GM CEO Akerson Assures All the Volt is Still on Course Despite Five Week Production Halt

If the Chevy Volt is a sales failure, you'd never know it from the guy who runs General Motors.

At a meeting of Volt owners in San Francisco yesterday, GM's CEO Dan Akerson said unequivocally that the company was standing behind its halo plug-in electric car.

"We are not backing away from this product," he told the assembled Volt owners.

Akerson had earlier said, both during a Congressional hearing and on GM's VoltAge blog, that the Volt was designed as a safe, state-of-the-art car, not a "political punching bag."

"Although we loaded the Volt with state-of-the-art safety features, we did not engineer the Volt to be a political punching bag," Akerson told Congress in January. "Sadly, that is what it's become."

In San Francisco, the CEO met with about 30 Volt owners to answer questions, assure them that the five-week production stoppage was just temporary, and reaffirm the company's commitment to the range-extended electric car.

Volt owner Fred Ehnow attended the lunch and posted his thoughts in the Volt Owners Group on Facebook. Some excerpts (slightly edited for clarity):

GM CEO Dan Akerson speaks to Chevy Volt owners, San Francisco, Mar 2012 (photo: Shad Balch, GM)

Akerson assured us that the five-week Volt production shutdown was nothing more than a matter of keeping inventories in line with demand.

He pointed out that the best-selling car in the U.S. last year, the Chevrolet Cruze, also had a two-week production shutdown in November, and nobody made a fuss over it.

But because the Volt has been under such heavy scrutiny, the media has pointed to the shutdown as yet another indication that the Volt is doomed.

He said that in the old days, GM would not have shut down production, but rather would have tried to bend the demand curve by incentivizing dealers and offloading Volts to fleet sales.

That's what got them (and other American auto manufacturers) into the troubles they were in several years ago.

Akerson spoke and answered questions for over an hour. I was impressed with how genuine and unguarded he was.

To add a note of Machiavellian reality, it may be worth remembering that CEOs are paid to say the right thing.

There's another scenario in which Akerson publicly supports the Volt...right up until the time when he doesn't.

But we think it's far too early for GM to make that decision. The car's barely been on sale for a year, and one year is a very short time in the life of a vehicle program.

Our best guess: GM continues to hammer away at Volt sales through 2012 and 2013, and launches the 2014 Cadillac ELR luxury coupe--based on Voltec mechanicals--next year.

But will there be a Volt 2.0? That's the big question to us.

And it seems far too early to answer--despite what you read in the media.

Source: Green Car Reports

2012 Chevrolet Cruze 1XF

The latest 2012 Chevrolet Cruze 1XF is well designed and completely updated the old version.The new 2012 Chevrolet Cruze 1XF is powered 1.4L I4 liters and 2012 Chevrolet Cruze 1XF arise speed manual 6 speed. The operation of the engine can produce a horse power 138@4900.New Chevrolet cars with a mileage 28/42 on the 2012 Chevrolet Cruze 1XF city/Hwy. 2012 Chevrolet Cruze 1XF vehicle seats 4 and cruising range is 415.8 miles. the new Chevrolet car has a 9.5:1 compression and 1364/83 Bore x Stroke displacement.

2012 Chevrolet Cruze 1XF has turbo engine, which always contain transmission.This Overdrive is not a Supercharged Chevrolet Cruze Vehicle. 2012 Chevrolet Cruze 1XF always contain 4 bottles that help produce horsepower.

Chevrolet has declared its own advanced Chevrolet Cruze 1XF. Chevrolet's new model equipped with some new features and complete specifications of relieved technologies.Chevrolet Cruze 1XF and Chevrolet Cruze containing features and Chevrolet Cruze 1XF overviews.You that for a complete and detailed structure Chevrolet Cruze 1XF from here.

Cruze US diesel engine being co-developed with GM diesel center of excellence in Torino, Italy

The coming Chevrolet Cruze diesel engine for the US market will leverage GM’s global powertrain expertise. GM sold more than half a million diesel-powered cars across Europe, Asia, Africa and South America last year, including 33,000 Cruzes. GM expects that the introduction of a diesel option for Cruze—one of the top-selling gasoline-powered cars in the United States in 2011—will fuel its diesel car sales.

For Cruze, powertrain engineers at GM’s diesel center of excellence in Torino, Italy, are working with counterparts in Pontiac, Mich., to develop a world-class engine that delivers outstanding fuel efficiency and torque while providing a smooth, quiet ride. In addition, GM engineers in Russelsheim, Germany, are supporting the program by developing the accessory drive, acoustic cover and other specialized components.

Future Cruze diesel engine development will benefit from GM’s recent commitment to invest €20 million ($26.5 million) to add five new dynamic benches at its Torino facility for climatic, noise and vibration and chassis dynamometer testing. These additions will speed development time.

Climatic tests simulate temperatures ranging from -40 degrees Fahrenheit (-40 degrees Celsius) up to (158 °F) (70 °C) and altitudes as high as 10,000 feet (3000 meters). Noise and vibration tests help minimize engine vibro-acoustic response. Chassis dynamometer tests measure emissions.

Source: Green Car Congress

Supplier Issue Forces GM to Halt Chevy Cruze Production in Ohio

While models like the Corvette or the Camaro usually make the headlines with their performance numbers, looks or Nürburgring lap times, “bread and butter” models that sell in high volumes are those that matter the most to companies like General Motors.

