Advertisement

Chevrolet Cruze 1.8 LT Test Drive Report

July 1, 2010 at 4:12 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Chevrolet, General Motors, Test Drive Reviews

It’s finally here! Malaysians have been promised the Chevrolet Cruze for quite some time now, starting from mid last year. In fact, yours truly was part of a media contingent sent by GM to the 2009 Shanghai Motor Show, where we got to drive the group’s (then) latest pride and joy. Held in a public park, it was far from a proper test drive, so we were happy to go on a drive to Kuala Terengganu to confirm/debunk those first impressions.

The Cruze replaces the Chevy Optra, but has a different sort of upbringing. While the Optra was a Daewoo designed model, its successor is billed as a Global Car, with GM’s various outposts (GMDAT Korea and Opel) sharing development duties. Testing was spread across continents, with Korea being just one of the few global production hubs for the Cruze alongside China and the US. Naza subsidiary Pavilion Crest gets its supply from Korea, and the single spec Cruze 1.8 retails at RM98,767.60 OTR without insurance.

Continue reading the report after the jump.
[Read more...]

252 Comments    

Chevrolet plans to introduce new pick-up truck in Thailand

July 1, 2010 at 1:17 pm By Jacob Alexander Filed Under Cars, Chevrolet, General Motors, International News

General Motors are looking to capitalize on Thailand’s thirst for pick-ups by introducing the production of a new mid-sized Chevrolet truck in our neighbouring country. There are even plans to export said model to Europe and parts of South East Asia.

Accomplishing this, GM has secured loans from three Thai banks, though the company refused to say exactly how much it was, to boost production of its Rayong plant in Thailand.

The plant that already makes current Chevrolet Colarado pickups and Aveo variants, will boost output at the factory to more than 80,000 units according to Martin Apfel, executive director for GM’s Southeast Asian operations. This new pickup truck might be the new pickup that was found in patent filing recently (refer to photo above).

“The logical consequence is to build where the customer wants it, as that keeps your costs down. Thailand and Brazil are the two centres of gravity for mid-sized trucks,” Apfel said.

Manufacturing of the new model will start once a deal to assemble trucks with Isuzu Motors Ltd expires. While they wait for that to happen, plans to build new diesel engine plant in eastern Rayong province are on track. The new plant will produce engines for the new truck. The plant is supposedly in its last stages of completion. Unfortunately Afpel declined to provide an exact timeline.

Truck production is part of GM’s plans of investing $467 million in Thailand while the Detroit automaker plans to sell 100,000 units of the new truck in the first year, with global production concentrated in Thailand and Brazil. Other plans for GM in our region include the reinstatement of a factory in Bekasi, near Jakarta which has been idle for five years. This would be for the production of a seven seat vehicle for local market consumption which would require about $100 million in investment.
[Read more...]

8 Comments    


All GM vehicles to come with active louvered grille?

May 21, 2010 at 1:54 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, General Motors, International News

SRG Global Inc, a supplier of chrome-plated plastic parts, has developed a prototype louvered grille for General Motors aimed at improving the efficiency of the automaker’s full-size pickup trucks. Stringent US emissions and fuel economy regulations are looming, and the behemoths aren’t exempted.

Grilles that can open and close aren’t new. Some cars already have such a feature, although it is a secondary part, mounted behind the grille. “We’re trying to find a way to do it more efficiently, less expensively, as an integrated part,” said Jon DeGaynor, SRG’s VP of business development and strategy.

The active louvers are connected to the engine control module, opening and closing per engine temperature. Shutting off airflow not only reduces drag and fuel consumption, it allows the engine to heat up faster, emitting less CO2 in the process.

“What we heard is that GM is moving 100% of their vehicles to louvered grilles,” DeGaynor was quoted by Ward’s Auto as saying.

Source

4 Comments    

GM makes first quarterly profit in three years

May 18, 2010 at 9:39 am By Jacob Alexander Filed Under Cars, General Motors, International News

Finally the words Americans want to hear – General Motors is now profitable! GM has posted its first quarterly profit in 3 years; the last time that happened was in the second quarter of 2007.

The now government owned automaker made $863 million in the first three months of 2010 while revenue grew by 40% to $31.5 billion, beating analysts’ predictions.

