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February 28, 2007

GM Celebrates Black History Month

By Jay Prestage
GM Design Engineer

GM, along with GM’s African Ancestry Network (GMAAN), sponsored a month-long observance and celebration of Black History Month. This year’s goal was to continue fostering awareness of African American history and culture in the workplace by providing opportunities through educating and sharing of information with the entire multicultural GM family.

GMAAN hosted several “lunch and learn” events, which consisted of genealogy, African American art, health, and education awareness. The events were very informative and engaging for all who participated.

GMAAN also hosted its third annual Black History month celebration entitled, “Upholding the Legacy: Past, Present, and Future.” My wife and I attended the event at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit. We really enjoyed ourselves. I saw people whom I had not seen in years, and my wife actually ran into people that she knew from her college days at Michigan State University. Both the band that played prior to the start of the program and the musical entertainment during the program were excellent.

The highlight of the evening was the speaker, Cathy Hughes of Radio One. Her achievements as owner of a $2 billion network of radio stations across the nation are remarkable in their own right, but in her address, she told the story of her family’s origins in Iowa and the subsequent migration of her grandfather (Dr. Laurence C. Jones) to Mississippi, where he established the Piney Woods School nearly 100 years ago. After struggling for years in relative anonymity, Dr. Jones appeared on This Is Your Life in the 1950s. After his appearance, the outpouring of financial support from all walks of American life enabled Piney Woods to establish an endowment for perpetual financial support.

One of the things that Ms. Hughes shared that I didn’t know was that at one time in America, there were nearly 100 thriving Black boarding schools. Now there are only handfuls, with one of them being Piney Woods. Growing up in the south, I had heard of Piney Woods, but after hearing the story, it really prompted me to learn more about such a significant producer of African American college-educated people.

Take a look at this site to learn more about GMAAN.

Posted by Editor at 5:21 PM
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Photo of the Day: SEMA Purple Caddy

Today's photo comes from the albums of Cobby17.

Be sure to look at all of Cobby17's photos and our other albums. And if you would like to recommend your favorite photo with a GM car or truck in it, put it up on Flickr and tag it with "gmfyi."

Posted by Editor at 2:56 PM
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February 27, 2007

Chevy Volt — The Engineer's View

By Bill Betts
Manager, GM Blogs

In this interview from PodTech.net, Matt Kelly talks to Rich Lannen, Advanced Program Engineering Manager for the Chevrolet Volt, at the Chicago Auto Show. Rich defines what an E-Flex vehicle is, what makes the Volt a practical driving choice, and how General Motors is committed to bringing this concept to the market place. As Matt said on PodTech:

"Rich's enthusiasm was contagious I came away from the interview more excited than ever before about the promise of this vehicle and felt it was one of my best stories from the show."

For an update on the Volt, take a look at FastLane.

Posted by Editor at 1:27 PM
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1937: Chevy Master Deluxe

By Alicia Dorset
Blog editor

Today's find from the GM Media Archive is of a Gilmore Yosemite Economy Run Vehicle, a 1937 Chevrolet Master Deluxe two-door town sedan, as it passes by a few admirers.

Posted by Editor at 11:25 AM
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Standing Proud

Today we’re running a piece, with the permission of its author, that was printed in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette late last year about perception in the auto industry. This is a topic of great interest to us at GM. We have made tremendous leaps in the past few years, releasing new vehicles to market that are getting wide praise for their quality, design and technology — exciting new vehicles, like the Saturn Aura, that in many cases surpass the competition. While we have made great strides there remains an issue of perception.

Roger Simmermaker provides his thoughts on what drives perception and how this may all change. He is the author of “How Americans Can Buy American: The Power of Consumer Patriotism.” He also writes “Buy American Mention of the Week” articles for his web site howtobuyamerican.com and is a member of the Machinists Union and National Writers Union. Roger has been a frequent guest on Fox News, CNN and MSNBC and has been quoted in the USA Today, Wall Street Journal and US News & World Report among many other publications. -Bill Betts, GM Blogs Manager

Private Sector: Perceptions aside, GM, Ford can stand proud
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
By Roger Simmermaker

Ford and General Motors have taken turns besting the Toyota Camry in quality surveys for the past two years, but if you talk to many Americans — especially the ones who would never consider supporting home-based auto companies — you'd never know it.

