lithium Americas to make that happen.
“GM has secured all the battery material we need to build more than 1 million EVs annually in North America in 2025 and our future production will increasingly draw from domestic resources like the site in Nevada we’re developing with Lithium Americas,” said GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra. “Direct sourcing critical EV raw materials and components from suppliers in North America and free-trade-agreement countries helps make our supply chain more secure, helps us manage cell costs, and creates jobs.”
“The agreement with GM is a major milestone in moving Thacker Pass toward production, while setting a foundation for the separation of our U.S. and Argentine businesses,” said Lithium Americas President and CEO Jonathan Evans. “This relationship underscores our commitment to develop a sustainable domestic lithium supply chain for electric vehicles. We are pleased to have GM as our largest investor, and we look forward to working together to accelerate the energy transition while spurring job creation and economic growth in America.”
GM has imposed certain conditions to its investment, however, including court approval for the mining operation to move forward, as well as a reorganization of Lithium Americas.
GM’s investment will be split between two tranches. The funds for the first tranche will be held in escrow until certain conditions are met, including the outcome of the Record of Decision ruling currently pending in U.S. District Court. If those conditions are met, the funds will be released and GM will become a shareholder in Lithium Americas. The escrow release is expected to occur no later than the end of 2023. The second tranche investment is expected to be made into Lithium Americas’ U.S.-focused lithium business following the separation of its U.S. and Argentina businesses and is contingent on similar conditions, including Lithium Americas securing sufficient capital to fund the development expenditures to support Thacker Pass.
GM’s investment will likely be followed by similar measures from other automakers as demand for lithium continues to skyrocket.
GM is shutting down its Fort Wayne, Indiana pickup truck factory for two weeks as a result of the semiconductor shortage.
Despite chipmakers’ efforts to boost production, the semiconductor shortage continues to take a toll on various industries, with automakers especially susceptible to supply and demand issue. According to the Houston Chronicle, this is now causing GM to halt production at the Fort Wayne facility.
“There is still uncertainty and unpredictability in the semiconductor supply base, and we are actively working with our suppliers to mitigate potential issues moving forward,” GM said Friday.
Unfortunately for the industry, there doesn’t appear to be a quick resolution in sight. In fact, the Russian invasion of Ukraine threatens to exacerbate the situation even more, as Ukraine is responsible for 90% of the neon gas used in semiconductor manufacturing.
The White House is discussing the ongoing semiconductor crisis with companies as the auto industry is poised to lose $210 billion in revenue.
The semiconductor crisis has taken a major toll on the auto industry, with manufacturers around the world being impacted. For example, GM recently announced it would shut down most of its American plants as a result of the shortage, and had previously said it would ship some 2021 trucks without their full complement of chips, leading to 1 MPG less than previous models.
Companies are taking various measures to ease the shortage. Intel has said it will start producing chips for the auto industry, but warned it would take months before its first chips were produced.
In the meantime, a report from AlixPartners is warning the crisis will cost auto makers $210 billion in revenue in 2021, exacerbated by a COVID-19 outbreak in Malaysia, a main hub for automotive semiconductor manufacturing.
“Of course, everyone had hoped that the chip crisis would have abated more by now, but unfortunate events such as the COVID-19 lockdowns in Malaysia and continued problems elsewhere have exacerbated things,” said Mark Wakefield, global co-leader of the automotive and industrial practice at AlixPartners. “Also, chips are just one of a multitude of extraordinary disruptions the industry is facing—including everything from resin and steel shortages to labor shortages. There’s no room for error for automakers and suppliers right now; they need to calculate every alternative and make sure they’re undertaking only the best options.”
At the same time, the White House is engaging with companies in an effort to determine what measures can be taken to ease the crisis. According to TheStreet, executives from Apple, Ford, General Motors, Intel, Microsoft and Samsung were expected to attend a meeting at the White House Thursday to discuss the issues.
Unfortunately, in the short term, there appears to be no quick fixes or easy answers to the problem.
General Motors has made its OnStar Guardian software available for non-GM vehicles.
OnStar Guardian is the company’s mobile app, designed to improve safety. For example, OnStar Guarding uses smartphone sensors to detect a crash and alert an Emergency-Certified OnStar Advisor4.
