HOLDEN PLANS TO MAINTAIN ITS OWN IDENTITY WITHIN GM

By Jonathon Ramsey, Autoblog.com - Unbeknownst to us, observers of Holden, General Motors' Australian subsidiary that has helped The General make some of its finest product, have wondered if the austral brand's identity would get swallowed up in the push to create a cohesive, global Chevrolet. Three products headed to the antipodes have aroused the question: although the Colorado pickup (pictured in Holden concept form) and SUV wear Holden badges, both have the Chevrolet twin-bar grille, and the Holden Volt has the twin-bar grille and a mashup of the Holden and Chevy logos.

The brand's CEO, Mike Devereaux, gave quizzical explanations for the styling choices, saying of the Colorado that "having one huge front grille on a truck this big, I am not sure it works," and that a new Volt grille wouldn't be cost effective. However, the Colorado certainly wouldn't be the first truck to feature a huge, unbroken grille, and the addition of the Chevrolet bowtie surround to the Holden badge on the Volt cannot be a matter of cost.

Nevertheless, Devereaux did assure anyone concerned that Holden will remain proudly Holden. He wouldn't specify how, but alluded to "smart ways" of figuring out, from a design standpoint, how "to have an efficient way of giving us what we need from a Holden." That could mean new front and rear clips for Holden vehicles, or something else entirely. Even now, it's not all Chevy: the Holden Trax and Malibu will have bespoke Holden faces.

THESE CAR COLOURS ATTRACT THE MOST BIRD POOP

By Zach Bowman, Autoblog.com - A new study revealed red cars attract more bird droppings than any other colour. The research, conducted by online retailer Halfords, revealed red vehicles made up 18 per cent of cars marked by birds, while blue followed along in second place at 14 per cent. Green vehicles got off the easiest, making up just one per cent of those in the study. The sample included 1,140 cars in Brighton, Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester and Bristol, though there's no indication as to the total number of each car colour in the group.

The study also asked owners how quickly they removed bird droppings from their vehicle's paint. Onl one in six said they took care of the problem immediately, while more than half waited until the next car wash. Halfords says leaving the strongly alkali substance on your vehicle's paint work can lead to costly repairs. The company estimates owners spend around $89.3 million per ear in damaged paint.

THE CORVETTE CHALLENGE: WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?

The order bank for the 2013 Corvette is bulging: the facotr is
pushing to build more cars, and close to half the orders are for the white 60th-anniversary model

By Dale Jewett, Automotive News - Usually, Corvette chief engineer Tadge Juechter is the guy answering the questions.

He answered most of mine recently as we hammered a 2013 Chevrolet Corvette 427 convertible on the roads around the General Motors Proving Ground in southeast Michigan.

Of course, he skillfully dodged my attempts to bring out any details on the next-generation Corvette, known as the C7. That car makes its debut early next year.

But in the friendly banter after our drive, Juechter had a question for me: "What would you change for the next Corvette?"

Now, complaining about the Corvette runs a close second in popularity to raving about the Corvette -- particularly in media circles. Among the common digs: the styling is cartoonish; the interior materials look cheap; the car is too big and heavy; the seats are uncomfortable.

Sure, the C7 is too far down the development road to make any big changes. The assembly plant in Bowling Green, Ky., is already being torn up to get ready for the new car.

But here was my chance. I had the full attention of the Corvette chief engineer to give him my wish list ... and I didn't have a quick answer.

The truth is that years of continuous refinement have made the Corvette a powerful and comfortable sports car.

And not to cheese off fans of the ZR1, but the 427 convertible is the best of the C6 breed. It marries the 505-hp dry-sump V8, six-speed manual and suspension from the Z06 track car with the grand-touring chassis and interior from the Grand Sport convertible. The redesigned seats introduced last year on the Centennial Edition are here along with suedelike coverings for the steering wheel, shift lever, center console and door armrests.

The 427 convertible and a 60th-anniversary trim package are the final acts for the Corvette's C6 generation. And Corvette fans know this is something special. Juechter says the order bank for the 2013 Corvette is bulging: the factory is pushing to build more cars, and close to half the orders are for the white 60th-anniversary model.

So, I had to think for a couple of minutes before answering Juechter's question. I've been fortunate over the years to drive several Corvettes -- around town, on long trips and at the track.

All indications are that the C7 will build upon the stiff, low-weight platform introduced with the C5 Corvette in 1997. That's good.