The Cruze, which has sold more than a million units less than two years after its global launch and is currently the second-best-selling small car in the U.S. trailing the Toyota Corolla by 4,000 units, is a prime example.

That’s why halting production on Monday at GM’s Lordstown, Ohio plant where the Cruze is manufactured, must have been quite a blow for the Detroit company.

.

Supplier Issue Forces GM to Halt Chevy Cruze Production in Ohio

While models like the Corvette or the Camaro usually make the headlines with their performance numbers, looks or Nürburgring lap times, “bread and butter” models that sell in high volumes are those that matter the most to companies like General Motors.

The Cruze, which has sold more than a million units less than two years after its global launch and is currently the second-best-selling small car in the U.S. trailing the Toyota Corolla by 4,000 units, is a prime example.

That’s why halting production on Monday at GM’s Lordstown, Ohio plant where the Cruze is manufactured, must have been quite a blow for the Detroit company.

.

GM considering a plug-in Chevy Cruze

The 2011 Chevrolet Cruze Eco is rated at 42 mpg on the highway, but new reports suggest that we may soon find out just how many MPGe a plug-in version would get.

Australia's Go Auto spoke with GM's Jim Federico, who said that a PHEV Cruze is indeed in the cards. Astute readers will note that PHEV is not a typo here. Federico said:

The Volt will always be a plug-in electric vehicle. Plug-in Cruze doesn't make Volt redundant at all. Plug-in Cruze would have a different powertrain. Plug-in hybrids use both the engine and motor all the time. The plug-in Cruze has a place and it will be a hybrid.

For most drivers, this is a distinction without a difference, but remember that there was this, this and, finally, this. That GM is looking to expand its line-up of electrified vehicles is no surprise. In fact, that's always been the plan. A plug-in Cruze makes a sort of sense, since the Volt powertrain was tested in Cruze mules. Perhaps the Volt was more of a learning project than we originally suspected. Whether a PHEV Cruze is something GM is only considering for Australia or for other markets will, we're sure, be the subject of much speculation in the future.



Source: Autoblog Green

2011 Chevrolet Cruze

This is some information about the Chevrolet Cruze elegant sedan. 2011 Chevrolet Cruze with a handsome design that speaks to the size of the vehicle. In the end the higher trim levels or with the optional RS aero package, we could even say it's elegant, added brightwork to add class and skirt package provides a lower view reminiscent of European sporty sedans.

We usually do not dedicate as much time as they design elements are often best appreciated though photography, but a few items on the Cruze's important to put forward. For starters there is a strong Bodyline and three-window designs that add length to the car. The high beltline gives the appearance of sophisticated - but not so high that affect visibility (Camaro we're looking at you). Then there's the bold front end. And finally, the view extends from the lamp to help make the car look wider than that, while the rake angle lights reduce the appearance of the front overhang - is the inevitable part of the front wheel of a car.

Taking samples from 2011 Chevrolet Cruze, the Korean-built Euro-spec and stated that the car had to save GM. Since then we have been bombarded with rhetoric about how global IS compact will be different, are prepared from scratch as a world-beater that would sell in the United States as the aspirations of the compact (oxymoron alert!). We have convincing evidence of the pudding will be in the tasting, and chef today has called us into the kitchen to lick the beaters like some cooks add a pinch of the end of the calibration tuning and repair the line before Cruze out of the oven this September.

On hand for our taste test is a competitive benchmark of two vehicles, Coty Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla winner (either 1.8 liters), and three 1.4-liter turbo Cruzes: a 2LT (upscale trim at 70 percent of North American chassis setup will get Cruzes), Eco-fuel economy is optimized, and top-shelf LTZ-optimized handling. Our drive is limited to repeat the six-miles of pavement surface mix in the loop and the evaluation of GM's Milford Proving Grounds.

Before we share the savory sensation, let's recap some basics. First, the Cruze - the fourth to start the whole world - share the most major hardware with global doppelgangers. Whatever we can be installed on the Cruze to other global Cruze if market conditions dictate, but in general we will become the most highly refined. Differentiators vis-a-vis the least refined version (Chinese market), including an acoustic-laminated windshield and a large package of Voice-off (many of which are divided by-Euro diesel Cruze, such as expanding foam in the body cavity, mastic-sandwich firewall, headliner five-layer, triple sealing doors, etc.)

Chassis-wise, all hardware is global, but tuning is a Euro-spec tweaks mainly to accommodate us all-season tires. Chevy clever twist on the rear suspension trailing twist-beam-including cast trailing arm cross tube welded into the car with the center-creased to establish the location of U. Lateral is through sophisticated Watts link. Various versions of the tube using the Delta architecture with a variety of wall thickness and different orientation of the U-shape. For example, to save weight, this model is not without links Watt Eco-oriented and U at an angle of 65 degrees.


All other U.S. Watt equipped Cruzes-90-degree orientation (ecos also get a thin-wall castings trailing-arm cribbed from Volt). Chassis enjoys an unusual degree of isolation for the class, with hydraulic bushings in front of the control group and the rear trailing arms, hydraulic engine mount, and an isolated engine cradle.

New 2011 Chevrolet Cruze to compete in the segment offers a compact-car-price "more interior room, more miles per gallon in Eco's model, and more standard safety features than its competitors.

For the price of a compact car, Cruze offers styling, safety features, roominess, amenities and much more expensive car repairs. While some of our competitors may have a low starting price, Cruze won this competition once optioned up value.