“We are excited to deliver the power and promise of OnStar’s key safety features to more people in more places with the expanded launch of OnStar Guardian,” said Santiago Chamorro, GM vice president of Global Connected Services. “Over the past year, we’ve heard incredible stories that illustrate how OnStar Guardian has helped our members. As pandemic-related restrictions relax and people begin to travel again, we understand it is important that everyone feels protected and connected. That is why we are expanding this subscription offering based on our expansive insights.”
The app is available on iOS and Android, and users can add up to seven additional individuals in the MyFamily section. The app is available to all GM drivers with an OnStar subscription. Non-GM drivers can download the app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store and purchase a standalone subscription.
GM is joining the list of companies, including its biggest competitor Ford, in embracing remote work.
The pandemic has upended many industries, with remote work becoming an important element in keeping many businesses operational during lockdowns and quarantine. Remote work has been so successful that many in the tech industry have opted to embrace remote and hybrid work permanently. Companies outside the tech industries have started doing the same, with Ford making headlines in March with its decision to allow 30,000 employees to work from home permanently.
GM has now joined that growing list of companies, with its “Work Appropriately” approach, unveiled by CEO Mary Barra in a LinkedIn blog post.
The learnings and successes of the last year led us to introduce how we will manage the future of work at GM, called “Work Appropriately.” This means that where the work permits, employees have the flexibility to work where they can have the greatest impact on achieving our goals. The notion behind this approach – that our employees are capable of making smart decisions without overly prescriptive guidance – is the same notion behind our dress code, “Dress Appropriately.”
Barra frames the decision in the context of attracting top talent. Numerous studies have shown that remote and flexible work options have become so important to many employees, that 29% would rather quit their jobs than go back to the office. More than 50% would be willing to trade vacation days for the ability to continue working remotely.
GM recognizes the importance of flexible work options in the context of attracting the top talent needed for it to reach its long-term goals.
Achieving our all-electric future will require attracting and retaining top talent, and we are excited to focus our employee engagement and hiring on the work, and not the where in many cases. We’re already adapting our recruitment efforts to include hiring positions that are designated specifically as remote.
GM’s decision, along with Ford’s, will put further pressure on Toyota and other manufacturers to follow suit.
General Motors is planning to add 3,000 tech jobs in the near future to support its software and vehicle initiatives.
Like many automakers, GM has been working to transform its business, adopting new technologies and keeping up with the digital transformation. Complex entertainment systems, autonomous cars and electric vehicles are just some of the biggest trends automakers are dealing with.
GM recently announced it was investing $2 billion in its electric vehicle manufacturing. The company isn’t stopping there, however, as it is also planning on 3,000 new hires in an effort to shore up its electric vehicle efforts. The jobs will also include more remote work opportunities.
“GM wants to hire electrical system and infotainment software engineers as well as developers for Java, Android, iOS and other platforms,” according to the Houston Chronicle. “The company says it wants to increase diversity with the new hires to build on its existing software expertise.”
This is just the latest development illustrating how important software programmers have become to the automotive industry, and will continue to be in the years ahead.
During the economic recession, large SUVs became something on an eyesore to Americans.
Their sudden lack of popularity hurt companies like General Motors (GM), and made Americans who drove SUVs feel somewhat like pariahs.
But the large SUVs that U.S. citizens have shied away from for so long may be making a comeback. This resurgence in popularity may be due to the one thing that sparked much of the backlash in the first place—gas prices.
In recent months, gas prices have dropped significantly. The cost per gallon hit $3.00 or lower throughout the U.S.
GM recently reported $400 million dollars in third quarter earnings thanks to the renewed popularity of SUVs in America. Ford said its company made nearly $281 million in North America during the same period.
Americans aren’t the only ones falling in love with the spacious SUVs once more. These larger vehicles are also quickly finding popularity around the globe.
Karl Brauer, a senior analyst for car-buying site Kelley Blue Book, compared large SUVs to a genie “out of the bottle”.
“[SUVs have] been discovered by enough people that you’ll never put them back,” said Brauer.
And it isn’t just the smaller SUVs created by companies to survive the economic recession; non-Americans are very much impressed with the larger SUVs.
Brazilians love the spaciousness; Indians love their ability to navigate tough roads and conditions.
The biggest fans of big SUVs? That would be the Chinese, who analysts expect to represent the largest market for the vehicles by 2018.
In a surprise to everyone, the ordinarily environmentally conscious French is hot on their heels when it comes to purchasing large SUVs.
