About American Cars

Reality check: due to the economic downfall, shortages, unemployment and other economic issues, we have seen a lot of “good men gone bad” incidents. Car theft is common and these thieves are getting more innovative and creative as technology lifts off to another height.

Do you wish you could put a tracker inside your car so that by the time this happens to you (I pray not!), then you would be able to track your car with the help of the authorities.

Introducing GM’s OnStar. OnStar is a company (under GM) that provides communications, GPS locator and the like. This service, however, is only available for GM manufactured cars.

Photo taken from http://www.sfgate.com

There had been reports of massive lay offs and downsizing last year. This 2008, the trend has changed. Buyouts are fast becoming a response of companies to a weakening US economy. Take for example the case of General Motors that has recently offered buyouts to its 74,000 strong employees.

NYTImes.com reports that what prompted the popular US automaker to launch its latest “special attrition program” was its fourth quarter losses and the gloomy outlook for the United States market.

Am I smelling bankruptcy here? Or is this just another cost-cutting measure? Or better yet, there is basis on the reports that the American auto industry is in a shamble. We’ll definitely see in the next few months.

On the sales of hybrid cars, that is. Ever since the start of the “environmental craze” amongst the different car makers, different hybrid cars have been produced by car giants to keep up with their sales. But for General Motors, probably hybrid cars are not their cup of tea as GM is losing with their hybrid car sales. Toyota was able to sell close to half a million of hybrid cars. Ford sold about 5,000. And for GM? Not even a thousand—843 cars to be exact.

But GM has a definite answer to that. Hybrids are marketed as the cost efficient and environmental friendly cars but GM said otherwise. In the long run, people would have to spend more on their cars for maintenance and the like.

Photo taken from http://http://www.saltlakespeaks.com

“Cannot Put GM and Chrysler back together again”, that’s the words that are coming out of the mouth’s of the Presidential Automotive task force. That may be a more realistic view of the whole picture for as we have been stressing over and over again, they’re not genies who just snap their fingers and the whole world gets better. They started out with optimism and they still have it in them, only this time round, they are a bit more realistic for they now know the full extent of the economic troubles that have led to the demise of the US auto industry.
The problem is that the whole deal is rotten, from housing, health and everything else in between are hit hard and no one authority, not even the Federal Reserve with all it’s gold and monetary resources can remedy the whole thing. The team is now leading efforts to restructure the auto giants and the figures don’t lie, one will have to go bust to give way to a better mix of the two auto giants that may make them better than the two individual units.

The 2009 Cadillac CTS-V is a certainly a delight in its own right. First seen in the North American International Auto Show last March, critics say it has the “soul of the beast” given its powerful engine: a 550-horsepower supercharged 6.2 liter V8 with a choice of six-speed manual or paddle-shifted six-speed automatic transmission.

GM has recently announced that the world’s first Cadillac CTS-V has been sold in auction. The lucky guy was Cano Ozgener, founder of cigar company CAO International. Ozgener bought the famous sedan for $75,000, a generous bid if you would ask me. The money will go to charity (read: Prostate Cancer Foundation) and not in the hands of GM. A laudable project, indeed.

Image Source: http://www.motortrend.com

General Motors (GM) has started working on its Volt concept in an attempt to hit production lines in 2010. In fact, AutoWeek.com reports that GM will be starting testing the Volt propulsion systems this month.

GM is said to experiment on the lithium-ion-powered battery packs using Chevrolet Malibus. The technology called E-Flex will be taken to the road to monitor its performance.

I have high hopes for this one. I have always believed in the capacity of GM to produce outstanding cars. The fact that its hands are now working to put the Chevrolet Volt concept into reality shows that GM is serious about this vehicle concept.

Image Source: http://msnbc.msn.com