Last year, the Chevrolet Impala beat the Camry in initial quality, according to J.D. Power & Associates. And Consumer Reports just announced that both the Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan scored higher than both the Camry and the Honda Accord this year.

After the announcement, Ford's Director of Global Quality Debbe Yeager, referring to the struggle American companies have had overcoming the perceived and seemingly untarnishable reputation of their foreign rivals, commented: "It's a perception gap."

Even as GM and Ford have accumulated award after award on vehicle quality, you'd almost never know about such quality gains made by American companies.

The re's also the mythical perception that foreign automakers produce the most fuel efficient cars and that Detroit only makes gas-guzzlers when the truth is that all automakers — including Toyota, Honda and Hyundai-Kia alike — have allowed fuel economy to slide in the past 20 years since they all now sell bigger trucks and more SUVs.

Perhaps the biggest perception problem is that American automobile companies GM and Ford — Chrysler is now German-owned — squander all their money on plants overseas and foreign automakers build their factories in the United States. Foreign car lovers will surely point to Kia's plans to build its first-ever U.S. plant in Georgia, but they probably won't mention that they received $400 million in tax giveaways to do it, which translates into $160,000 per job.

Among the many benefits for the foreign-owned company, your tax dollars are going to be used for road improvements surrounding the complex, complete with flower beds and other beautification features. Hey, as long as we're going to allow states to bid for private jobs with our public tax dollars, we might as well make it look good, right?

And the foreign car lovers will probably also not tell you (or maybe they just don't know or don't want you to know) that GM and Ford pour more money into existing American facilities than foreign automakers spend on new plants, usually with little or no tax breaks. GM has already spent more than $500 million upgrading two transmission plants this year, and has spent nearly a billion dollars over the last decade, for example, for facility upgrades in Texas.

And what do GM and Ford get for making their existing plants more efficient? It isn't tax breaks. Instead, they get accusations of not being "competitive" enough! Maybe here I should also mention that the average domestic parts content for Kia is 3 percent, while the average domestic parts content of Ford and GM is 78 percent and 74 percent, respectively. This means that buying a U.S.-assembled (or even foreign-assembled, for that matter) GM or Ford supports more American jobs than a U.S.-assembled car or truck with a foreign nameplate.

Fortunately for our benefit, the United States remains the overall global leader in research and development, and a big reason for that is that American automakers. According to the Level Field Institute, U.S. car companies invest $16 billion in research and development annually, outpacing any other industry one could name.

Admittedly, the Level Field Institute counts German-owned DaimlerChrysler as an American automaker, so Ford and GM's combined R&D contribution to America is closer to around $12 billion. But who's counting, right? Certainly not the American auto-bashing media.

Japanese companies do employ 3,600 American workers in R&D, but that still leaves the foreign competition behind in the dust staring at American rear bumpers — 3,600 sounds like a big number until you realize that 65,000 Americans work in R&D facilities in the state of Michigan alone. In fact, two of the top four R&D spending companies in America as reported by the Wall Street Journal are — you guessed it — Ford and GM. The other two are also American companies: Pfizer and Microsoft.

Ford has recently made headlines as the American automaker with the most challenges to its future, but these challenges certainly are not because they "aren't making cars people want to buy." Toyota did outsell Ford in July, but since then, Ford has reclaimed the No. 2 spot.

GM has the highest market share, increasing over 2 percentage points from a year ago, so it apparently can't be accused of not making cars people want to buy either. Ford sales also are up in Europe, and Ford doubled its sales in China, where GM has the highest market share of any automaker.

GM also reported a 3.9 percent rise in August vehicle sales despite high gas prices and a supposedly slowing economy. And even though Toyota reported record sales that month, it couldn't match the non-record setting sales volume of Ford. GM's sales rose 17 percent in October from the year-ago month and Ford sales rose 8 percent the same period.

And for all the talk about the lack of fuel efficiency of American automakers, it seems three-fourths of all automakers failed to meet Europe's improved fuel-efficiency standards intended to cut carbon-dioxide emissions. Japanese and German automakers topped the list of the study's worst performers, but according to an environmental group's study, GM's Opel division and Ford both "come out well."