With so many nations taking a second look at SUVs, one wonders whether or not this renewed interest in a once despised product is permanent.
Though Americans believe that the drop in gas prices are to thank for SUVs popularity, we should remember that this fuel is typically more expensive abroad than we are used to. And so fuel prices wouldn’t be much of a factor in their popularity abroad.
Perhaps large SUVs should thank the fact that for all the gas-guzzling they’re prone to, they’re also very useful in tough conditions.
The good news is that should gas prices ever spike in the US again, American SUV makers already have markets abroad to rely on.
General Motors CEO Mary Barra was under fire Wednesday as the house subcommitte meeting on General Motors’ 11-year delay in recalling dangerous vehicles continued.
This particular issue was raised about defective ignition switches which, with a heavy keychain or even a bump of the knee, could cut off power to the engine, power steering and brakes, and could cause airbags not to deploy.
The faulty switch has been blamed for 13 deaths, however, Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., said there could possibly be up to 100 deaths associated with the problem.
The switch has caused the government to open an investigation into the switches of 1.2 million Chrysler vehicles. Now, the federal government is asking why the recall took so long, and why these and other safety issues brought up by inspectors and employees weren’t immediately tackled.
Anton Valukas, an attorney who wrote the extensive report blames a culture inside General Motors that discouraged whistle-blowing. He claims that the complacency shown by executives and the “GM nod”-in which a committee agrees that something should be done, but no one does it-is to be blamed for delays and buck-passing that runs rampant through the company.
That accusation, if taken with some personal anecdotes, wouldn’t be hard to prove. Take the case of Courtland Kelley, who blew the whistle and is paying the price.
Steven Oakley, on page 93 of the report, was too afraid to push safety concerns that he noticed and reported on the Cobalt because his predecessor was “pushed out of the job for doing just that.”
That predecessor was Courtland Kelley, who’s predecessor before him was also relieved of duty for reporting, and insisting on action for, problems.
Together Kelley and his predecessor, Bill McAleer, worked in 1988 on what would become the company’s Global Delivery Survey. This was an audit of GM cars at rail yards across the country, a sort of spot check of vehicles on the last leg of their journey to dealerships. What they found was shocking.
“Bill and I looked at each other in amazement,” Kelley later recalled in a deposition, “that that kind of thing was happening, where the bolts on the front suspension fell out as we drove over the track. I thought that GM alarm bells would go off.”
But they didn’t. And the problem grew for Kelley as he continued to get the attention of executives at General Motors for other problems that he noticed. Finally, Kelley approached his direct supervisor, George Kingston, who in 2000 was director of quality for North American operations, with a heavy heart and lots of anxiety.
“I would go to George and tell him this, but it didn’t seem to surprise him or provoke him to take new action,” Kelley said. “He seemed to take it more seriously when I told him that I could no longer sit by and I may have to personally go to the federal government.”
Kingston’s response was discouraging and infuriating. “He cringed,” Kelley said, “and said that he would prefer that I don’t do that.”
That was it for Courtland Kelley. He sued in 2003 and lost after the case was dismissed. Then he was moved across the company to a much less desirable position.
How much blame will General Motors eventually take for all of these lives lost? I suppose only time will tell.
On Wednesday, General Motors Chief Executive Mary Barra was asked to clarify the steps that General Motors is taking to resolve the car safety crisis.
General Motors was forced to recall about 20 million vehicles due to defective ignition switches that caused deaths and injuries.
Barra already faced the House Energy and Commerce Committee back in April, and was again questioned on Wednesday. It was revealed that top executives of General Motors were not alerted for years about the faulty ignition switches of their vehicles. The company was criticized for having a “culture of secrecy” and members said that not knowing about the issue does not absolve them of their responsibilities to their customers.
The room is filled with the sound of camera shutters as GM CEO Mary Barra enters for the hearing. pic.twitter.com/zqGpn5gkvf
Lawmakers also said that General Motors did not act with a sense of urgency, even as the injuries and accidents related to faulty ignition switches continued to climb. According to reports, the defective ignition caused at least 13 deaths and 54 accidents.
Barra said that victims who suffered physical injury will be compensated. Relatives of victims who died will also be receiving compensation. She also said that there is no maximum amount for the compensation, but she has no idea of how much the victims will be getting.