A new base engine is expected. Rumors point to a new generation of GM's small-block V8, possibly turbocharged. The goal: Deliver at least as much power as the current base engine (430-hp, 6.l2-liter V80 with better fuel economy. I asked Juechter to please make sure a clutch pedal is available.

Cutting weight also helps boost fuel economy and improve performance.

At about 3,200 pounds the base 2013 Corvette coupe isn't exactly heavy, but shedding a couple hundred pounds would put it on par with the new Porsche 911.

The 427 convertible, the Z06 and the ZR1 already use plenty of carbon fiber. GM has nearly a decade of experience creating ClassA finishes with the material. The Z06 and ZR1 also use hydroformed aluminum side rails to cut weight.

My guess is that you'll see these materials on the base C7. This also helps explain the $131 million that GM is spending to retool the assembly plant.

So that leaves the interior.

I asked Juechter to please replace the archaic navigation/radio unit used in the current car. He gave me that look that says, "I know". It's not a good sign that Corvette owners pack the theater at the National Corvette Museum for an hour-long seminar on how to use the system. I realize that the Corvette is a low-volume program and has to piggy-back on components designed for high-volume models. GM has much better units in its arsenal now.

The redesigned seats are comfortable. I told Juechter that no one would complain if they get even better. And if he can narrow the center tunnel to create more hip room, that's a plus.

But that's all I could come up with on short notice. And even after a few days' of extra thinking time, I can't come up with much else.

One thing remains true -- the last model year of every generation delivers some of the best Corvettes built. The 2013 Corvette is no exception.

GM'S FEMALE MANUFACTURING CHIEF FACES BIG TRUCK TEST

By Ben Klayman, Automotive News - General Motors Co. sells its big, brawny trucks for their torque, testosterone and hefty profis, so when the U.S. automaker wanted to introduce the next models, they turned to one of the toughest executives in its ranks.

Global manufacturing chief Diana Tremblay is one of the highest-ranking women in the automotive industry. Throughout her 35-ear career at GM, she has made her mark in what were regarded as male domains, from directing foundry workers to staring down union labor negotiators.

Now she faces an even more critical task for the world's largest automaer -- ensuring the smooth 2013 introduction of the remodeled full-size pickup trucks and SUVs, GM's high-profile equivalent of a new Apple iPhone.

While executives at GM touted its strength in overseas markets like China after the Detroit compan's bankruptc and $50 billion U.S. taxpayer bailout, it turns out the profit engine has instead been North America. And nothing is more important to that success than the second-quarter introduction nexy year of the big Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups and related SUVs, which analysts say generate profits of $12,000 to $14,000 per vehicle.

The "military precision" of the changeover for the truck platform dubbed K2XX has impressed Tremblay's boss, U.S. Navy veteran and GM CEO Dan Akerson. "She's small in physical stature, but she's like a pit bull," he said.

But the 5-foo-2 Tremblay faces a far different task than she would have before GM filed for bankruptcy in 2009. Instead of leading the changeover at seven North American plants that used to make the big GM vehicles, her team now must do the job with four.

"It takes a different way of thinking about how you do your work when ou don't have excess capacity," Tremblay, 52, said in an interview at GM's Wentzville, Mo., commercial van plant.

It is a somewhat welcome problem, though, for an executive who during the bankruptcy helped negotiate key labor deals while working to shore up employee morale.

"Everybod was worried about their jobs," she said. "The most often-asked question when you talked to anybody -- 'Well, are you still employed?' That was difficult."

While new small cars like the Chevy Cruze have garnered positive reviews, the big pickups and SUVs -- Chevy Tahoe and Suburban, GMC Yukon and Cadilac Escalade -- remain top draws at dealerships. Their combined U.S. sales rose 11 percent last ear to more than 799,000 vehicles.

And even though they are the oldest truck models on the market, GM pickups still ranked No. 2 in all U.S. vehice sales ast year, behind only Ford Motor Co.'s F-150 truck.

Trucks and SUVs account for about 60 percent of GM's North American profit, analysts said.

Citi analyst Itay Michaeli estimates the new trucks could bring GM more than $1 billion in additional operating earnings in 2013 and 2014.

Bragging Rights

That kind of money leads to jockeying, especially among U.S. automakers, for bragging rights about which has the toughest truck with the most towing capacity or highest fuel-efficiency.

GM ran an ad during the broadcast of this year's NFL Super Bowl that depicts an apocalyptic scene in which Silverado owners escape death and make it to a pre-arranged meeting point in their trucks whie a friend who drives a Ford does not.