In closing, I'll leave some encouraging numbers for those of us who actually like to root for and support the home team. The J.D. Power 2006 Vehicle Dependability Survey reports that Mercury, Buick and Cadillac (in that order) grabbed the No. 2, 3 and 4 spots to beat Toyota, Honda, Nissan, BMW and everyone else (except Lexus) in having the least number of problems per 100 vehicles.

Perhaps someday the American media will give GM and Ford the credit they deserve. And once they do, perception among the majority of the American public will rightfully change. GM and Ford aren't only doing what they should to make gains in the American market to deserve American consumer loyalty; they're also doing what they should to make gains in the markets of China, Europe and across most of the rest of the globe.

Posted by Editor at 11:21 AM
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Photo of the Day: Saturn at the Beach

Amazing that little car could hold so much.

Today's photo comes from the albums of dsuupr.

Be sure to look at all of dsuupr's photos and our other albums. And if you would like to recommend your favorite photo with a GM car or truck in it, put it up on Flickr and tag it with "gmfyi."

Posted by Editor at 10:01 AM
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February 26, 2007

Photo of the Day: Tomato SSR

Red Gold SSR

Today's photo comes from the albums of wickedryoki.

Be sure to look at all of wickedryoki's photos and our other albums. And if you would like to recommend your favorite photo with a GM car or truck in it, put it up on Flickr and tag it with "gmfyi."

Posted by Editor at 3:47 PM
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February 23, 2007

Author Takes Notice

By Stephen Skojec
GM Consultant

Every day, I spend about three hours commuting. Fortunately for me, I spend the majority of that time on a shuttle bus, which gives me plenty of time to read. Lately, I’ve been eagerly pursuing the novels of bestselling author Vince Flynn. Known for his political thrillers surrounding the exploits of CIA operative Mitch Rapp, Flynn’s books are like something between a Tom Clancy novel and an episode of 24.

Today, as I was working my way through his latest, Act of Treason, I came across the following passage:

“There was one area where Garret really spent money, though. He loved to collect vintage muscle cars and rare motorcycles…
…He supposed they brought him back to his youth and his own father who had worked on the assembly line for General Motors. Back when they made great cars. Garret only collected American vehicles made before 1970. Everything made after that was sh*t. Although, Detroit had begun to turn out some decent vehicles lately. Ford had a new Mustang Shelby that was supposed to be out of this world, and Chevy was coming out with a new Camaro. If he caught another big fish this week he could buy one in every color.”

It’s fiction, and Garret is not one of the good guys in the story, but when it comes to his toys he seems to be a man with money and good taste. Who wouldn’t want a Camaro in every color?

I personally find it very cool that one of my favorite authors has taken notice that the cars coming out of Detroit are on a par with the glory days. More and more I’m seeing commentary that defies the old conventional wisdom — only foreign automakers make good cars. I can’t tell you how happy I am every time I see that perception is catching up with the facts about good car design, quality and technology, particularly at GM.

It may be that this insight comes through the character of one of novel’s bad guys, but after all, even the bad guys need nice ride.

If you’ve seen other mentions in popular culture that buck conventional wisdom about GM or the auto industry, let us know at editor [at] gmblogs [dot] com.

Posted by Editor at 4:11 PM
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Video of the Week: 1906 Cadillac

This week's video comes from nyfalcon1.

If you'd like to see your YouTube clip featured as our Video of the Week, tag it "gmfyi" on YouTube and we'll find it.

Posted by Editor at 11:02 AM
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Photo of the Day: Desert Truck

Today's photo comes from the albums of velocity321.

Be sure to look at all of velocity321's photos and our other albums. And if you would like to recommend your favorite photo with a GM car or truck in it, put it up on Flickr and tag it with "gmfyi."

Posted by Editor at 10:13 AM
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February 22, 2007

Photo of the Day: Chicago Auto Show

Chevrolet showed their colors on dip sticks.

Today's photo from the Chicago Auto Show comes from the albums of strzelecki1.