“I want this terrible experience permanently etched in our collective memories,” Barra said addressing the congressional committee. “This isn’t just another business challenge. This is a tragic problem that never should have happened. And it must never happen again,” she said.
Barra outlined the steps that General Motors is taking in order to resolve the issue. So far, the company has reportedly fired 15 employees. They will also be restructuring the quality control and safety process for vehicles. Furthermore, they hired a mediation expert and attorney in order to help in administering the compensation fund for victims and their families.
Good discussion w/ @HouseCommerce today; I won’t rest until these problems are resolved. I believe in @GM and our employees. #GMrecall
On February 12, 2014 at 5:44 am, the National Corvette Museum received a call from its security company notifying it that motion detectors were being triggered, according to a blog post on the Museum’s website. The cause: a sinkhole, approximately 40 feet across and 60 feet deep that swallowed up eight Corvettes.
On April 9, 2014, the last Corvette was pulled out of the muddy pit—a 2001 Mallett Hammer Z06 that was the most heavily damaged out of all the corvettes. It’s the featured picture and video of this article.
According to the most recent blog post on the Museum website, “The Mallett Hammer was donated to the Museum this past December by Kevin and Linda Helmintoller of Land O’ Lakes, Florida, Lifetime Members of the Museum and previous R8C Museum Delivery participants.”
When hearing that the car had been located, Kevin traveled to Kentucky to witness the rescue operation. “I expected bad, but it’s 100 times worse,” he said. “It looks like a piece of tin foil… and it had a roll cage in it! It makes all the other cars look like they’re brand new.”
Two of the vehicles recovered were on loan from General Motors. They include the 1993 ZR-1 Spyder and the 2009 ZR1 “Blue Devil.” Six of the vehicles were owned by the museum, including the 2001 Mallett Hammer Z06. The others were a 1962 Black Corvette, 1984 PPG Pace Car, 1992 White 1 Millionth Corvette, 1993 Ruby Red 40th Anniversary Corvette, and a 2009 White 1.5 Millionth Corvette.
General Motors has already announced that Chevrolet will oversee vehicle restoration.
“The vehicles at the National Corvette Museum are some of the most significant in automotive history,” said Mark Reuss, executive vice president of General Motors Global Product Development. “There can only be one 1-millionth Corvette ever built. We want to ensure as many of the damaged cars are restored as possible so fans from around the world can enjoy them when the Museum reopens.”
After the sinkhole was discovered, the process of recovering vehicles was thought to only take days. The very day the 2001 Mallett Hammer Z06 was pulled out of the sinkhole marked eight weeks since the sinkhole originally appeared. It marks the end of the first stage of rebuilding.
“We’re happy to have the completion of our major goal to recover all eight of the Corvettes,” said Wendell Strode, Executive Director of the Museum. “Next week we have a meeting with all the major players, including the construction team, geo-technical firm, cave and karst specialists, engineers, our insurance company and others to review all the findings and have discussions on the next steps and a mutual understanding about rebuilding.”
A “Great 8”—the name given to the eight Corvettes—display will officially open next week at the museum and the sinkhole Corvettes will be available for viewing as they are.
General Motors is now facing a crisis over its inaction with regards to important safety recalls over the past decade.
Last week GM CEO Mary Barra testified before a U.S. congressional subcommittee hearing on the company’s ignition switch recall. The recall involves numerous GM models with a defect that could shut the engine off while in operation. At least 13 people have died in crashes related to the defect. The defect was originally identified by GM in 2005 but a recall was not issued until just this year.
Now, according to a Los Angeles Times report, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is fining GM daily over the company’s failure to answer questions about the recall.
On March 4 he NHTSA had reportedly given GM until April 3 to respond to 107 questions regarding the ignition switch recall. According to the LA Times report the questions cover everything from specifics about the defect to consumer complaints and why GM did not issue a recall sooner. The company did respond to some of the questions, but has not answered all of them.
The NHTSA is fining GM $7,000 per day that its full request for documentation goes unanswered. The fines could eventually max out at $35 million.
The NHTSA has sent a letter to GM making it clear that it believes the company has only partially complied with the order. The letter also states that GM has deflected important questions posed by the agency. The NHTSA has stated that it may also involve the U.S. Justice Department to force GM to turn over documents.
