The wheelbase of the new CTS Coupe is similar to that of the wheelbase of Cadillac’s sedan. The overall height and length of the Coupe is just around two inches less than its sedan models. It abandons the typically prevalent B-pillar styling of the coupes. The door handles of the coupe are also dissimilar to the door handles that were used in manufacturing the Chevrolet’s Corvette. GM is certainly marking distinct changes in its own productions.

The Coupe comes with various changes in its exterior looks of both front and rear ends. The front now features an elaborated opening for the vents installed for providing cooling to the brakes. The rear now features a center-exit exhaust and mesh lower grilles that carry a unique diamond cut-style look. It surely looks better and different than other coupes now.

The CTS Coupe will feature a 3.6 Liter V6 engine of the sedan. The coupe will come with a six-speed manual transmission system gearbox to make driving easier for you. An optional six speed automatic system gearbox might also be available in the coupe. The engine will help you in delivering 304 hp for a powerful performance and will also offer a mileage of 27 miles per gallon, when run on the highway.

The Coupe features an 18-inch wheelbase and the tires are good enough for driving through all kinds of seasons and roads. This is the base Performance Package only. There are other packages too like the Summer Tire Performance Package that comes with a 19-inch wheelbase and sunbelt-friendly rear-wheel drive system. The buyers can choose from either the rear-wheel or an all-wheel-drive package.

The interiors of the CTS Coupe are likely to be similar to the sedan. Yet, the details will be revealed at the LA show. The confirmation by GM states that the standard model of the Coupe will feature an option of 14-way Recaro seats that are to be found in the CTS-V sedan models. It also said that the CTS-V coupe will be launched just after a couple of months of launching the standard model of the coupe.

The recently issued financial statement shows a loss of approximately $1.2 billion in the period of the third-quarter. Irrespective of that, the company also showed a remarkable increase in the revenue of the company as opposed to the revenue earned in the previous quarter. The revenue in the second quarter came at about a little higher than $4.9 billion, whereas this time in the third quarter the revenue has risen to an amazing $28 billion. These sales are higher in comparison to all the other automobile manufacturers and have earned the company a more stable status in countries like China, Brazil, India and Russia.

Fritz Henderson, who is the President and CEO of General Motors, has issued a statement saying that “We have significantly more work to do, but today’s results provide evidence of the solid foundation we’re building for the new GM.” He also said that they are now focusing on producing more high performance vehicles that is surely going to win accolades from every other person.

The shares of GM for the current quarter rose by 11.9% showing an increase of 0.3%. This has been due to its increased demand in China, India, Brazil and Russia. These countries boosted its sale and market value as well. Though in the United States of America, the market value remained at a standstill of 19.5%.

Even after all this, GM is still in high hopes of resuming its work with a more enthusiastic zeal and are hoping to attract a huge number of clients this time. The revenue earned does indicate that the company is now moving towards achieving more progress and stability in the market.

GM is now planning to start the repayment of the loan that it had taken from the government by December 31 onwards.

Recently, at the Democratic National Convention, Ford executives have announced that the company needs low-interest federal loans from the U.S. government. After this, General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz insisted on the government’s approval of the loans to the Detroit Three. “I do think the American automobile business is deserving of government loan guarantees because the financial institutions in the U.S. are so stressed out right now,” said Lutz.

However, the proposal has not been passed in the White House yet. Reportedly, the lobbyists for the three automakers have briefed the plan to White House officials, but they plan to unveil the proposal after Labor Day.

The plan involves lending of some $25 billion by the federal government to the automakers in the first year, at an interest rate of 4.5 percent, or about one-third what the companies are currently paying to borrow. Under the proposal, the government would have the option of deferring any payment at all for up to five years.

“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.”

According to Bob Lutz, GM’s vice chairman of global product development, Volt will not debut at the Paris Auto Show as had previously been speculated, however, it’s likely to appear at Detroit Auto Show in January. “Everything is looking good,” Lutz said. “We have quite a few running around now in old Chevy Malibu bodies, so we can modify the engine and battery configuration.”

GM will built the preproduction models of Volt next year and the final production version in 2010. It has been expected that the automaker will bring the Chevrolet Volt to U.S. roads in November 2010.

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.

The American versions of the car will use the direct-injection 3.6L V6 engine that will achieve 286hp (213kW) and 255lb-ft (345Nm), while the Chinese model will get the V6 and a new four-cylinder engine with 250hp (186kW) and 220lb-ft (298Nm) of torque. All models will come standard with six-speed.

 

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.