GM has tod analsts and investors the magnitude of product advancements in the new trucks will be as large as the last redesign in 2006, which helped the automaer gain market share.

GM North American chief Mark Reuss told Reuters the launch remained on track and that the trucs would be competitive with rival offerings.

Tremblay, who speaks in a low, measured voice that has managers and factor workers leaning in to hear her, may be a GM insider, but as a woman executive in a part of an industry dominated by men, she also is an outsider.

"There is maybe a tendency to underestimate me," she said. "That's not always bad."

Forged in Defiance

Tremblay's career was forged in the foundries of Defiance, Ohio, where she supervised men whose job was swinging sledge hammers to knock excess metal off auto castings.

Family history, however, set her path earlier, as her grandfather spent his entire career as an hourly employee at GM's now-idled Janesville, Wis., assembly plant. Her father was the first in the family to go to college, graduating from Flint, Michigan's Kettering University, a training ground for many GM managers.

Her father rose to head maintenance at GM's Lordstown, Ohio, assembly plant, which Tremblay sometimes visited on weekends. As a child, she would also listen to his work stories.

Tremblay later started her career at the Defiance casting plant.

"I don't know if a woman had set foot up in that area ever," she said. "It was a dark, dingy place. I was probably 18 at that point. It was pretty intimidating, so you learn pretty fast."

She herself graduated from Kettering, where she met her husband, who works in powertrain engineering at GM.

Tremblay, who mostly drives a Chevy Tahoe SUV and uses her Pontiac Solstice sports car for special occasions, rose to become head of labor relations in North America in 2006. A year later, she helped negotiate the watershed VEBA deal with the UAW that shifted GM's retiree health care liabilities off its balance sheet.

"A lot of people have a hard time believing we worked well together, but we did," said Cal Rapson, the former UAW vice president who negotiated with her.

Walking the assembly line at the Wentzville plant outside St. Louis earlier this year, Tremblay recalled the long hours. "If my husband and I were going anywhere, he would drive because I'd just fall asleep," she said. "Anytime I sat down, I would just doze off. I wasn't very exciting at home during that period."

Her adaptability comes in handy in her current job, which she took on in 2009, as workers at the plants under her care learn to adjust to changing on the fly. Instead of shutting down paint shops for two weeks, changes must happen while the assembly line is running.

In Fairfax, Kan., for instance, employees replaced 1.3 miles of conveyor belts a section at a time last year so as not to shut down a busy plant that builds the Chevy Malibu and Buick LaCrosse mid-sized cars. Now Tremblay's team must basically pull off a similar trick on a larger scale, putting the tooling in pace for the new full-size trucks while minimizing down time to maintain production of current models.

It is all part of a bigger effort for Tremblay and executives like her, who came up through a system deemed too bureaucratic, to mold GM into a leaner, faster-moving company.

"I used to spend a lot of time in meetings that, honestly, when I walked out of the room, not a lot was different than when I walked in," she said. That's certainly not the case today."

"I talk to people in the plants who tell me unsolicited that this is the most fun that they have had in their career at GM."

NEW 2014 CHEVROLET IMPALA ECO MODEL TO JOIN CRUZE, MALIBU

By John Voelcker, HighGearMedia.com - Buick has placed a major bet on its eAssist mild hybrid system, offering it as standard equipment on base versions of the 2012 Lacrosse, and more recently, the 2013 Regal as well.

Now Chevrolet is planning to spread that same system -- which the Bowtie Brand uses on the 2013 Chevy Malibu Eco on sale since early this year -- to more models. And Automobile magazine caught spy photos of what it'll look like.

The article shows the redesigned 2014 Impala full-size sedan with a quite different grille, more of a Volt-style blanking plate than the three horizontal chrome bars used on the 2014 Chevrolet Impala unveiled at the New York Auto Show in April.

The new Impala was designed, Chevy said, to accommodate a variety of engines -- not only the Eco mild-hybrid engine but also a range-topping 303-horsepower, 3.6-liter V-6 and a base 2.5-liter four-cylinder putting out 195 horsepower.

The 2014 Impala is built on the same platform as the 2012 Buick Lacrosse, so the engineering of the 182-hp 2.4-liter eAssist version should be fairly easy. It will use GM's corporate six-speed automatic transmission, just as the Lacrosse does.

Chevy hopes to earn a 35-mpg highway rating for the 2014 Impala Eco, though its city mileage will likely only be in the low 20s.