For GM’s part, the company claims that it is fully cooperating with the investigation. GM has stated that it has already provided over 21,000 documents to the NHTSA. The company claims that it will quickly hand over documentation as it becomes available.
In addition to the ignition switch recall, GM last week recalled more than 1.3 million Chevy, Saturn, and Pontiac vehicles. That recall involved a defect that could sudden loss of power steering.
General Motors this week issued a sweeping recall that affects more than 1.3 million Chevrolet, Saturn, and Pontiac vehicles. The defect causing the recall involves the sudden loss of electric power steering experience by some drivers of older GM models.
The recall affects all Chevrolet Malibu and Chevrolet Malibu Maxx models from the years 2004 and 2005. Some 2006, 2008, and 2009 Malibu models and 2006 Malibu Maxx models are also affected. Some Chevrolet HHR models from year 2009 and 2010 are covered under the recall, as are some 2010 Chevrolet Cobalt models.
All Saturn ION models from years 2004 to 2007 are affected by the recall, as are all Pontiac G6 2005 models. Some Pontiac G6 models from 2006, 2008, and 2009 are also affected. Some Saturn Aura models from 2008 and 2009 also fall under the recall.
Working with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, GM will replace (for free) the steering columns, power steering motors, and/or the power steering motor control unit of the recalled vehicles. In addition, customers who have already paid for repairs for these parts could receive a reimbursement.
“With these safety recalls and lifetime warranties, we are going after every car that might have this problem, and we are going to make it right,” said Jeff Boyer, VP of Global Vehicle Safety at GM. “We have recalled some of these vehicles before for the same issue and offered extended warranties on others, but we did not do enough.”
According to GM, drivers who lose power steering while driving can still drive their vehicles using manual steering. The company admits, however, that manual steering can take greater effort and increase road risks at low speeds.
The power steering recall comes just as GM CEO Mary Barra has testified this week during a U.S. congressional subcommittee hearing on GM’s recent ignition switch recall. Barra apologized to the families affected by the defect and promised to determine why the recall had taken so long to implement.
GM expects this new recall to cost around $450 million. Adding in the estimated $300 million in recalls announced earlier in March and February of this year will round out the $750 million charge that GM expects to take on its first quarter earnings.
On Monday, General Motors CEO Mary Barra released a video message for GM employees announcing the recall of 1.5 million vehicles due to faulty engineering.
In her message, Barra stated that “Something went wrong with our process in this instance, and terrible things happened.”
Those terrible things include at least 12 deaths and more than 30 injuries of those who were driving vehicles involved in the recall.
The 1.5 million vehicle recall on Monday applies to multiple sectors of the GM brand:
– Multiple cross-over SUV’s, including the Buick Enclave and GMC Acadia, are being recalled due to faulty construction of the air bags which does not allow them to deploy when the service light is lit on the dash.
– More than 300,000 vans are being recalled due to the material on the instrument panel not being protective enough during a crash.
– 63,900 Cadillac XTS’s are being recalled due to a faulty brake plug, increasing the likelihood of an engine fire.
Unfortunately for GM, this is its second recall in as many months. In February, GM announced a recall for more than 1.6 million vehicles due to an ignition failure which would allow one to turn-off the vehicle while driving, disabling the air bags in the vehicle.
Ignition switch recall update: Be cautious when speculation is presented as fact. More on our FastLane blog: http://t.co/jFYKwg39RH
In all, these recalls will cost GM upwards of $300 million during the First Quarter of 2014. However, there may be much larger consequences.
GM currently finds itself in the midst of an investigation from the Justice Department of the United States due to how the company handled the initial recall announced last month.
Reports have surfaced indicating that GM knew about the faulty ignition switch in the Chevrolet Cobalt and HHR, Pontiac G5 and Solstice, and the Saturn Ion and Sky as early as 2004.
If the Justice Department finds that GM did not respond to the faulty ignition switch promptly enough, it could face a $35 million fine.
Despite the losses, Barra believes that GM is doing its best to handle the situation, stating “The bottom line is we will be better because of this tragic situation if we seize the opportunity. And I believe we will do just that.”
Recently General Motors (GM) recalled over 700,000 vehicles, including the Chevy Cobalt 2005 – 2007 models, as well as the 2007 Pontiac G5 cars, because of an ignition switch defect that was linked to six deaths.
