Classic Cars Chevrolet

General Motors, like the other two members of the Detroit Three, finds itself in some serious trouble in these times. With the economy in turmoil and the major American automakers looking for a bailout and some respite, General Motors is banking an awful lot of its hopes and dreams on the Chevrolet Volt.

With the international automobile market heading rapidly towards smaller, more reliable vehicles, it was about time that GM came up with a model it could call its own. Honda, Toyota, and Hyundai were all expanding into the United States with new factories and new opportunities, but the local automakers all seemed to lag behind and came across as lazy or uncaring.

GM is hoping that its Chevy Volt changes all of that and is hoping for an image overhaul to go with it. General Motors wants the Volt to say “we care.” The idea here is to show the world that American automakers can be on the cutting edge as well, even if it took an economic recession and some serious fiscal tumult to bring out the spirit of invention that once rolled through Detroit with such vigour.

In the end, it may be the Volt or it may be one of the other Chevy cars planned for the future that saves General Motors. For the time being, however, the Detroit Three will have to cling to hope and will simply have to wait and see.

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

When General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner told a throng that there was no guarantee that GM would be using American-made batteries in the brand new Chevrolet Volt, the throng rumbled.

The problem with this arises out of the fact that Detroit automakers recently pressed the government for $25 billion in government loans. With the Volt and the idea that a good portion of it may or may not be spent on the batteries in a domestic capacity, the idea that some or a good portion of the government money set aside to help Detroit automakers could be going to overseas manufacturers flat out doesn’t sit well.

“As we sit here today, I can’t give you a guarantee that it will be made in the U.S.,” Wagoner said regarding the making of the battery for the vehicle. “If we want to get the Volt in the market, as we do by the end of 2010, we’ve got to make some relatively near-term decisions about how we are going to do all that.”

Wagoner’s comment came before he, Alan Mulally, the chief executive officer of Ford, and Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli lobbied Congress for a loans package that would help aid their industry in America. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, said top lawmakers had agreed to attach the loan package to a continuing resolution end-of-the-year budget appropriation.

Whether or not the Volt will be 100% American remains to be seen, but at the moment is appears that it and other Chevy cars are more in a rush to get out on the lot than they are to use the American loan from the government in any domestic capacity. We’ll stay on this story as more develops in the coming days.

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

The brand new Chevy Volt is facing down some serious marketing opportunities. Not only has the Volt been heavily promoted in a variety of avenues, but Stephen Colbert’s show recently had the opportunity to interview General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz and talk about the brand new Chevrolet Volt.

Colbert’s finest hour came when he proffered the question “Will it get me laid?” to a seemingly flustered Lutz.

Lutz’s response: “You’re going to get a lot of nice, no-makeup environmentalist [women].”

While Lutz responded in typically hilarious Colbert Show fashion, Chevy’s promotion of the image of the Volt is dead on target. By going on shows like Colbert’s the Volt will rack up a fair range of marketing opportunities and will get more people interested in the vehicle. But if Lutz and Chevy intends to be continue to raise its profile amongst the target audience for the Volt, they’ll need to be a bit more progressive in terms of the answers.

Lutz sounded outdated and not entirely supportive of the Volt, which is a vehicle that he and all Chevy cars reps need to get behind if the intention is to sell it to a younger public. The appearance on the show along won’t necessarily sell more cars, but his support behind the vehicle will. And he and other Chevy reps will need to work harder in the coming months to promote the vehicle.

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

By all accounts, General Motors is moving in the right direction. And the upcoming unveiling of the Chevrolet Volt should do more to help their stock prices and their business output.

With “The Future is Green Conference” in Long Beach, California, running a full clip, General Motors is expected to make the unveiling tomorrow at the event in front of a horde of journalists and curious onlookers. The start of what is known as the “Traditional Automobile Season” is coming up and all of the various new releases will hit markets around the world, with the biggest unveilings taking place in Paris, Los Angeles, Detroit, and Geneva. So it makes perfect sense for Chevy cars like the Volt to see the light of day for the first time at a “green” conference like the one in Long Beach.

Chevy’s Volt, released via General Motors of course, is expected to hit the market for an official wide release by the end of 2010. It is a battery powered subcompact with a big upside in the fuel-economy department, giving Chevrolet a car that will finally be able to compete with some of the other environmentally-friendly giants.

General Motors is putting a lot of stock on the Chevrolet Volt and hopes that the car will be the catalyst required to get consumers to start buying from Detroit again and realize that North American cars can also play along in terms of fuel economy and environmental issues.

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.