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April 28, 2006

Calling All Silverado Lovers

By Melisa Tezanos
Chevrolet Communications

From time to time we all say to ourselves, “Maybe I should trade in my truck for the new model.” You know, the one with more horsepower, better mpg, better interior space and an all-new design... but ultimately, the allure of the new loses out to the comfort and security of the old and you decide to keep it for another year or two, maybe more… But somewhere in the back of your mind, the new one is still on the radar screen and eventually you decide to go for it. So you talk to your dealer and he actually makes you a decent offer for your baby. But as you turn it over in your head, you get a nagging feeling that while it’s a fair deal, your truck is somehow worth more…

So you decide to buy the new one, but keep the old one too – after all, your kids learned to drive on it and you know exactly how to back the hitch up to the boat before towing it to the lake every summer. While the dealer’s offer is fair, it can’t come close to compensating you for the bond you’ve created with your truck. It’s become a part of your daily life and maybe even somehow a part of your family…

Now Chevrolet has created a club for full sized, Chevy pickup truck lovers with more than 200,000 miles on their odometer called the ”Silverado 200,000 Mile Club”. If your full-sized Chevy pickup truck has gone more than 200,000 miles and plays an integral part of your daily life -- tell us all about it at www.chevrolet.com/200k.

Meanwhile Karen Catchpole and Eric Mohl, a husband & wife journalist team, are heading out this week for a year-long drive in their 2006 Chevrolet Silverado to reconnect with America and also help find the most dependable, longest-lasting Chevy Silverados and their owners. More info is available on their web site.

Stay tuned to hear more about these efforts and read some cool stories about how people have been using their trucks. Chevrolet will acknowledge the top trucks and their owners at a major event at the Texas State Fair in Dallas, Texas, that begins on September 29th, 2006. That’s where Chevrolet will unveil the all-new 2007 Chevrolet Silverado. Yes, the truck I referred to at the beginning of this post, you know, the new one with more horsepower, better mpg, better interior space and an all-new design… We know you’re going to love it, but we suspect there’s a good chance that you won’t be happy with the dealer’s offer on your trade-in… Our suggestion: keep both!

Posted by Editor at 9:02 AM
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April 27, 2006

Has Your City Gone Hybrid?

A GM Hybrid Bus during Super Bowl XL

The next time you get on a city bus, you may be riding on a GM diesel electric hybrid system. Many U.S. cities now use GM hybrid-powered buses, including Seattle, Philadelphia, Houston, Minneapolis, Portland, Honolulu, Aspen, Springfield, Charlotte, Albuquerque, Louisville, Detroit and Yosemite National Park.

GM hybrid buses produce much lower hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions than conventional diesel-powered buses. In addition, they are much more fuel-efficient than traditional buses. In fact, if America's nine largest cities replaced their transit fleets — totaling 13,000 buses — with GM's hybrid buses, the cities would save 40 million gallons of fuel each year — a greater savings than 500,000 small hybrid vehicles would produce. The GM hybrid buses are quieter and more efficient -- and even accelerate 50% more quickly -- than regular buses. Clearly a winning combination.

Posted by Editor at 12:27 PM
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April 26, 2006

Q. What Do You Get When You Cross GMC and CSI? A. MAU

By Steve Rosenblum
GMC Marketing Director

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is one of the most popular shows on television for good reason: it’s made science cool again. It spawned two additional CSI shows and helped bring crime dramas back to the top of the ratings. Now, GMC has put a high-tech tool in the hands of real-life CSIs, by partnering with Jerry Bruckheimer Television and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation to create the “Mobile Analysis Unit” – a 2007 GMC Yukon equipped with a digital satellite TV receiver, a stainless steel mobile command center with drawers and storage units (for Luminol, fingerprint dust, and all those DNA swabs) and illuminated slide-out Plexiglas evidence trays. The original Mobile Analysis Unit appeared in the show last year, and we’ve also donated two new vehicles to crime labs in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. This Yukon is more than just a prop. It’s a real mobile crime lab that helps real CSIs catch the bad guys.