That system uses a 10-kilowatt (15-hp) alternator-starter acting to provide extra torque to the engine, and recharge the small lithium-ion battery pack, through a beefed-up accessory drive belt that drives both ways.

It also restarts the engine when the driver starts to lift a foot off the brake after the car has come to a stop.

The advantage to this system is that all the modifications are to the outside of the engine. That requires fewer packaging modifications than single-motor mild hybrid systems like Honda's Integrated Motor Assist, in which the electric motor sits between the engine and transmission.

The Lacrosse eAssist model also carries additional underbody air shields, to smooth airflow under the car and reduce aerodynamic drag at speed, as well as active grille shutters like those introduced on the Cruze Eco two years ago.

It appears GM decided some time ago that its eAssist system was a cost-effective way to help its largest cars comply with increasingly stringent fuel-economy requirements for 2012 through 2015.

Tom Stephens, then an executive in GM product planning, said in 2008 that the company expected to produce up to 100,000 such systems within two years after launching it.

The 2012 Buick Lacrosse with eAssist hit the market last summer, and the 2014 Chevy Impala is supposed to go on sale early next year.

Unlike the Buick approach, however, the Eco system will remain an extra-cost option on Chevy models -- as it is on the 2013 Malibu and the Cruze since its launch.

But watch for not only the Impala Eco next year, but Eco versions of additional Chevy model lines in future years.

GENERAL MOTORS RECALLS 413000 CHEVROLET CRUZES

By Sharon Terlep, Wall Street Journal - General Motors Co. said on Friday it would recall 413,418 U.S.-built Chevrolet Cruze sedans to modify a faulty part that could allow liquids to become trapped in the engine compartment and cause fires.

The company said no crashes, injuries or fatalities have been reported as a result of the problem. The Cruze is built and sold globally, but only those cars built in Lordstown, Ohio, and sold in the U.S. and Canada, and several hundred exported to Israel are affected.

"The most important thing for our customers to know is that we are proactively working to assure the Cruze is the safe and durable car they purchased," said GM's vice president of global quality, Alicia Boler-Davis.

All Cruzes with manual and automatic transmissions built in the U.S. from September 2010 through May of this year are included in the engine-shield modification.

Federal regulators opened a preliminary investigation in April following two engine-compartment fires in Cruzes.

Separately, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating complaints that power steering on Ford Motor Co.'s 2011 Explorer SUVs can fail after 15 drivers said the vehicle suddenly lost its power-steering assist, making it harder to steer the SUVs. The problem could affect 83,000 Explorers. No crashes or injuries have been reported to NHTSA, which announced the probe on its website Friday.

Regulators also are looking into complaints about engine stalling in some Chrysler Group LLC 200 midsize sedans. That probe includes about 87,000 of the cars from the 2011 model year that have 3.6-liter V-6 engines.

CHEVY TRAILBLAZER PRODUCTION UNDERWAY IN THAILAND

By Jonathon Ramsey, Autoblog - The handsome-and-not-for-us 2013 Chevrolet Trailblazer has begun driving off the lines in Thailand at the General Motors plant in Rayong. Debuted at the Dubai Auto Show last year, the Trailblazer could be seen to squeeze between the Traverse and Tahoe if it were sold here, combining a brawnier version of the unibody Traverse's looks with the body-on-frame off-road capability of the forthcoming Colorado pickup replacement.

Underhood are one of two turbodiesels, either a 2.5-liter with 150 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque, or a 2.8-liter with 180 hp and 346 lb-ft, working through either a five-speed manual or six-speed automatic. The seven-seat Trailblazer is earmarked for sale in 50 global markets, but it isn't expected in North American showrooms.

WANTED: 1967 PONTIAC GTO FOR A SPECIAL FATHER'S DAY

By Autoblog - Jim Sharp of Wisconsin needs a red 1967 Pontiac GTO to make his dad's Father's Day, possibly his last one, something extra special.

Back in the '60s, Jim's dad, Ken, drove a cherry red 1967 GTO to California for a job. He met a girl, got married and decided his wife's 1965 Ford Mustang was more fuel efficient than the Goat and the GTO was sold. As the story almost always goes, Ken has had seller's regret ever since.

Jim always meant to find a 1967 GTO and, with his dad's help, restore it. But life got in the way, time slipped by and Ken was recently diagnosed with esophageal cancer and given about three months to live.

