2011 General Motors Future Cars | super speed cars | used cars | cars

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A year ago, General Motors filed for bankruptcy, and installed a revolving door of the office of the CEO. Went to Pontiac and Saturn. Hummer is on its way to the Chinese-owned. Saab remains uncertain and is likely to be eliminated in the near future.

A year ago, Nissan and Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn said, "the tough times, you have to watch and adjust the product-development programs, but you can not just stop it. Because when things are back to normal There is nothing to come on the market. The one thing is for sure the future is that people continue to drive. "People are still driving it, and roll off a GM made some very interesting, relevant and well-designed products.

Inter alia, that works hard to fill in the blank of the Buick lineup, because it is preparing to launch the much-ballyhooed Chevrolet Volt, and all the more important. Here's the skinny on a significant new product in general, just at the turn of a calendar page.

Post Title → 2011 General Motors Future Cars | super speed cars | used cars | cars

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GMC Acadia Denali | super speed cars

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GMC has unveiled last night in Detroit the GMC Acadia Denali | super speed cars which is the first crossover to get the Denali line. The GMC Acadia Denali will be available with front-wheel drive and all-wheel drive and will be powered by the 3.6-liter direct injection V6 engine that develops 288 hp at 6300 rpm and 366 Nm of torque at 3400 rpm. The fuel consumption of the GMC Acadia Denali is rated on the highway at 24 mpg for the FWD and at 23 mpg for the AWD version.

The GMC Acadia Denali comes equipped with leather seats, a Head-up display (HUD), a Dual SkyScape sunroof system, OnStar and a Navigation system including XM NavTraffic. The GMC Acadia Denali price has not been announced, but the company mentioned it will go on sale in the third quarter of 2010.

A comprehensive technological suite accompanies the aesthetic upgrades and includes a head-up display, a navigation system, Bluetooth, OnStar, Bose audio with 10 speakers and a USB port, XM, and a rearview camera. Three-zone climate control and remote start are also included, while a rear-seat DVD entertainment system is available. Traction control, stability control, and tire-pressure monitoring are all on the safety-tech roster.

 The GMC Acadia is a full-size crossover SUV from GM. The GMC Acadia, Chevrolet Traverse, Buick Enclave and Saturn Outlook share the new GM Lambda platform. The Acadia went on sale in the United States in December 2006, and in Canada in January, 2007. The Acadia replaces 3 of the 7/8-passenger vehicles on the Pontiac-Buick-GMC dealership network, the mid-size GMC Safari van, the long-wheelbase GMC Envoy XL/XUV, and the Pontiac Montana SV6 minivan for the USA Only. As of 2009, the Lambda vehicles have replaced the Buick Rainier, Buick Rendezvous and the Buick Terraza, and then subsequently the GMC Envoy and the Chevrolet TrailBlazer. A Denali version of the Acadia will debut in 2010 as a 2011 model.

Post Title → GMC Acadia Denali | super speed cars

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Nice Work, Einstein. University Sues GM Over Use Of Dead Genius' Likeness

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The above image is page one of a four-page ad that ran in People magazine last fall to promote the GMC Terrain SUV.

Well, as Rolling Stone once famously said about Jim Morrison of The Doors,

But in Einstein's case "dead" doesn't mean "he can't sue us from beyond the grave". For while Einstein didn't will his body to science (there's dispute whether his brain was preserved against his wishes) and was cremated, Einstein did leave his publicity rights to The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which is suing GM for the unauthorized use of Einstein's image.

General Motors...even the new, smaller, GM, should have a legal staff that knows (or at least can learn) this stuff. The only upside for them? The university is going easy on them. The suit is for $75,000...a little less than two loaded GMC Terrains.

Post Title → Nice Work, Einstein. University Sues GM Over Use Of Dead Genius' Likeness

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6 Million GM Light-Duty Trucks Under Fed Investigation: Rusty Brakes

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The feds say they've had 110 complaints, 37 confirmed by dealer inspections. Full details from Automotive News (free registration required).

Post Title → 6 Million GM Light-Duty Trucks Under Fed Investigation: Rusty Brakes

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The Taxpayer-Funded $1,000 A Month Auto Lease

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Your tax dollars at work. Politico has found that at least 10 members of Congress are paying $1,000 a month or more to lease cars.

Not limos...not armored SUVs....just car cars.

I'm sure, shopping around, you and I could find better deals than $1,628 a month for a GMC Yukon...or $1,279 a month on a Chevy Malibu. But not our elected officials.

Politico has the story here.

Post Title → The Taxpayer-Funded $1,000 A Month Auto Lease

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GMC Terrain Review

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For decades, GMC has been selling re-badged Chevrolet trucks. In fact, for most of that time, the badges (and a slightly higher GMC price tag) were all that separated the products. Then, just in time for the SUV and luxotruck boom, GMC hit on the idea of loading theirs up with luxury features.

Which was fine until Cadillac started selling its own tarted-up Chevys and suddenly Escalades were only a bit more expensive than Yukon Denalis.

Though Pontiac, Saturn, Hummer and SAAB were the obvious targets, GMC could have been another casualty of last year's Carpocalypse.  Not enough money to develop its own product line...not enough difference between GMC and Chevy.

But GMC survived the cut and the Terrain is meant to be the template for the way forward. Based on the Chevrolet Equinox,  GMC makes a lot of changes to the appearance of the vehicle yet keeps the base price within $1,000 of the Chevy.

Move up the trim levels and the differences magnify. The tester I drove was the top-of-the-line SLT-2, $7,600 more expensive than the base Equinox, but with an impressive list of standard features (power liftgate, 18-inch wheels, rearview camera system, sunroof, leather, heated seats, climate control, a Pioneer premium sound system and more).

That actually still leaves room for options...though with a standard content level that high, there's a limit...in the case of our tester, an additional $5,140.

The 3.0 liter V6 replaced the standard 2.4 liter four at a cost of $1,500. Horsepower goes up from 182 to 264, torque from 174 pounds per foot to 222. But gas mileage takes a big hit...from an EPA estimated 22 city/32 highway to a fairly pedestrian (for this class of small SUV) 17/24. And the gas tank size goes up from 18 gallons to 20...making each fill-up a bit pricier.

Ours also had the navigation system (a $2,145 choice we'd never make, though it does add a 40 gigabyte hard drive for music storage) , 19-inch wheels ($900), trailering equipment ($350) and a cargo management package (rear cargo security cover, cargo convenience net and roof rack crossbars for $245.

Bottom line, with $745 for destination charges: $36,885.

I liked it. A very nice ride. My wife informed me a few minutes ago that if the Terrain had a third row of seats, she'd want one.

But $36,885 for a small SUV gives me pause.

It could work for GMC, though...taking the Terrain out of direct competition with Chevy but into a size and price range where they're not bumping up against Cadillac and, by comparison to that brand, seem like a bargain.

Here's how GMC's making that case:

Post Title → GMC Terrain Review

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