Posted by Editor at 11:21 AM
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April 25, 2006

Extreme Test Driving

Here’s something new to try the next time you’re in Vegas: an “autotainment experience” that lets visitors test-drive GM cars on two unique courses: a high performance loop and an off-road dirt terrain.

Now, this is not a glorified car dealership. You can’t buy cars there. What you can do at The Drive, which opened on April 10, is get a rush similar to what you expect from a roller coaster. You can put a performance car through its paces with acceleration straightaways and slalom turns, or try an off-road course with a 15-foot mountain, giant moguls, sharply sloped banks, and obstacles.

The Driving Woman over at Edmunds.com has nailed why The Drive is so much fun:

Why do I think this is awesome? Because most people never get the chance to really test out what a vehicle is truly capable of. They don't get the chance to attend performance driving school. While some do go off-roading, they don't get to "do it all" in a compact space such as this, without risking their own car or, more importantly, their safety.

This message over at Carspin also commends GM for developing The Drive:

I really think more stuff like this would be successful for automakers, letting people have a real, fun test drive. I also think more people should experience what cars tend to do closer to their limits so they can know and appreciate what to do in emergency situations at least a little better.

GM has made the following performance cars available for The Drive: Chevy Corvette and SSR, Cadillac CTS-V and STS-V, Pontiac GTO and Solstice, and the Saab 9-3 convertible. Off-road vehicles include the HUMMER H2, H2 SUT, and H3, the Chevy Silverado Diesel, 2007 Chevy Tahoe, and 2007 Cadillac Escalade.

Where to find this test driving mecca? In the desert, of course … well, on 12 acres of land owned by the Sahara Hotel and Casino with its own dedicated Las Vegas Monorail stop. It’ll be around for at least the next six months, and possibly beyond.

And at only $10 a test drive, it’s a bargain, especially in a town where $25 minimum blackjack table bets are commonplace.

Posted by Editor at 12:45 PM
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April 24, 2006

Chevy's 'No-Va' and Other Durable Urban Legends

By Brian Akre
Director, Executive Communications & Global Corporate News Department

Ever come across a story that just seemed too good, funny or ironic to be true?

Take the tale of the Chevy Nova’s alleged poor sales in Spanish-speaking countries in the 1970s: GM allegedly failed to do its homework and learn what any student of Spanish 101 knows: That “no va” translates into “no go.” Or so the story goes.

That cautionary tale has appeared in numerous marketing textbooks and still keeps popping up in news stories and at seminars as an anecdote to illustrate how companies sometimes don’t do adequate research before introducing a new product overseas (imagine, GM being accused of not doing enough research!).

Only problem with the story: It’s bogus. False. Never happened.

But don’t take our word for it. There’s a handy web site that tests the claims of this and other “urban legends” of the corporate, Internet and generic varieties. It’s www.snopes.com, and it should be bookmarked on the computer of every journalist, analyst and academic. It includes an automotive section at www.snopes.com/autos.

According to the site’s “Urban Legends Reference Pages,” the Nova actually sold well in the Spanish-speaking counties where it was sold between ‘72 and ’78. It notes that GM was well aware of the translation and opted to retain the Nova name because the issue was deemed insignificant.

“The phrase “no va” and the word “nova” are distinct entities with different pronunciations in Spanish,” snopes.com reports. “Assuming that Spanish speakers would naturally see the word “nova” as equivalent to the phrase “no va” and think, `Hey, this car doesn’t go,’ is akin to assuming that English speakers would spurn a dinette set sold under the name “Notable” because nobody wants a dinette set that doesn’t include a table.”

To read the full story of the Nova/No Va legend, go to: www.snopes.com/business/misxlate/nova.asp

Posted by Editor at 10:38 AM
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April 20, 2006

One Man's Garbage Is ...

By Sharon Morton
GM Communications

You’d be surprised at what you can find in a great, big pile of garbage. Yeah, there’s all the usual stuff that we throw away on a daily basis. But, this garbage is actually producing enough energy to help power seven of GM’s facilities.