Be sure to look at all of strzelecki1's photos and our other albums. And if you would like to recommend your favorite photo with a GM car or truck in it, put it up on Flickr and tag it with "gmfyi."

Posted by Editor at 1:35 PM
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February 21, 2007

Special-Edition Corvettes Grace Chicago Auto Show

By Harlan Charles
Chevrolet Corvette Production Manager

Earlier this month at the Chicago Auto Show, GM quietly unveiled two eye-catching special-edition Corvettes that have fueled the passion of the Corvette enthusiast community: the Ron Fellows Championship Z06 and the Indy Pace Car Replica Convertible.

The Z06 celebrates Corvette racing legend Ron Fellows and features Arctic White paint with a red racing-style fender stripe and Fellows’ autograph. This is the first time the Z06 has been available in Arctic White. There is also a subtle maple leaf logo motif incorporated into the car’s fender stripe graphics, which pays homage to Fellows’ Canadian heritage helmet logo, and the car’s red and white color scheme also represent Canada’s colors. The fender stripe also references Ron’s contributions to Corvette Racing’s six consecutive ALMS GT1 manufacturers’ championships.

At the show, there was a very cool ceremony in which Maryland-based guitar company Paul Reed Smith (PRS) presented Fellows, an amateur guitarist himself, with a special-edition guitar that matches his special-edition Corvette. PRS has been associated with Corvette racing for many years because, as PRS president Jack Higginbotham explained, they have a passion for engineering, and love the association with race cars, which arise from a similar passion. You can read more about the Ron Fellows Champion Corvette Z06 and the special Ron Fellows matching guitar here at CorvetteBlogger.

The other limited edition Corvette – the Indy 500 Pace Car Replica – was selected to be the Official Pace Car of the 91st running of the Indy 500 on May 27, 2007. Five-hundred production replicas of these Atomic Orange beauties will be made available to the public – all convertibles, available this spring. This year marks the ninth year that Corvette has served as the Official Pace Car of the Indy 500, but this is the first year since 1998 that Corvette has offered a regular-production replica pace car.

Take a look at this video to see Ron Fellows accept his new guitar.

To see more photos of the cars, take a look at our Flickr set.

Posted by Editor at 4:51 PM
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Photo of the Day: Opel GT

Today's photo comes from the albums of rustman.

Be sure to look at all of rustman's photos and our other albums. And if you would like to recommend your favorite photo with a GM car or truck in it, put it up on Flickr and tag it with "gmfyi."

Posted by Editor at 11:16 AM
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February 20, 2007

GM Ten Goes Green

By Susan Docherty
Western Region General Manager

It’s a big week in Hollywood, and not just because of the upcoming Academy Awards. GM is putting on its sixth annual GM Ten Event tonight at Paramount Studios. This charity benefit — which celebrates the intersection of fashion, auto design, and entertainment — has a green theme this year: the fleet of vehicles going down the runway with top celebrities includes many of GM’s advanced technologies, including hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, hybrids and concept cars. I’m proud that GM products can shine as brightly as the Hollywood celebrities who’ll be at our event tonight.

Some of the cars that will be showcased include the Chevy Volt Plug-in Electric Vehicle, the Chevy Equinox Hydrogen Fuel Cell, the Chevy Sequel Hydrogen Fuel Cell, the Saturn VUE Greenline Hybrid, the Saturn Aura Greenline Hybrid and the Cadillac Escalade Hybrid — all models that illustrate GM’s commitment to producing fuel-efficient vehicles and developing the technology that will ensure sustainability in coming decades. In addition, the show will feature the brand-new Saturn Astra (revealed this month at the Chicago Auto Show), the ultra-cool Camaro Convertible Concept, the all-new crossover GMC Acadia, the custom Jay-Z GMC Yukon Denali, and the new Cadillac CTS (revealed last month at the North American International Auto Show).

These cars also represent GM’s emphasis on head-turning auto design, an effort that will be apparent to anyone seeing them come down the runway.