Jim went to Hemmings forums asking for help:

"My dad would love to own a GTO, but finances aren't there to do so, and I am really hoping to get one for him to drive around for a while. He now spends his days going fishing sunup to sundown as that is what he wants to do. I can think of no better way to get him from home to his fishing spot and back again than in a GTO!"

So if you know of anyone in Wisonsin willing to loan or rent their GTO for a day, Daniel Strohl at Hemmings asks you to contact him as soon as possible.

CHEVY CAMARO ZL1 VS FORD SHELBY GT500 ON THE DYNO

By Jonathon Ramsey, Autoblog - Inside Line took the 2012 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and 2013 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500, together, on a field trip: to Westminster, California where they were both tested on the same dyno at MD Automotive, run by the same operator on the same day. In case any memories need refreshing, the specs run thusly: the ZL1 has a 6.2-litre supercharged V8 belting out 580 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 556 pound-feet of torque at 4,200 rpm, for a 0-60 (96 km/h) time of 3.9 seconds and a top speed of 296 km/h (184 mph). The Shelby GT500 rocks up with a supercharged 5.8-litre boasting 662 hp and 631 lb-ft, for a 0-60 (96 km/h) time of 3.7 seconds and a top speed in excess of 320 km/h (200 mph). Both get the power down via six-speed manual transmissions.

All things being equal, the dyno returns should have them split by something like 82 hp and 75 lb-ft. But good luck with equality, at least on this day: the Camaro charted 497 hp and 497 lb-ft, the kind of 15 per cent drop you might expect due to driveline losses, and just 11 per cent of its torque sapped.

The GT500 would have none of it, charting 603 hp and 497 lb-ft. It gives up less than 10-per cent of its hp, leaving an on-the-road gap of 105-hp to the ZL1, and even though it loses more torque percentage-wise, it comes out even with its rival on the (dyno) road.

This latest info gives a new round of ammo to the armchair testers until the comparos start rolling in. But as numerous folks have commented on the dyno tests, what's really important is this: this is a great time to be a muscle car enthusiast.

FORD, CHEVY TAKE STOP-START TO THE BIG TIME

By Lindsay Chappell, Automotive News - Stop-start technology has been a mainstay of hybrids and in Asia and Europe. Now it's going mainstream in Detroit.

The 2013 Ford Fusion and the 2013 Chevrolet Malibu have stop-start systems.

The stop-start equipped Malibu Eco, which went on sale this year, climbs to 29 mpg combined city and highway, up from 26 for the outgoing Malibu.

The EPA has not yet rated the 2013 Fusion's fuel economy, but Ford promises a similar increase. Stop-start on the Fusion is a $295 option.

Stop-start halts the engine when the car comes to a standstill and restarts it when the driver releases the brake pedal. In stop mode, the vehicle's electrical systems run on battery power.

The shutdown at stops can improve fuel economy by about 10 percent.

Stop-start systems are old hat on hybrids such as the Toyota Prius, Honda Insight and the Ford Fusion Hybrid. The systems have been used since the 1980s in Asia and Europe, mostly in small, eco-friendly models, and now on high-end models from the likes of BMW and Porsche.

But U.S. automakers have been slow to embrace stop-start in mass-market models. Kia has delayed a planned stop-start system on its 2012 Rio.

To support stop-start, the Fusion and Malibu Eco required changes. Explains Daryl Wilson, GM's lead engineer on eAssist, traditional hydraulic pumps temporarily lose their source of power when the engine isn't running. To get around that, the Ford and Chevrolet models moved to electric-power steering systems.

CHEVROLET CRUZE ECO, SONIC NAMED BEST FAMILY CARS

Edmunds.com and Parents magazine
recognize Chevrolet passenger cars

By General Motors, Detroit - Edmunds.com and Parents magazine say the Chevrolet Cruze Eco and Sonic are two of the Best Family Cars for 2012. Both the Cruze Eco and Sonic deliver fuel economy of 40 mpg or more on the highway and offer consumers the comfort, safety and advanced technology they expect at a value.

"With every new Chevrolet, we are able to deliver the technology and powertrain solutions that offer consumers the best fuel economy, performance and safety, making vehicles like the Sonic and Cruze Eco ideal choices for families," said Chris Perry, vice president, Chevrolet Global Marketing.

"The Cruze Eco and Sonic are the best small Chevys ever built," said Scott Oldham, Edmunds.com editor-in-chief. "They are fun to drive, attractive, well-built and extremely fuel efficient, making them excellent choices for anyone shopping for a compct or subcompact car."