We are the largest direct, corporate user of landfill gas in the United States. Landfill gas is generated by rotting garbage in landfills. Our decision to use it as an energy source is a win-win situation. It’s good for the environment and also is a good business decision.

If unused, landfill gas is a waste product that is released at the landfill, which contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. At our facilities, the landfill gas is piped to the plant and combusted in boilers, providing a cost-effective, renewable energy source.

Landfill gas is an important part of our renewable energy portfolio. In fact, we are one of the leading users of renewable energy in the manufacturing sector in North America. Using renewable resources reduces our reliance on fossil fuels like coal and oil.

General Motors has reduced its natural gas consumption by 21 percent since 2000 and is expected to achieve its goal of a 25 percent energy reduction by the end of 2006.

The sum of landfill gas capacity at the seven GM operations using the fuel is equivalent to the energy needed to heat over 25,000 households, which represents about 1.6 trillion BTUs per year. Each landfill gas installation at a GM plant generates annual savings of greater than $500,000.

GM facilities using landfill gas are: assembly plants located in Orion Township, Mich.; Oklahoma City, Okla.; Fort Wayne, Ind.; Shreveport, La.; and a powertrain plant located in Toledo, Ohio. Two additional warehouse sites in Grand Blanc and Flint, Mich., utilize landfill gas by purchasing 13 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, which is generated from a landfill gas-to-electricity program.

So, in other words, the garbage you throw out today might be used to help build your next vehicle.

Posted by Editor at 12:10 PM
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We’re Humming Along in Russia

By Dee Allen
Staff Director, Global Product & Brand Communications

Russia’s middle class is rapidly growing, and with that comes the desire and ability to buy a new car. Sales of new foreign cars in Russia were up 60% last year compared with 2004 figures. Chevrolet is now Russia’s No. 2 foreign brand. In the first quarter of 2006 alone, 26% more Chevy cars and SUVs were sold in Russia than in the same time last year.

And General Motors, in partnership with Russian automaker Avtotor, can’t put the cars together fast enough. We are substantially increasing both production and range of our Chevrolet, Hummer and Cadillac models available. The vehicles are assembled from imported kits at the Avtotor factory in Kaliningrad –- a small Russian enclave and a center of Russian economic innovation.

This month, the first Hummer H3 rolled off the assembly line, with our own Bob Lutz on site. He said, “We see Russia as one of the highest potential growth markets for GM around the world. In fact, during the last couple of years we have witnessed the Russian car market’s strong growth and consumers’ increasing interest in vehicle choice.”

So, if you want to buy an H2 or H3 in Russia, for now you'll have to visit one of the six authorized dealers in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg. More to come.

Posted by Editor at 9:43 AM
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April 19, 2006

Kansas Governor Leads on Flexible Fuel

By Ken Cole
GM Vice President, Government Relations

The Governors’ Ethanol Coalition (GEC), chaired by Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, is expanding a program with GM that will deliver '07 promotional design E85-capable flex-fuel vehicles to recipients in select GEC- member states. This is a great way to connect the innovations at GM to the Governors and other policy makers to encourage wider availability of E85 pumps. The program expands on one launched last year involving the GEC, the Renewable Fuels Association and GM. GM has also partnered with Shell Oil Products US, Chevron Technology Ventures, Kroger, Pacific Ethanol, VeraSun Energy and Abengoa Bioenergy to increase the number of E85 refueling stations in states like California, Illinois, Texas and Minnesota.

With partnerships like this – already 1.5 million flex-fuel vehicles are on the road and plans to add 400,000 more cars and trucks representing nine of GM's most popular models are coming soon -- GM has established itself as a leader in this effort. Phillip Lampert, executive director of the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition, said of these types of initiatives, “I applaud GM’s commitment to E85 and its significant presence in the flexible-fuel marketplace.” GM is committed to offering alternative fuel vehicles outside of the US too – 78% of vehicles sold by GM in Brazil have Flexpower – allowing the cars and trucks to run on 100% ethanol.

Visit the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition web site to find out if your car or truck is E85 friendly.

Posted by Editor at 9:30 AM
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