Since then GM has raised the death toll connected to the ignition switch problem to 13, as well as the amount of cars being recalled. Now more than 1.37 million vehicles in the United States have been recalled, as well as almost 254,000 in Mexico and Canada.
More cars have also been added to the recall including 2003-07 Saturn Ion models, 2006-07 models of the Chevrolet HHR, and 2006-07 models of the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky.
The ignition problem occurs when a heavy keychain or something else jars the ignition switch from “run” to “accessory.” This action shuts off the engine and can even disable the front air bags.
Once GM expanded their recall, they admitted the problem with the ignition switch was brought to their attention as early as 2004.
GM North America President Alan Batey said, “The chronology shows that the process employed to examine this phenomenon was not as robust as it should have been. Today’s GM is committed to doing business differently and better. We will take an unflinching look at what happened and apply lessons learned here to improve going forward. We are deeply sorry and we are working to address this issue as quickly as we can.”
Brooke Melton of Georgia died in a crash in 2010 in her 2005 Chevy Cobalt she bought new. The data recorder from Melton’s car showed that about two seconds before her crash her car’s ignition went from “run” to “accessory” and her airbags were not deployed.
The attorney for Melton’s estate, Lance Cooper, said, “It’s about time. If you go back to when they knew, in 2004 and ’05, that’s not the way a responsible manufacturer behaves.”
Some took to Twitter to warn others of the recent recall.
People with 06 and up Chevy cobalt or Saturn ion beware because there's a recall on these cars
General Motors recently swept the North American Car and Truck of the Year awards in Detroit, Michigan with their Corvette Stingray and Chevrolet Silverado, taking top honors for the 2014 year. The double-win for GM was the first time a company has produced the winning vehicles for both categories.
The win in the truck/utility category this year won General Motors their fourth award for one of their trucks. It was the second time the Chevy Silverado won the award, which also claimed the victory in 2007.
The Silverado 1500 HD, worth around $50,000, won the competition with 219 points; it was followed by the Jeep Cherokee who had 174 points, and the Acura MDX (97 points).
The system for choosing a winner is based on factors such as innovation, design, safety, handling, driver satisfaction, and value of the vehicle. Points are given to each contender by a panel of 49 judges, made up of automotive experts and journalists from the U.S. and Canada. The judges this year hailed from companies and media outlets such as Forbes, The Chicago Tribune, Kelley Blue Book, Playboy, Popular Mechanics and Automotive Engineering International.
The NACOTY awards is currently in its 21st year, naming cars and trucks manufactured in North America, Japan, or Europe with either the Car or Truck/Utility Vehicle of the Year. Domestic vehicles have won 14 times, followed by Japanese-produced automobiles, which have won four times. The only requirements for consideration are that the vehicle must be brand new to the market or considerably different in its design.
The General Motors-produced Corvette Stingray won in the car category at the awards this year, being given an overall score of 211 points. The Stingray was followed closely by the Mazda 3, which had 185 points, and the Cadillac CTS with 94 points.
The global head of Chevrolet, Alan Batey, said of the company’s double win, “Chevrolet is in the midst of the most aggressive product transformation in the brand’s more than 100-year history. It is a distinct honor for the entire Chevrolet team to have both the Corvette and Silverado recognized with the prestigious North American Car and Truck of the Year awards.”
The Chevy Silverado won this year partly because of its innovative design, which boasts a 355-horsepower 5.3-liter EcoTec3 V-8, which gives the pickup the ability to automatically shift to operating on 4 cylinders in order to conserve fuel with its cylinder deactivation technology. The fuel economy of the Silverado is the best of any V-8 on the market, getting an EPA-estimated 23 mpg on the highway.
Chevrolet has given a big Christmas present to all of the 2015 Corvette Z06 enthusiasts. General Motors announced that the Z06 would be making its debut at the 2014 North American International Auto Show in Detroit next month. However, that wasn’t the only information that came with the highly anticipated confirmation. A teaser photo of the Z06 was also leaked! Chevrolet took to Twitter to share the picture just days ago. Now, Corvette enthusiast can put an authentic visual to all of the vehicle’s alleged specifications!
Unfortunately, the teaser photo only revealed one wheel of the 2015 Corvette Z06, but it’s enough to heighten the level of anticipation even more. The automaker is already boasting that the high-performance vehicle may be “the most track-capable Corvette ever, designed to deliver supercar levels of performance through unique powertrain, chassis and aerodynamic features.”