Said Dana Points Parents editor-in-chief: "At Parents, we know that buying a new car is a big family decision, so we want our guide to make the process easier. The Cruze Eco and the Sonic scored high safety marks, and parents using the vehicles were impressed with the responsiveness and the family friendy features."

The Cruze - Chevrolet's best-selling car around the world - provides the amenities, quietness, safety featurs, infotainment and roominess expected of a larger, more expensive sedan, but with the efficiency of a compact car. The first car in its class with 10 standard air bags, the Cruze received an overall five-star safety rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the highest score possible. The Cruze is available in LS, LT and LTZ trim levels, as well as the Eco model that achieves an EPA-estimated 42 mpg highway.

Cruze Eco achieves its hybrid-like highway fuel economy using a 1.4L Ecotec turbocharged engine, six-speed manual transmission and features that improve its aerodynamics, minimize weight and reduce rolling resistance.

Sonic is proving to be a popular choice among consumers with sales steadily rising to place it among the leaders in the subcompact segment. It delivers an EPA-estimated 40 mpg highway with class-leading acceleration when paired with the 1.4L Turbo and six-speed manual transmission. The Sonic is offered in two body styles: a four-door sedan and a five-door hatchback. Each is designed to deliver outstanding rear-seat roominess and cargo space.

Sonic, the only subcompact built in the United States, is produced at the General Motors Orion Assembly Center in Michigan, which received a $545-million investment in upgrades and retooling and helped restore approximately 1,000 jobs in the Detroit area.

GM NOW TYING ALL EMPLOYEE BONUSES TO CUSTOMER LOYALTY

By Jeff Sabatini, Autoblog - Since it emerged from bankruptcy in 2009, General Motors has been spending a goodly amount of effort trying to prove that the "New GM" does things differently than the company that squandered over 15 points of market share in the past two decades. Its latest gambit is linking salaried employee bonuses, in part, to customer loyalty. While we tend to cast a skeptical eye on such proclamations - whether they come from GM or any other automaker - we're intrigued by what seems like a legitimate effort by GM North American President Mark Reuss to truly remake the automaker into a customer-focused company.

According to Automotive News, Reuss has ended the longstanding practice of each GM fiefdom having its own internal goals, with the overall success of the organization rendered irrelevant. As Reuss told AN, "Everybody had their own metrics, which somehow were all green. But, weirdly, when we added it up, it was pretty red."

All of GM's 29,000 salaried North American employees, including both sales and marketing and design and engineering staff, will be covered by the new policy, which rewards employees with year-end bonuses only if goals for quality and customer retention are met. The customer focus was added this year, with the quality goals having been set in 2011, according to the report.

AN says the biggest change the policy will have on GM's corporate culture may come at the dealership level. Where, in the past, GM's sales managers were known to push cars down the pipeline, essentially strong-arming dealers to take cars they didn't want, that practice has ended, according to the report.

CRAZY CHEVY DRIVER CRASHES INTO GM HEADQUARTERS ... LIKE A ROCK!

By Mark Pereira, Autoblog - Some Chevy customers sure know how to make an entrance, like this road rage fueled driver who smashed his Monte Carlo into GM headquarters yesterday afternoon. The bizarre scene resulted in some serious damage to the revolving glass doors at GM's Renaissance Center. Maybe this loyal GM owner wanted to see if his Chevy really was built like a rock?

It allegedly started with the black Monte Carlo failing to clear the circular drive way of the GM building and accidentally hitting one of the glass doors, causing minor damage. According to witnesses, GM security guards told the driver that he would need to wait until police came so they could make a report.

Things quickly heated up as a witness said the man told guards if he was going to jail for hitting the building that he may as well drive right through it! And so he did just that, jumping back into his car and smashing straight into the glass entrance like a drive-thru window.

According to The Detroit News, the fuming 26-year-old driver was put in police custody and may have been mentally challenged. Luckily, there were no reported injuries and the glass doors are already under repair.

CHEVROLET RETURNS TO ITS RACING ROOTS

Automaker has over a century of motorsport
experience, and believes wins translate to car sales

By Andrew McCredie, Vancouver Sun - The collective groan of hundreds of thousands of race fans when Tony Kanaan slipped from the lead of Sunday's Indy 500 in the closing laps said it all.

That, and the slumped shoulders and silent stare of General Motor's North American president Mark Reuss, seated a few seats away from me in the air-conditioned Chevrolet hospitality suite high above the famed brickyard. (I say air-conditioned as the outside temperature was hovering in the 35 C range, the hottest ever in the 96 runnings of the legendary race.)