And, of course, there will be celebrities there to accompany the cars — Oscar nominees Jennifer Hudson, Jackie Earle Haley, and Adriana Barraza, along with Teri Hatcher, Mary J. Blige, Katherine Heigl, Masi Oka, Mario Lopez, Emmy Rossum, Jeremy Sisto, Christina Milian and Roselyn Sanchez, to name a few. They will again be styled by famed stylist Rachel Zoe for their turns down the catwalk. Beck will round out the night’s festivities with a music performance after the runway show.

If you didn’t score a ticket to the show, take a look at this video:

Posted by Editor at 4:03 PM
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Circa 1954: GMC Stake Truck

By Alicia Dorset
Blog editor

Today's find from the GM Media Archive is a photo of a GMC Stake Truck, circa 1954.

Posted by Editor at 1:40 PM
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Photo of the Day: Cars & Coffee

Today's photo comes from the albums of ieatstars.

Be sure to look at all of ieatstars' photos and our other albums. And if you would like to recommend your favorite photo with a GM car or truck in it, put it up on Flickr and tag it with "gmfyi."

Posted by Editor at 1:37 PM
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February 19, 2007

Photo of the Day: Vintage Cadillac Ad

Life, May 14, 1956

Today's photo comes from the albums of Uh ... Bob.

Be sure to look at all of Uh ... Bob's photos and our other albums. And if you would like to recommend your favorite photo with a GM car or truck in it, put it up on Flickr and tag it with "gmfyi."

Posted by Editor at 3:09 PM
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February 16, 2007

Video of the Week: Corvette Stingray

Today's video comes from xRocks.

If you'd like to see your YouTube clip featured as our Video of the Week, tag it "gmfyi" on YouTube and we'll find it.

Posted by Editor at 5:15 PM
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Photo of the Day: Snowed-In Corvettes

The Corvette on the left looks kind of like it has a runny nose.

Today's photo comes from the albums of Steve Brandon.

Be sure to look at all of Steve Brandon's photos and our other albums. And if you would like to recommend your favorite photo with a GM car or truck in it, put it up on Flickr and tag it with "gmfyi."

Posted by Editor at 5:04 PM
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February 15, 2007

Photo of the Day: Vintage Chevy

Osoyoos, BC

Today's photo comes from the albums of Curtis Perry.

Be sure to look at all of Curtis Perry's photos and our other albums. And if you would like to recommend your favorite photo with a GM car or truck in it, put it up on Flickr and tag it with "gmfyi."

Posted by Editor at 4:58 PM
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February 14, 2007

Photo of the Day: Happy Valentine's Day

This was the view from the front of our house this morning.

Today's photo comes from the albums of Steve McCoy.

Be sure to look at all of Steve McCoy's photos and our other albums. And if you would like to recommend your favorite photo with a GM car or truck in it, put it up on Flickr and tag it with "gmfyi."

Posted by Editor at 1:56 PM
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February 13, 2007

Earning a Merit Badge While Changing My Oil

By Alicia Dorset
Blog editor

I was a Girl Scout for more than seven years, and in that time I learned how to do things like make my own marionettes, start a fire using only twigs, and play a recorder. Today, as an adult, I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve needed to play a recorder, while the number of occasions I’ve needed to know how to change a tire, change the oil in my car or check the pressure in my tires is high.

Thank goodness for the Car Care merit badge, a Girl Scouts’ Girl Power Clinic event co-sponsored by GM.

This past weekend I had a chance to attend one of these clinics in Grand Blanc, Mich., (about an hour north of Detroit) with Junior Girl Scouts from the Fair Winds Council at Al Serra Chevrolet. I walked into the service department and knew these girls, who ranged in age from 9 to 12, meant business; they were wearing safety goggles and checking the pressure on Chevy Avalanche tires, comparing results with one another as they moved about the truck.

This wasn’t the last time I was impressed by this group of Scouts. As we discussed basic functions on cars, the talk quickly turned to alternative fuel sources, since the Avalanche we were working on was a FlexFuel vehicle. It didn’t take long for the girls to help define what a FlexFuel vehicle was, how to determine whether or not their parents’ cars could run on E85, and the difference between hybrids and other alternative-fuel vehicles.

It was definitely a hands-on afternoon. The girls took turns learning how to check the oil in a car as they discussed how to find the OnStar button in an emergency (it’s the “blue button.”)

