GM FYI Blog

By Adam Denison
GM Social Media Coordinator

A few weeks ago, a number of media joined Saab in Boston for a test drive of the new brand new Saab Turbo X. One of our guests was blogger Gradon Tripp of Design Boston, a Boston-based blog dedicated to “news and information about architecture, interior-, product-, and green design from around the city and beyond.” Check out his review of the Turbo X:

You know I love architecture and interior design. Almost as much as I like those, I like cars. For as much as I write about green design, I love driving fast. I’m nothing if not complicated.

Why is it called the Saab Turbo X? Well, Saab starts with the 9-3 and puts in a turbocharged 2.8 V6 that produces 280 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque. Then they add a unique Cross Wheel Drive system. Cross, because torque can be transferred between the rear wheels - something that doesn’t happen in other AWD systems and helps the car keep control through all types of driving situations. All that power is delivered to the pavement through 18″ wheels wrapped in high performance tires.

Click here for the rest of Gradon’s review.

Tonight, students from the International Academy of Design & Technology will unveil clothing they designed based on GM cars and trucks during the annual Imagine Fashion show in Chicago. The students attended the Chicago Auto Show in February and based their designs on their impressions of five vehicles – the Hummer HX Concept, the Chevrolet Malibu LTZ, the Pontiac G8 GT, the Saturn Astra 3-Door and the Saab Turbo X. Winning designs will be chosen during tonight’s show and the winners will receive $500 cash prizes from GM.

We checked in with Ana Cantillano, a 2006 winner for her jacket based on the Cadillac Escalade front grill, to see how the event shaped her own design career. – Will Stewart, blog editor

By Ana Cantillano

It seems like yesterday that I was caught in a whirlwind of media frenzy after winning the 2006 GM Student Design Competition for the Cadillac Escalade. Constructing the outfit I designed was very challenging, but nonetheless super fun. The fully lined quilted jacket was created after the car’s bold textured chrome grille, while the fitted skinny pants borrowed elements from the sleek angles of the vehicle. This ensemble had a massive amount of details even for the most talented students out there. From an over-sized notched collar and an adjustable belt to hand embroidery and matching jewelry, this was for sure an ambitious project, but in the end, I have to say, it looked absolutely perfect!

The GM Award has opened several doors for me in the fashion industry because of the press it receives, and employers are always impressed to learn that I have been the recipient of such distinctive prize.

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By Roger McCormack
Saab Automobile USA Marketing Director

At Saab, we wear our commitment to performance and responsibility on our sleeve.

And now everyone else can, too, thanks to a new partnership between Saab and the Swedish design firm, Reflective Circle.

Last week at the New York Auto Show, we unveiled our new Pure Bio Eco Clothing Collection line during a pre-party celebrating the North American debut of the 9-X BioHybrid Concept.

Like the concept vehicle, the Pure BioPower Eco Clothing Collection clothing line combines progressive looks and responsible performance meant to appeal to the brand’s youthful, cutting-edge image.

“Many of our customers tell us they want to make a positive impact on the environment not only with the cars they drive, but also with the products they buy and use,” said Knut Simonsson, Saab Automobile AB Global Brand & Sales Operations executive director.

The new collection will be available to the public in late May. It uses environmentally friendly manufacturing techniques and materials, including organic cotton and buttons made from Coroso nuts, which come from from rain forest palm trees, to produce clothes that are fashionable yet responsible.

Saab Automobile USA is also donating $40,000 to the Earth Pledge FutureFashion Initiative to develop a program for developing organic methods and materials in the fashion industry.

By Joanne Krell
Director of Communications, Cadillac/HUMMER/Saab

Cadillac has made a lot of news in recent days, with a series of world premieres of new vehicles and the ongoing strength of the new 2008 CTS. Here’s an important bit of news that you might have missed on the safety front. The CTS is a Top Safety Pick for 2008 by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).

This is a major achievement and comes from a trusted authority on automotive safety. The Top Safety Pick award goes only to vehicles that earn the highest rating in IIHS front, rear and side impact crash testing, and also feature electronic stability control to help drivers’ ability to avoid crashes. CTS is one of only three luxury cars so honored.

As CTS earns accolades from critics and consumers — in the fourth quarter, sales were up about 60% for the ‘08 model compared to the ’07 model — the car can add Top Safety Pick to its growing list of positive claims. This is another landmark in Cadillac’s ongoing renaissance. And as we showed with some of our recent world premieres, there’s a lot to be excited about.

By Alicia Dorset
Blog editor

This week’s belated find from the GM Media Archive isn’t really all that old. It’s a winter-inspired photo of the 2006 Saab 9-3 Aero Convertible 20 Years Edition.