For the record, GM has lost more than $80 billion since 2005 and hasn’t been profitable for a full year since 2004. It could be said that profits have naturally increased, due to restructuring through bankruptcy and loans from the US Government. Factory closures and major lay offs have helped reduce running costs. Global sales have increased by a good 24% as the global economy picked up after the recession. Also, GM’s North American factories are now running at 84% capacity, up from an inefficient 40% a year ago.

However, GM warned that this phase of profitability may be short lived due to a number of factors. This includes the fact that rivals Ford have better sales figures and GM have been counteracting by offering more competitive prices, thus digging into their profit margin. Other factors include slowing growth in the Chinese market and problems with GM Europe, namely the struggling Opel brand. Sales have been down for some time and GM is still trying to revamp the unprofitable German marque.

GM is being propped up by about $43 billion in government money. Although it repaid $6.7 billion ahead of schedule last month, the government (Treasury holds 61% stake in GM) can only recoup the bulk of it when GM returns to the public stock markets, which will happen anytime from a few months until next year.

Source

5 Comments    

Thailand vehicle sales on the up despite political crisis

May 17, 2010 at 1:55 pm By Jacob Alexander Filed Under Cars, General Motors, Isuzu, Toyota

Political strife within the Thai government hasn’t slowed down vehicle sales in the Kingdom. In April, General Motors reported a 62% jump in sales to 1,879 vehicles compared to 1,162 units in the same month last year. With this rise in demand, GM is toying with the idea of increasing output at its Rayong factory to 76,000 vehicles per annum and to invest US$467 million to upgrade facilities and build a new diesel engine plant.

The gains are not just for GM, as even Toyota, who recently suspended production at one of its plants, increased deliveries by 43% to 92,000 units. Isuzu, another big pick-up truck player, has reported a 44% jump to 46,071 units sold. These figures are year-to-date, as of end April. According to the Automotive Industry Club, general vehicle output has increased by 129% from a year earlier to 150,119 vehicles.

Ray Young, GM’s vice president of international operations, is concerned about the current political crisis but reiterated his company’s confidence in our northern neighbour. “We are monitoring the situation in Thailand, but we remain optimistic. Our business and expansion plans will continue in Thailand without delays. The nation will remain the leading automotive market in the ASEAN region,” he said.

Source

10 Comments    

Hawaii to be a fuel cell vehicle friendly island

May 12, 2010 at 4:08 pm By Jacob Alexander Filed Under General Motors, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, International News

With the advent of fuel cells and hydrogen powered engines, there has always been questions as to the availability of a hydrogen fueling structure to accommodate the demand. Hawaii is set to be a real life case study for fuel cell vehicles, now that The Gas Company (TGC) and General Motors have teamed up to lay down the foundations on the beautiful island.

TGC, Hawaii’s biggest gas company, has a 1,000 mile pipeline service running through the country and aims to tap into this particular line to provide people with hydrogen through filling stations. TGC’s pipes flow with synthetic natural gas and hydrogen and the latter, which at present comprises 5% of the mix, can be extracted at stations using a “pressure swing absorption system”.

This development is beneficial for GM as it has invested more than US$1.5 billion in fuel cell tech over the last 15 years. GM’s Project Driveway is the world’s largest initiative involving fuel cell vehicles which has so far amassed 1.4 million miles by thousands of people since 2007. GM is looking to redeploy some of the Chevy Equinox SUVs used in Project Driveway (119 units in service) to Hawaii. The General is currently working on a mass market fuel cell system, targeted for 2015 release.

Click here for our driving experience of the Honda FCX, a fuel cell vehicle.

3 Comments    

Hummer H3 recalled in the US, flying hood louvre alert!

May 6, 2010 at 12:05 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, General Motors, International News

General Motors is recalling 162,000 Hummer H3 SUVs (model year 2006 to 2010) in the US to rectify loose clips on the vehicle’s hood vent louvres. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the integral clip-tabs on the louvres may fracture, causing them to rattle against the hood and become loose. If this goes unnoticed, additional clips could fracture and the louvres could fly off the H3.

Remember what happened to Felipe Massa at last year’s Hungarian GP? Now imagine a long and sharp louvre flying off a Hummer, scary isn’t it?