When we finished in the service department, it was off for a talk about careers in not only the automotive engineering world, but as police officers, in car dealerships and more careers that have been male-dominated in the past. I was pleased to see the number of girls who quickly raised their hands when Beth Grotz, Director of Global Aftersales and Diagnostics & Electrical Engineering, asked how many wanted to be engineers when they grew up.

“We wanted thought it (clinic) was a great way to get involved in the community and to get to know a younger generation,” Eileen Healy, Executive Director, Product Line Development, told me.

And that was the bigger goal of the day – GM wanted to make sure that not only could these young girls become educated drivers and car owners in a few years, but potential designers, engineers and leaders of all sorts.

Casey Gross, a 9-year-old resident of Holly, was one of those scouts. I saw Casey answering questions all afternoon, in addition to trying all of the activities. What was her favorite part of the day? “I liked checking the tires,” she said.

And thanks to my afternoon with these Girl Scouts, now I like checking them, too.

To see more photos from the clinic, make sure to take a look at Flickr. To see the clinic in action, take a look at this video.

Posted by Editor at 4:21 PM
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1956: Cadillac Eldorado

By Alicia Dorset
Blog editor

Today's find from the GM Media Archive is a photo of a 1956 Cadillac Eldorado Seville Series 62.

Posted by Editor at 10:55 AM
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Photo of the Day: 1954 Oldsmobile Owner's Manual

Today's photo comes from the albums of DaddyNewt.

Be sure to look at all of DaddyNewt's photos and our other albums. And if you would like to recommend your favorite photo with a GM car or truck in it, put it up on Flickr and tag it with "gmfyi."

Posted by Editor at 10:52 AM
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February 12, 2007

Photo of the Day: Chevy Bel Air

Today's photo comes from the albums of Mainer Living in Exile.

Be sure to look at all of Mainer Living In Exile's photos and our other albums. And if you would like to recommend your favorite photo with a GM car or truck in it, put it up on Flickr and tag it with "gmfyi."

Posted by Editor at 1:35 PM
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February 9, 2007

Winning the Challenge

By Katie Crabb
Guest blogger

I can’t put into words the feeling of awe I still have since I found out that I won the Chevy Super Bowl Ad Challenge. Though ‘That Chevy Girl’s’ time in the spotlight is coming to an end, the memories that I have of this experience and, more importantly, what Chevy has done for me, will last a lifetime.

I was shocked when I was announced the winner in Detroit in the fall. In December, I was graciously whisked off to New York to see the ad that had been in my head for a couple of months come alive. But through it all, it still never really hit me. Finally in Miami, seeing my commercial on TV and hearing all the positive feedback, it finally sunk in. I had created a Super Bowl ad!

I think it wasn’t so much that I had created an advertisement that more than 90 million people watched that made me excited. It was that Chevy was allowing me to say something, in the funniest way possible, of course: times are changing, and we need to embrace the change. In my mind, that’s priceless. Better yet, we had plenty of laughs along the way.

Here in Miami, it’s been great. I’ve had the opportunity to glance into a world that little Midwestern girls like me think only exists in a parallel universe that no one really lives in. And that game? That game! It was amazing… that’s coming from a hardcore football fan. It was a big game for the Colts, Chevy, and for me… and I can only hope that the Chevrolet team was able to experience just as much excitement as I know I and the Super Bowl champions did, and still feel.

I don’t think I recognized before this weekend the kind of risk that Chevy took when asking college students to give them ideas for an extraordinarily important (and expensive) advertising spot. Nor did I realize how truly lucky I am to have had my idea chosen to be the one on which that risk was taken, especially when you consider the fantastic concepts that were submitted by the other finalists. I’m overwhelmed with gratitude, and there is no way to measure the possibilities that now lie before me.

I am SO excited to see where the open doors that now surround me will lead. I can promise that I’ll take those opportunities and run as far as I can with them. This experience has been irreplaceable and I can definitely say that the smile I’ve worn all weekend seems to be permanently frozen on my face.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Take a look at Katie's ad below.

Posted by Editor at 3:08 PM
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Video of the Week: G6 Convertible in Action

Today's video comes from mojah99.