Keep those requests coming!

Recently, GM took the style event on the road to Dubai, U.A.E., where Middle Eastern superstars such as Yousra, Milad Yousef, and Tamer Hagras strutted their stuff down the cat walk with cars like the Saab Aero X, Camaro and the Holen EFIJY. GM’s Group Vice President, and the Latin America, Africa and Middle East President, Maureen Kempston Darkes, talks to us about the event and the launch of the first hybrid vehicle in the oil-rich Middle East. -Natalie Johnson, Manager, GM Social Media Communications

By Christopher Barger,
Director, GM Global Communications Technology

Had someone told me, when I was in high school or college, that my job would someday involve being the only guy at a weekend gathering of more than 75 women, I would not have guessed back then that I would be working for a car company. And yet that’s where I found myself last weekend, representing GM at the 2007 Manic Mommies Escape Weekend. (I also think that if someone had told me back then that this would be my job, my 17-year-old self would have wanted to high-five the 39-year-old version of me.)

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…and one huge party

By Jessica Peck
Plant Communications Manager, Moraine Assembly

Washers, dryers, refrigerators, rifles, propellers, the first dishwasher, the Wright Brothers, a Chevy S-10 and one sweet Tony Stewart customized TrailBlazer SS… What do they all have in common? They’re part of the rich heritage of GM’s Moraine Assembly near Dayton, Ohio.

When I signed up to be the Plant Communications Manager at Moraine I didn’t realize how far back our history really went. Our actual plant was built as part of GM’s Frigidaire division in 1951, but GM’s been on this site since 1919, when we purchased the property from the Dayton-Wright Airplane Company (The company that supplied the only U.S.-built planes used in World War I and was formed by E.A. Deeds and C.F. Kettering with the assistance of Orville Wright). The plant and our surrounding sites have built appliances for Frigidaire, supplies for WWI and WWII, as well as trucks, SUVs and postal vehicles, and we even have one TrailBlazer SS that Tony Stewart smoked the tires on as he drove it off the line on Dec. 12, 2006.

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By Peter Gilbert
Guest Blogger

Editor’s Note: Here is the second installment in Peter’s two-part series.

After some much-needed sleep, I was now beginning my second day to not only to make it to Trollhattan by evening, but to experience driving on Sweden’s National Day, with all ephemeral beauty of the blue and yellow flags.

The terrain was making the driving more interesting and enjoyable. I was now doing more engine braking, and hill climbing. Having hit all those deer during my years behind the wheel, I saw the “beware of the moose” signs! This was one Saab experience that had I no interest in. All though, it would have been amusing to see a sign with a Saab on it, warning the moose that I was coming down the highway!

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By Peter Gilbert
Guest Blogger

Editor’s note: You might remember Peter from previous entries on FYI. We’ve been following Peter as he celebrates his million-mile Saab — here’s the latest update. Make sure to check back tomorrow for Part 2.

Forty years ago, I disembarked from the all-day voyage from Hull, England, to the impressively clean port of Gothenburg, Sweden. That was the last time I had visited Sweden, and I was so impressed with how advanced the country had become. I arrived by ship with my 1966 Saab 96 2-stroke, which to me seemed so ahead in automotive design at the time.

Now, I was retuning by air, wondering what advancements were awaiting for me this time. I breezed through customs and onto the shuttle bus to take me to Avis at Arlanda Airport.

I cannot thank Avis enough, for not only arranging to have a 2007 9-5 Combi available to me, but for ordering a “Titan Grey” car for me. This was to make my Swedish experience as close to bringing my own car with me!

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John Mizroch and Larry Burns congratulate Virginia Tech’s Kurt Johnson

By Irene Berry
Guest Blogger

Editor’s Note: Last week, we heard from Challenge X winning team Mississippi State University. Today, we take a look at what it was like to participate in this year’s competition by third-place team Virginia Tech.

In the beginning of the Challenge X competition, The Hybrid Electric Vehicle Team (HEVT) of Virginia Tech decided to use a split-parallel hybrid architecture that would use E85 fuel in its Equinox REVLSE. To achieve this design, HEVT uses two electric motors. The high voltage belted alternator/starter (BAS) is belted directly to a Saab 2.3-L engine coupled to a five-speed manual transmission to power the front wheels, while a rear traction motor supplies power to the rear wheels in order to maintain all-wheel-drive capabilities and provide performance assist. This setup allows the vehicle to use both motors in parallel power paths to assist the engine, or allows use of a series power path when the BAS is used to charge the 336V NiMH battery pack.

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