Brian McVeigh, General Manager of GM Fleet and Commercial Operations said, “We believe this 12/12 bumper-to-bumper warranty will grow our business as well as help reinforce our residuals.”

The warranty covers defects related to materials or workmanship, except standard wear-and-tear components on the vehicle such as tires and brake pads. All body and sheet metal components are warranted against rust-through corrosion for six years/100,000 miles.

GM has set the age and mileage eligibility standards for GM Certified Used Vehicles and Saturn Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles to include models of six years old or newer, with up to 75,000 miles clocked.

The changes take effect after September 13, 2008.

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.”

The employee discounts would apply to all 2008 model year Chevrolets and some of the 2009 model vehicles such as the Pontiac Vibe, Cobalt sedan and HHR compact wagon.

In the Buick-Pontiac-GMC channel, the customers will get up to $6,000 cash plus of employee discount on all the 2008 models along with the 2009 Pontiac Vibe.

Customers will get discount of several thousand dollars, however the rate of discount will vary depending on the vehicle line. While a 2008 Buick Enclave crossover  tags for $44,010, it will sell for an employee price of $39,561 and a Buick Lucerne sedan will sell for $31,813, whereas its actual price is $35,220.

The top-selling U.S. automaker has been threatened by the sharp U.S. sales downturn and has faced pressure to cut costs. The latest incentive offer comes as GM shifts away from other high-profile marketing as part of an attempt to cut $10 billion in costs through 2009.

GM’s sales through July were down almost 18 percent.

GM’s shares closed down 7.3 percent on Monday, hitting their low for the day just after the incentive announcement.

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.

GM said that the new XFE upgrades will deliver a 7 percent improvement in city fuel economy and a 5 percent improvement in highway fuel economy. The pickups and SUVs are now rated at 15 city/21 highway instead of 14 city/20 highway as they had been. The vehicles use a combination of mechanical, aerodynamic and mass-reducing enhancements. The XFE package is available on two-wheel drive vehicles with a 5.3-liter V-8 and a six-speed transmission.

Gary White, GM North America Vice President and vehicle line executive for full-size trucks said, “Our pickups and SUVs are already the fuel economy leaders of their respective segments, but our engineers knew greater efficiency was achievable,” “We fast-tracked the XFE models to get them into dealer showrooms as quickly as possible.”

The automaker said that the aerodynamic tweaks make the XFE versions of the Silverado and Sierra the most aerodynamic vehicles in their class, with a drag co-efficient of 0.412.

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.

As the booking was done in the second quarter, it is likely that the payment from the insurance will come in the third quarter.

The lawsuit was brought by two German bank units in the year 2006. They had complaints that they lost their money by purchasing their stocks and later debt them at a much higher price. They would have debt them a lower price if GM had followed proper accounting procedures.

"This is an extraordinary outcome for GM investors," plaintiffs’ attorney Jay Eisenhofer said in a statement. Eisenhofer is a partner at law firm Grant & Eisenhofer P.A., which represented the plaintiffs along with Labaton & Sucharow LLP.
"To secure this level of recovery from General Motors in the current environment for the company is very telling — we are extremely pleased with the settlement and the outcome of this case for shareholders."

If this settlement is approved in the court, then it will be the 25th-largest payment in a shareholder lawsuit, according to a report compiled by RiskMetrics Group, a risk management firm.

If we will go by the SEC filings, the automaker will pay half of the settlement within 30 days of a judge’s approval and the rest will be paid in January 2009.
"GM is pleased with the litigation settlement that has been reached," GM spokeswoman Renee Rashid-Merem said.

Delphi Corp., which was the former GM unit, paid 377 million dollars to settle a lawsuit which was concerned with the fact that it changed its books to make earnings look higher in the year 2007

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.

GMAC spokeswoman Sue Mallino said, “We have reduced financing for high-risk customers,” “We want to carefully manage and limit our losses.”

Mallino further said, “In general terms, GMAC is not a subprime credit company,” “About 80 percent to 90 percent of our credit is in the prime arena for auto financing in the U.S.”

Significantly, the U.S. automakers and their financing companies have been losing money on leases because of the sharp decline in the resale values of trucks and SUVs in the face of record high gas prices.

GMAC would stop offering lease incentives to consumers with lowest credit ratings. However, it would continue to offer standard lease rates. Dealers are happy to know about the GMAC’s financial cautions.

As John Rogin, owner of John Rogin Buick in Livonia, Michigan said, “This is just good business,” “Ultimately, it will be good for the dealers, too. We can’t have someone coming in and looking at a Cadillac STS with no money down and bad credit.”