With Kanaan's Chevy-powered KV Racing car outpaced by three Honda-powered open-wheelers in the final laps, Chevrolet's hoped for triumphant return to the Indianapolis Speedway melted like so much of the ice-cream consumed by the speed-hungry horde ringing the two-and-a-half mile track.

When the checkered flag flew, it was two Honda's up front - winner Dario Franchitti and runner-up Scott Dixon - followed by Kanaan. Had Takuma Sato not spun out in Turn 2 on the final lap in a courageous, if not ill-advised wheel-to-wheel duel with Franchitti, it would have been a Honda podium sweep.

Forty-eight hours earlier GM president Reuss was holding court in a hotel conference room in downtown Indianapolis, confident his company's return to the IndyCar series as an engine manufacturer after a six-year absence would end in the victory circle.

"My dream is to win here this weekend and next week at the Detroit Grand Prix," Reuss said. "These next two weekends are the emotional turning point of my career."

Perhaps that was being a little dramatic, but the passionate Reuss is clearly as heavily invested personally in Chevrolet's diverse racing programs as the company itself.

Regardless of the outcome of this Sunday's race in Detroit - call it a home game for GM - Reuss can at least take solace in the company's sales figures. Selling a record 4.7 million vehicles in 2011 - including taking the top-selling car and top-selling sports car titles - in 2012 Chevrolet is off to its best first quarter sales in its history (1.8 million, or a new Chevy sold every 6.6 seconds).

For Reuss, there's a direct correlation between racing on Sunday and selling on Monday.

"When we have success on the track we have success in the showroom," he said of a sentiment that is in the very DNA of the company.

Six years before the first year the Indy 500 was run in 1911, Louis Chevrolet toured the Midwest as a daredevil driver along with Carl G. Fisher, who four years later, in 1909, began building his brick-paved track on the outskirts of Indianapolis.

The year of that inaugural Indy 500, Louis Chevrolet and Billy Durant incorporated the Chevrolet Motor Car Co. in Detroit, and in 1915 Chevrolet competed in his first Indy 500. His brother Gaston won the race in 1920.

"I don't think you can have a successful brand like Chevrolet if you go in and out of motorsport," continued Reuss, citing Chevrolet's absence from IndyCar in recent years as a problem on a number of levels.

But now with Chevrolet engines back in IndyCars, he reasoned, "we're going to sell more cars because of this racing program."

Just as the company founder saw value in campaigning race cars, Chevrolet's current braintrust see great things coming from the IndyCar engine program, which features small-block V6s with direct fuel injection.

Said Reuss: "We have to have technological innovation in racing, and the leap to direct injection engines will pay big dividends in our passenger vehicles."

In addition to the technological advances in engines and aerodynamics gleaned from racing, Reuss cited image awareness and marketing opportunities as other compelling reasons to participate in motorsport. He added that 33 per cent of sales leads come from motorsports.

In addition to IndyCar, Chevrolet is involved in many other high-profile racing series, including NASCAR, American LeMans, NHRA, Grand Am Road Racing, FIA World Touring and NASCAR Trucks.

Everything from Corvettes to Cruzes are campaigned in that large and diverse stable of race cars, ensuring that whatever your budget, there's a Chevy on a track that can also be in your driveway.

"It is," said Reuss, "who we are."

CHEVY SS PROTOTYPE ALREADY TAKING THE CHECKERED FLAG

By Zach Bowman, Autoblog - General Motors isn't set to begin producing the new Chevrolet SS until early next year, but the company has recently been spotted testing the model on U.S. streets. Our spy photographers managed to click a few photos of a heavily camouflaged version of the sedan before engineers spirited it back into the relative safety of the automaker's facilities. Even so, those on hand could easily hear the bark and snarl of an impressive V8 propelling the machine around. Odds are that's a naturally-aspirated 6.3-liter lump behind the headlights, though GM was using a Cadillac CTS-V chase vehicle to keep pace, leading some to speculate as to whether or not the company may be considering a supercharged version.

Sounds like fun to us. We can clearly see a set of massive front brakes at work on the machine, however. After a closer glance, it looks as if the Chevrolet SS may roll out the door with six-piston calipers on hand, though the wheel spokes make visual confirmation a bit tricky. The shots also clearly show off a muscular set of dual exhaust and meaty rear tires out back.

