General Motors announced that it will unveil a production version of its Chevrolet Volt  later this month, as part of the company’s centennial celebration. The automaker will celebrate the 100th anniversary on September 16. The preview of the plug-in hybrid will be shown to employees and media at the company’s headquarters in Detroit.

“The rumors that a production version of the Volt will show up at the celebrations are true,” said an inside GM source. “The car will be a true representation of what the production version looks like and be somewhat different from the concept versions.” (more…)

General Motors has released a teaser picture of the 2010 Buick LaCrosse sedan on late Monday. However, the automaker confirmed that the new sedan would make its world debut at the upcoming Los Angeles Auto Show in November.

The teaser image reveals the logo and a portion of the grill of the car. The Buick LaCrosse is the smallest of all Buick sedans, which resembles the design of the Buick Invicta. GM vice chairman Bob Lutz said that the LaCrosse will use the FWD Delta II platform.

The production of the LaCrosse is expected to start at GM’s Fairfax plant in Kansas, in early 2009. The crossover vehicle will be a global car, which will also build in China with GM’s local partner, Shanghai Auto. (more…)

In an effort to boost the residual values of used cars, General Motor Corp. plans to add new warranty coverage to its used vehicles. The automaker will provide a fully transferable 12-month/12-mile ‘bumper to bumper’ warranty from the time of purchase with no deductible on all GM Certified Used Vehicles and Saturn Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles sold in the United States, announced the company.

The company believes that the new program will help expand sales of its used cars, while at the same time improving residual values. Reportedly GMAC the finance arm of GM has faced major losses in recent months due to plummeting residual values of its leased vehicles, caused by high oil prices, weak economy and shifting consumer preference towards smaller, more fuel-efficient cars. (more…)

In an attempt to boost the droping sales, General Motors Corp. plans to offer employee discounts on almost every brand of the automaker and cash-back on slow-selling light trucks such as the Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck.

The discount offer takes effect on August 20 and it will run through September 2.

GM spokesman John McDonald confirmed on Monday, “We are going to have an employee-discount-for-everyone program.” Further he added, “We are going to issue a press release tomorrow morning with the details.” (more…)

General Motor Corp. announced that it is expanding its XFE (Extra fuel efficiency) line from Cobalt to Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups, plus Chevy Tahoe and GMC Yukon full-size SUVs, starting in the fall.

The Cobalt was launched with XFE badge in March, 2008 which uses a combination of revised gear ratios, engine recalibration and low-rolling-resistance tires to improve highway fuel economy 9 percent, from 33 miles per gallon in highway driving from the base Cobalt to 36 miles per gallon highway for the XFE line. Reportedly, the Cobalt XFE accounted for about 8 percent of Cobalt sales since its debut. (more…)

In order to settle a shareholder lawsuit, General Motors is planning to pay 277 million dollars pertaining to the fact that the automaker misled its investors which directly led to the inflation of its stock price.

The settlement also comprises of a 26 million dollar payment from Deloitte & Touche, which is the independent auditor for GM’s financial statements.

The cash-strapped automaker which is already involved in a number of cost cutting exercises wants to cover much of the charge through insurance. The automaker said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it will cover $200 million of the charge by insurance. The charge of the lawsuit is more than half the $445 million profit, that the company made in its second quarter for its operations in Latin America. (more…)

North America’s largest auto finance company and General Motors finance arm, GMAC is tightening its financial policies including both leases and loans, in response to the tough U.S. auto market.

GM consumers with lower credit, now will have to opt for less expensive vehicles. Otherwise, if they opt for expensive ones, they need to pay higher down payments than the past. The dealers will take care of size of the down payment and employment status of the consumers before the approval of a lease or loan. (more…)

It seems that General Motors Corp. has recovered from its 50 years of lows in the U.S. stock market,  accounted earlier this month, as the automaker reported the global sales figures this week. Shares of General Motors on Wednesday had traded about $16 per share for the first time in more than a month.

Wednesday morning GM shares hit as high as $16.43 a share, up almost $1.75, before closing at $14.58 a share, up 1.82 percent in mid- afternoon. On July 15, the automaker’s stock hit as low as $8.81 a share. (more…)

The shift in the U.S. auto market has finally compelled General Motors Corp., the largest local car maker to take new actions to fight through the current economic challenges. The automaker is trying to deal with the shift in the U.S. market and will improve through 2009 by its new restructuring plan, GM said on Tuesday morning in a press conference.

The restructuring plan as announced by the officials, includes laying off some white-collar workers, reducing health care coverage for white-collar retirees, making more cuts in truck production, suspending dividends, eliminating executive bonuses. These changes are expected to raise GM cash by about $15 billion, by the end of 2009, the company said. (more…)

DETROIT -  Several reports are prompting out that General Motors is considering the sale of more than just one of their eight brands. But a GM spokesperson today denied all allegations explaining that apart from Hummer, no other brands are under any review.
 
"No other GM brand (besides Hummer) is under strategic review,” GM spokesman Tony Cervone said in an e-mail to Automotive News today.

Out of eight GM brands, most of them including Saturn, Buick and Saab are struggling to attract the buyers. So the company has already made up their mind to review their Hummer division for sale and the prospective buyers may include Mahindra & Mahindra.

David Healy, an auto analyst with Burnham Securities, said that “GM has enough money to make it through this year but may need more cash in 2009. The automaker, he said, has ways to raise money other than selling brands.” (more…)