The Corvette Z06 is slated to be the high-end model of the new Corvette stingray line. However, that classification excludes the supercharged/turbocharged models that will also arrive later on down the road. While the automaker remains tight-lipped about the Z06’s definitive statistics and specifications, one can only assume that it will garner as much as 600-horsepower from some sort of V-8 engine. It’s been rumored that a twin-turbo 4.5 liter will be included. However, the 6.2 liter and 7.0 liter may also be options.
The Detroit Auto Show is scheduled for Jan. 13-26, 2014. According to ABC News, the 2015 Corvette will be included in the automaker’s ‘Performance Car Line-up’ along with the 2014 Corvette Stingray Convertible, Camaro Z/28, and SS sedan.
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Chevrolet Senior Vice President Alan Batey expressed his high regard for the automaker’s precision and expertise where performance cars are concerned. “No other manufacturer will be able to match the breath of performance cars from Chevrolet,” he said in a statement.
Fisker Automotive, maker of the “Karma” plug-in electric hybrid luxury sedan, filed for bankruptcy protection last week, marking an end to a chain of failure that began after the company received a $529 million loan commitment from the U.S. Department of Energy.
Anaheim, California-based Fisker, which planned to assemble Karmas at a former General Motors plant in Wilmington, Delaware, has a hearing scheduled in a Delaware court on January 3rd of next year.
Fisker burned through $192 million of the $529 million U.S. DOE green-energy loan, before officials suspended funding in 2011, after the automaker failed to deliver on any established sales tiers for its Karma. The DOE managed to recover roughly $28 million from Fisker last week, before selling the remainder of the loan to Hybrid Technology LLC, culminating in a loss of $139 million for taxpayers.
Below is a clip of the $100,000 Fisker Karma breaking down on the Consumer Reports Test track:
Taxpayers in Delaware will foot the bill for roughly $20 million in loans and grants afforded to Fisker, which were intended to recommence car production at the defunct General Motors plant in Wilmington. Fisker, which currently has about $20,000 in available cash, has also been sued by a former employee, who along with 160 others, was laid off without the required 60 days notice. The workers seek roughly $4 million in back pay and benefits.
Fisker attorney Ryan Preston Dahl says the company fell into a “perfect storm” of operational and financial complications, including production delays which resulted in the suspension of the DOE loan. Dahl also cited a problem with the main battery supplier for the electric Karma, as well as hundreds of prototypes being destroyed during “Frankenstorm” Sandy, at a port in New Jersey.
Hybrid Technology LLC, owned by Hong Kong billionaire Richard Li, who seeks to buy Fisker, plans to use a $75 million credit from money it is owed as Fisker’s largest secured lender.
After a highly publicized split nearly a year ago, it looks like Facebook and General Motors are getting back together.
GM has confirmed to Ad Age that they have decided to once again throw some advertising dollars into Facebook.
“Chevrolet is testing a number of mobile-advertising solutions, including Facebook, as part of its ‘Find New Roads’ campaign,” said Chris Perry, VP Chevrolet marketing in the U.S. “Today, Chevrolet is launching an industry-first, ‘mobile-only’ pilot campaign for the Chevrolet Sonic that utilizes newly available targeting and measurement capabilities on Facebook.”
Big news for GM, sure. But why is this big news for Facebook? Let’s take a brief walk through Facebook and GM’a relationship over the past year.
In May of 2012, just days before Facebook’s IPO, GM announced that they would be pulling all of their Facebook ads. They stated that they simply weren’t convinced that Facebook ads were truly effective, and furthermore were unsure how they fit into their future marketing strategies. It was a high-profile move, at a time when Facebook’s ability to monetize was on everyone’s mind.
Immediately, it felt like a pretty big slap to the face. A public vote of no confidence. A few days later, GM noted that they were making many big advertising decisions at the time. Basically, hey – no hard feelings. It’s all just part of a comprehensive retooling of the strategy. Of course, this did little to neutralize the sting, especially right around the IPO. Facebook’s stock price tanked, people started talking monetization issues, which led to talks about advertising strategies, which of course led to GM as the big example of a company who pulled the plug.
Since then, multiple reports have suggested that Facebook and GM had reestablished talks. The most recent indicating that the two companies were “actively talking” about a return to a paid advertising partnership.