If you'd like to see your YouTube clip featured as our Video of the Week, tag it "gmfyi" on YouTube and we'll find it.

Posted by Editor at 2:06 PM
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Photo of the Day: 1967 Pontiac Catalina

This was the new 1967 Pontiac Catalina that my grandparents bought at John Hine Pontiac in Oct of 1967 They were out for a drive on Christmas day in '67 and stopped on shelter island and took these 2 pics. I am grateful to have the pics, and the car. I still drive it on occasions, and it still runs sweet! Check out the difference in the city skyline from then and today.

Today's photo comes from the albums of SoCalFan.

Be sure to look at all of SoCalFan's photos and our other albums. And if you would like to recommend your favorite photo with a GM car or truck in it, put it up on Flickr and tag it with "gmfyi."

Posted by Editor at 1:54 PM
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February 8, 2007

Another Successful Day for Saturn

By Gayle Weiswasser
GM Consultant

I've written some posts for the FYI blog in the past — as I've noted before, I am a consultant who works for GM on a variety of communications initiatives.

I was in the GM stand yesterday at the Chicago Auto Show when Saturn General Manager Jill Lajdziak revealed the new Saturn Astra, the latest in a series of new cars that makes Saturn's lineup the youngest and freshest in the industry.

The Astra, which is a slightly revised version of the very popular European Opel Astra, is a compact, stylish vehicle that comes in three- and five-door versions. As Lajdziak said when she introduced the car, "It's tailor-made for urban convenience and highway cruising." She also noted its "expressive style," another sign that Saturn is very successfully emphasizing design and innovation in its lineup. (You may recall that the Saturn Aura was named North American Car of the Year at the Detroit Auto Show just a few weeks ago).

While the pair of gleaming Astras on the stage was impressive, Lajdziak also announced some exciting new developments at Saturn that show that the company is continuing to focus on its most important asset: its customers. For example, Saturn is introducing 24/7 online chat assistance on its web site, as well as test drives at home or at work (the car comes to you!). Add these features to Saturn's "no hassle, no haggle" pricing and 30 day/1,500-mile exchange program, and you get a positive, uniquely Saturn customer experience. And that experience, combined with the new lineup, explains why Saturn sales in 2006 were up 6 percent over the year before.

Before the Astras were revealed on the stage, a large screen flashed the words "Smart," "Green," "Surprising," and "Bliss" over photos of Saturn's products. To me, they perfectly summarize the brand. I was very happy to witness another successful day for Saturn today — congratulations!

Take a look at this video to see the Astra reveal.

Posted by Editor at 12:31 PM
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Photo of the Day: São Paulo Meeting

Chevy at monthly meeting at Estação da Luz in São Paulo.

Today's photo comes from the albums of MAN-Z.

Be sure to look at all of MAN-Z's photos and our other albums. And if you would like to recommend your favorite photo with a GM car or truck in it, put it up on Flickr and tag it with "gmfyi."

Posted by Editor at 12:30 PM
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February 7, 2007

Thanks, Popular Science

By Nebo Nedeljkovic
OnStar Service Line Manager, Driving Experience/Support

We here at GM have known for a long time that OnStar’s services represent the pinnacle of innovation, offering unparalleled safety, security and convenience to our customers.

But it’s always nice to hear that someone else thinks so, too. Late last year, OnStar received Popular Science magazine’s “2006 Best of What’s New Award” for its upgraded Directions & Connections Plan, including the all-new OnStar Turn-by-Turn Navigation service. This award is a result of dedicated work by OnStar and GM teams to ensure the smooth launch of this exciting new service. Great job, team.

Each year, the editors of Popular Science review thousands of products in search of the top 100 tech innovations of the year -- breakthrough products and technologies that represent a significant leap in their categories.

Popular Science wrote the following about OnStar:

Turn-by-turn directions usually means pulling over and inputting your destination on a touchscreen. Today on most 2007 General Motors vehicles, you can get your navigation from the OnStar service. Press a button and tell the operator your destination; he’ll send voice directions that play over your speakers and display on the stereo screen.