While most of the nose is obscured by camo, we can see a set of LED daytime running lights peeking through the mesh. The Chevrolet SS will be built alongside the next-generation Holden Commodore in Australia beginning in 2013. Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.

RAM PICKUP LEADS GROUP OF MOST DANGEROUS CARS

By Autoblog - Take a vehicle's Insurance Institute for Highway Safety score, throw it into a data pot that includes Consumer Reports ratings, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration crash safety results and J.D. Power's Initial Quality Study numbers, mix thoroughly, then pour out the most dangerous vehicle on the road today: The Ram pickup truck.

The website 24/7 Wall St. created this analysis to reveal the models with consistent quality problems and poor safety scores. All of the vehicles scored poorly in one area or another in crash testing, typically side or rear impact tests. They all scored badly in rollover testing, except the Jeep Wrangler.

In order, the best of the worst are:

1. Dodge Ram



2. Chevrolet Colorado Super Cab



3. Mazda CX-7



4. Mazda CX-9



5. Nissan Pathfinder



6. Jeep Wrangler



7. Suzuki SX4

And while the data may speak volumes, it doesn't translate into poor sales, 24/7 Wall St. noted. "In fact, sales of all models are up from last year," the site stated.

24/7 Wall St. did not reveal the safest vehicles on the road today using the same data, but all it has to do is turn its list upside down.

GM CHINA SALES GAIN 21% IN MAY ON MINIVANS, CHEVROLET DEMAND

By Automotive News - General Motors Co. said vehicle sales in China last month increased 21 percent, boosted by demand for its Wuling minivan and Chevrolet sedans.

Deliveries of cars and minivans rose to 231,183 units in May from 190,674 units a year earlier, the company said today on its Web site. Sales for the first five months increased 12 percent to 1.2 million units, according to the statement.

GM is "on track" to meet its China sales targets and outperform the industry this year, Kevin Wale, its country head, said in an interview last week. The delivery growth reduces concern that an industrywide slowdown will worsen and add to the slump in Europe and stalling job growth in the U.S.

"Our numbers internally are looking pretty solid," Wale, GM's China president, said in a May 31 interview in Shanghai. "We're going to do a bit more than the market growth."

Even so, a decline last month in Buick and Cadillac deliveries led to the automaker selling fewer vehicles in China than in the U.S. for the first time this year.

Wales said China's vehicle market will recover in the second half of the year as first-time buyers return to showrooms.

Buick, Chevrolet

SAIC-GM-Wuling, the venture that makes mini-commercial vehicles used to transport goods and people, boosted deliveries by 36 percent to 127,749 units, according to the statement.

Buick sales fell 1.2 percent and Cadillac sales slid 2.2 percent, contrasting with Chevrolet deliveries, which increased 13 percent, according to the statement. Chevrolet demand had fallen 6.2 percent in April.

GM's sales growth last month comes on the back of a lower base for comparison in May 2011, when its deliveries fell for a second month after the removal of government incentives dented demand.

China's passenger ehicle sales rose 1.9 percent in the first four months this year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. Including commercial vehicles, total auto deliveries for the January-to-April period fell 1.3 percent from a year earlier, the data shows.

Financial Incentives

Mounting optimism the government is preparing to introduce stimulus measures to revive auto demand may affect showroom sales in the near term, Wale said. Government officials are under increasing pressure to revive consumer demand after the economy grew slower than forecast and vehicle sales slumped.

China's cabinet agreed to revive financial incentives for consumers to trade in their passenger cars to help increase demand in the world's biggest vehicle market, a government official said last week.

Chongqing, with an area the size of South Carolina, will subsidize purchases of vehicles made in the city as the first local government to offer such incentives since Premier Wen Jiabao said last month the economy faces increasing downward pressure.

China in 2009 rolled out a cash-for-clunkers program to counter the global financial crisis, spurring 49.6 billion yuan ($7.8 billion) in new car purchases the following year.

GM Plans

GM plans to open 600 new dealerships this year and in April signed an agreement to build a fourth passenger car-making plant to cater to demand in inner provinces in the world's largest auto market.

Last month, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp., said it approved selling back to GM 1 percent ownership in their joint venture for $91.4 million, subject to Chinese government approval. The deal restores GM's ability to have equal say on operational decisions in China, three years after it ceded control of the venture by selling a 1 percent stake for $85 million.

"There is still a European hangover that causes a lot of news that I don't think particularly impacts the Chinese consumer," Wale said. "So I'm still pretty optimistic it won't take much to bring them back into buying mode."