GM Finally Sells Saab
Finally the deal about the Saab sale is becoming clearer. GM Europe has announced that the Swedish manufacturer will be sold to Koenigsegg Group AB. There have been several candidates and in June the things started clearing out, but there was still a little uncertainty about the bid from the Koenigsegg company. The president of GM Europe, Carl Peter Forster was happy to announce the news. He says, “We will continue to work with all parties to define the final details and ensure a fast closure of the...

GM seals deal to sell Saab to Koenigsegg | detnews.com | The Detroit News
-- General Motors Corp. on Tuesday said it has signed a final agreement to sell all shares in its unit Saab Automotive to Sweden's Koenigsegg Group AB, confirming the preliminary deal revealed in June. GM said the contract is subject to the conditions that Saab receives the necessary funding commitments from the European Investment Bank, guaranteed by the Swedish government, and transitional assistance from GM. "We will continue to work with all parties to define the final details and ensure a fast...

GM Offers Zero-Percent Financing
Cash for Clunkers has great popularity and its funds are thinning out very quickly. President Obama was delighted to hear this news and signed a document which allows extending the program with additional $2 billion in funding. General Motors has found a good way to attract the customers with old vehicles to trade them in with GM fuel-efficient autos: the manufacturer offers zero-percent financing for up to 72 months if the purchased vehicle goes under the Cash for Clunkers program. The offer has a...

GM's culture change has a ways to go | detnews.com | The Detroit News
The new GM doesn't wear ties, doubtless a painful hit to the sales of Hermes and Ermenegildo Zegna. But if open collars are a harbinger of a sharper, faster and hipper culture, a prerequisite for success in the cutthroat auto industry, that's only what they are -- a harbinger. Watching CEO Fritz Henderson's frank admission this week that bankruptcy-slimmed General Motors Co. didn't fully appreciate the perception gulf between would-be customers and its competitive cars and trucks gives new meaning to...

GM Is Building a Battery Plant
The American automaker, General Motors, does not plan buying lithium-ion batteries for electric cars from other manufacturers, the company has announced that there will be a plant built by them specifically for this purpose. GM has announced that $43 million will be invested on a plant in Brownstown Township, Michigan which will build battery packs for Chevrolet Volt and “other extended-range electric vehicles”. This will be the first facility of this kind in the U.S. The work on the plant has...

GM to revive plant with battery pack production | detnews.com | The Detroit News
-- A former drag strip for muscle cars will become the home of General Motors Co.'s battery pack plant for electric vehicles -- fitting for a company reinventing itself. The whir of electric motors represents the future for GM and a more fuel-conscious auto industry in general. The $43 million plant on the former Detroit Dragway -- now an industrial park -- will package battery cells for the Chevrolet Volt and other electric vehicles that showcase GM's new direction. "This facility represents the...

New GM group to oversee company's global alliances | detnews.com | The Detroit News
General Motors Co. has formed a high-profile corporate planning and alliances group headed by Group Vice President John Smith as part of a series of organizational changes. Smith is now negotiating the sale of a majority stake in GM's German carmaker, Adam Opel GmbH, but GM plans to retain a substantial holding and keep Opel in its global product development network. "John has been our point person on our negotiations involving Opel, and the title is reflective of that work," said Tom Pyden, a GM...

5 GM board members named; 4 execs to retire | detnews.com | The Detroit News
-- General Motors Co. continued to trim its senior management ranks with the retirement of four senior executives, but filled out its board of directors with the naming of five new members appointed by the U.S. Treasury Department and Canadian government. GM said Thursday that Gary Cowger, group vice president of global manufacturing and labor relations, will retire at the end of the year, as will Troy Clarke, group vice president and president of GM North America. GM CEO Fritz Henderson will assume...

Management shakeup at GM continues | detnews.com | The Detroit News
-- General Motors Co. announced a management shakeup Thursday with the retirement of four senior executives, while the U.S. Treasury Department and Canadian government named the five final members of GM's new board of directors. GM said today that Gary Cowger, group vice president, global manufacturing and labor relations, will retire at the end of the year. Until Dec. 31, Cowger will assume responsibility for the integration of Delphi Corp.'s four factories and global steering business being acquired...

Report: Toyota to end venture with GM in Calif. | detnews.com | The Detroit News
-- Toyota Motor Corp. has decided to liquidate its stake in a California manufacturing plant that it jointly operated with General Motors, a Japanese news agency reported Thursday. The Japanese carmaker will begin negotiating with the "Old GM" starting next week, Kyodo News reported, citing unnamed company officials. Toyota spokesman Mike Goss would not confirm that the Japanese automaker had made a final decision on the fate of Fremont, Calif.-based New United Motor Manufacturing Inc., also known as...