In addition to Turn-by-Turn navigating, the Directions & Connections plan provides OnStar’s safety, security, and convenience services including vehicle diagnostics with monthly emails, automatic notification of air bag deployment, emergency services, stolen vehicle location assistance, roadside assistance, and more.

Click to learn more about OnStar’s plans and products. And remember, OnStar is only available in GM vehicles.

Posted by Editor at 4:36 PM
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Photo of the Day: Holdens in a Row

Vintage fe holden car nationals 2006

Today's photo comes from the albums of WaX LyRical

Be sure to look at all of WaX LyRical's photos and our other albums. And if you would like to recommend your favorite photo with a GM car or truck in it, put it up on Flickr and tag it with "gmfyi."

Posted by Editor at 12:04 PM
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February 6, 2007

1951: Opel Olympia

By Alicia Dorset
Blog editor

Today's find from the GM Media Archive is a photo of a 1951 Opel Olympia.

Posted by Editor at 1:35 PM
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Photo of the Day: EFIJY

Today's photo comes from the EFIJY at the 2007 NAIAS albums of B0nes.

Be sure to look at all of B0nes' photos and our other albums. And if you would like to recommend your favorite photo with a GM car or truck in it, put it up on Flickr and tag it with "gmfyi."

Posted by Editor at 1:30 PM
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February 2, 2007

February Calendar

By Alicia Dorset
Blog editor

Make sure to check out Flickr for this month's calendar, featuring product reveals from the 2007 North American International Auto Show.

Posted by Editor at 5:16 PM
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Photo of the Day: Flying Cadillac

A Wenatchee Landmark

Today's photo comes from the albums of pictoscribe.

Be sure to look at all of pictoscribe's photos and our other albums. And if you would like to recommend your favorite photo with a GM car or truck in it, put it up on Flickr and tag it with "gmfyi."

Posted by Editor at 12:54 PM
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Video of the Week: GMC Firetruck

Today's video comes from 911930914.

If you'd like to see your YouTube clip featured as our Video of the Week, tag it "gmfyi" on YouTube and we'll find it.

Posted by Editor at 12:50 PM
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February 1, 2007

The Blow/Suck Nozzle and Beyond

GM & Lehigh University: A partnership for “real world” experience

By Jesse Clarke
Vehicle Dynamics Handling Engineer

Editor's note: We asked Jesse to write about her experience at Lehigh. An engineer at General Motors, Jesse has held several different positions, from Red-X launch support on the Pontiac G6 to her current position at the Milford Proving Grounds.

A couple of weeks ago, I got the chance to travel back to my alma mater, Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Penn., to pitch an Integrated Product Development (IPD) project to the students there.

To avoid using another undefined acronym, here’s some background on the IPD project: Lehigh’s undergraduate mechanical engineering coursework requires a two-semester Integrated Product Development class. Other undergraduate majors also are allowed to take the IPD class as part of their coursework, although it’s not required. Together, students with different majors work together on a project from the beginning to end.

When I was at Lehigh as an undergrad, I was lucky enough to be a team member on the GM project at the time: the Blow/Suck nozzle. My team, consisting of mechanical engineering students and supply chain management majors, was given the challenge of designing a tool for cleaning out threaded holes on the inline five-cylinder engine. The hands-on nature of this project and interaction with the “real world” helped fuel my already existing motives to become an engineer in the automotive industry. We even got an all-expenses-paid trip to GM to present our final project.

Now, six years later, I’m on the other side pitching the 2007 GM project to the student body. Everyone looked really young (was it really that long ago?), but their enthusiasm was great. Thanks to my supportive exterior group specialists, we were able to offer an exciting project that covers the full range of product creation: an active rear spoiler. As seen on current vehicles like the Bugatti Veyron and Mercedes SLR, and even the Chrysler Crossfire and Porsche Boxster, we felt that this project would meet our goal of drawing interest from students of all majors and necessitating the creation of cross-major design and development teams.

I’m thrilled to announce that we succeeded and were awarded with three teams from Lehigh. These teams will be working hard for the next two semesters to produce an active rear spoiler that very well may be incorporated into future GM production lines or offered to automotive tuner enthusiasts as an aftermarket accessory.

Posted by Editor at 5:34 PM
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