Dealers will apply an adhesive to the said louvres to secure it, free of charge. US owners of the H3 are advised to contact their dealers for details. There are some H3s running around in Malaysia, and I noticed that Chevrolet dealer Cergazam had a few of these hulks for sale (not sure if they still do, the Hummer brand is history now). From now on, I’ll make a mental note to stay clear of any Hummers on our roads!

26 Comments    

GM Advanced Design boss moves to Renault

March 16, 2010 at 12:43 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under General Motors, International News, Renault

GM Europe’s Director of Advanced Design, Anthony Lo, will move to become Vice President of Exterior Design at Renault. In France, he will work under recently appointed Design Director Laurens van den Acker, who replaced Patrick le Quément.

Van den Acker’s flowing style (he previously headed the Nagare movement at Mazda) is in contrast with le Quément’s fascination with boxes – the latter was responsible for daring designs like the Avantime, Vel Satis and the previous generation big booty Megane.

At GM, Lo designed one of my favourite concept cars, the Saab Aero X concept (2006 Geneva), and the Opel Flextreme (2007 Frankfurt). The sleek Saab’s windscreen, doors and windows moved upward in one piece, which not only looks cool, but is a good solution for a low slung sportscar. Prior to GM, Lo sketched for Mercedes and Audi and began his career at Lotus after graduating from the Royal College of Art’s Vehicle Design program.

Source

9 Comments    

Stock clearance promo: Buy Hummer, free shotgun!

March 16, 2010 at 11:25 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, General Motors, International News

Well, this sounds quite disturbing, to me at least. As we all know, Hummer’s proposed sale to China’s Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machines failed, and GM is in the process of winding down the brand’s operations. To clear stock, dealer Lynch Hummer is giving away a Browning Citori White Lightning Shotgun with every new Hummer purchased! Just confirms the type of owner Hummer targets, doesn’t it?

Lynch Hummer has teamed up with Browning to make this offer. The Citori White Lightning is a premium over and under shotgun with a retail value of $2,000. “There is now real reason to believe that the current inventory on hand at dealers may be the last of the new Hummers, we wanted to send them off with something memorable,” says Hummer dealer Jim Lynch. “Browning and Hummer are prestigious brands and American Icons – bringing them together is a natural fit.”

Last summer Lynch Hummer, a Hummer dealer since 1994, added guns to the products they offer in their suburban St. Louis location. “Hummer inventory got so low we had to add another product to make up for lost sales. The guns have been a huge hit with our Hummer customers and now we are taking the ‘Guns and Hummers’ concept one step further,” said Lynch. “My hope is that someone will come in and rescue the brand. The right buyer with the right vision could do very well. It will be a real shame if the brand doesn’t survive,” he added.

51 Comments    

It’s official – Naza is new distributor for Chevrolet!

March 5, 2010 at 7:30 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Chevrolet, General Motors, Local News, Naza

Naza’s new Chevrolet distributorship has been made official earlier this week, after it signed a Distributor Sales and Service Agreement with General Motors for the Chevrolet brand here in Malaysia. Naza is now the sole and exclusive authorized distributor, while Cergazam which was previously the temporary ‘custodian’ of the brand will continue on as a dealer.

The dealership network for Chevrolet currently stands at 8 in Malaysia, and Naza plans to increase this to 18 by the end of this year, including 5 Naza-owned dealerships. All outlets will be 3S outlets, which means when you buy your car from the dealership, they will also be able to support your servicing. Certain brands have a mix of 3S dealerships and pure ‘sales’ dealerships where you would have to go somewhere else for your servicing needs.

The existing Chevrolet line-up will remain for now, but the first new car to be launched soon will be the Chevrolet Cruze 1.8 with the 6-speed transmission. Naza and GM are also discussing the possibility of CKD operations at Naza’s Gurun plant in Kedah. Naza will also honor the existing warranties of Chevrolet cars sold in Malaysia through the previous incarnation of Chevrolet, a JV between GM and DRB-HICOM.

In other Naza related news, Naza Automall (along the Federal Highway) will be extending its hours from its previous 9am to 7pm hours to new opening hours of 9am to 10pm, an extension of 3 hours past the usual operating hours. So if you’re stuck in the Federal Parking Lot Highway late in the evening you can detour and check out some cars.

43 Comments