“We’re still actively talking to them and looking at opportunities that come our way…I wouldn’t tell you that there’s a Mexican standoff here. We just didn’t see the value [in the ads],” said GM’s interim marketing head Alan Batey back in January.
Ad Age says that part of the reason GM pulled out of Facebook in the first place involved the inability for the company to run bigger, “higher-impact” ads. Although that’s still not really possible, Facebook advertising has changed quite a bit in the last year – mainly with the launch of the real-time, cookie-based Facebook Exchange retargeting system.
“We’ve had an ongoing dialogue with GM over the last 12 months and are pleased to have them back as an advertiser on Facebook. We look forward to working even more closely with GM in the coming weeks and months,” said a Facebook spokesperson.
Any way you look at it, it’s a good thing for Facebook that GM has decided to try it again. There’s a chance that it could signify to other companies that it’s safe to open up their Facebook ad budgets a little bit. In the end, we’re not talking about a huge ad budget here that’s going to make or break either Facebook or GM. Before GM yanked their ads last May, it was reported that they had only been spending around $10 million on Facebook ads – hardly a game changer.
The most noted Facebook ads ship jumper from 2012 is possibly considering a change of heart.
Facebook and General Motors are still “actively talking” about a return to paid advertising on the site, according to a report from Reuters. Here’s a quote from GM’s interim marketing head Alan Batey:
“We’re still actively talking to them and looking at opportunities that come our way…I wouldn’t tell you that there’s a Mexican standoff here. We just didn’t see the value [in the ads].”
Alan Batey steeped in to replace Joel Ewanick, the former GM marketing chief who resigned back in July, barely two months after pulling the Facebook ads. Forbes reported that he was actually being removed for “failing to properly vet the financial details of a European soccer sponsorship deal.”
In the time since General Motors publicly yanked all of their paid advertising on Facebook, plenty of companies have decided to spend a significant amount of money on Facebook advertising. Plenty of companies have also made the decision to lessen their Facebook ad budget.
But we keep talking about General Motors and Facebook. Why? Because their breakup was just so juicy. You remember, right? Just days before the big Facebook IPO, GM announced that they were pulling all of their Facebook ads. They said that they weren’t sure about their effectiveness and how they fit into future marketing strategies. Of course, to the average reader that simply sounds like a bunch of jargon for “Facebook ads aren’t worth our time or money.”
Sure, a few days later GM said that they were making big advertising decisions across the board. No hard feelings, Facebook. It’s just part of a bigger strategy, and a coincidence that it happened three days before the IPO. But the fact that it may have been a more innocuous move than previously thought didn’t do much to neutralize the sting of it all. And as Facebook’s stock price tanked out of the gate, people began to discuss monetization issues, and of course that led to talks about advertising strategies, which of course led to GM as the big example of a company who pulled the plug.
Just a few weeks after all of this went down, reports emerged that Facebook’s COO Sheryl Sandberg had talked to GM CEO Daniel Akerson about the car company reigniting the Facebook flame. Also, Facebook global sales head Carolyn Everson was said to have been preparing “better data on how their ads can turn into dollars.”
So it appears that Facebook and GM are, and probably have been in discussions for some time. And that will continue. GM was reported to have only really been spending $10M in actual ad spend on the network, but for Facebook, getting GM back on board could signify to other companies that it’s safe to open up their Facebook ad budgets – if just a little more.
Barely two months after we learned that General Motors was yanking nearly $10 million worth of Facebook ads, the man behind that decision is no longer working for the company.
Joel Ewanick, GM’s marketing chief, has resigned his position effective immediately. The 52-year-old worked with GM for two years, and had only been CMO since December 2010.
A few days before Facebook went public, GM rather publicly pulled all of their paid ads from Facebook, basically saying that Facebook advertising doesn’t work. “GM is definitely reassessing our advertising on Facebook, although the content is effective and important,” said Ewanick. Although it seemed like a giant slap in the face to Facebook right before their IPO, we learned that Ewanick wasn’t singling out the social network. In fact, he had also chosen to forgo the Super Bowl in 2013.
So, Ewanick was making big moves, but it doesn’t appear that they payed off. According to those familiar with the matter, it wasn’t the Facebook deal that led to his departure, however.
“[H]e was being removed for failing to properly vet the financial details of a European soccer sponsorship deal that he struck recently,” according to Forbes.
