In this podcast, FastLane radio host Deb Ochs interviews Bob Lange, GM’s Executive Director of Vehicle Structure and Safety Integration, about the new rollover testing facility at the Milford (Michigan) Proving Grounds. Lange also talks about GM’s vehicle stability enhancement systems and other safety advances.
Download the MP3 (11.3 MB)
By Tom Stephens
Group Vice President
GM Powertrain
Today, J. D. Power and Associates released their 2005 Vehicle Dependability Study and the highest-ranked vehicle in the Heavy-Duty Full-Size Pickup category was the Chevy Silverado HD, with the GMC Sierra ranked third. It is a source of pride for us at General Motors, as it is an independent measure of the hard work and attention to detail that does into all of our vehicles. In fact, of the study’s 19 categories, GM vehicles top eight of them.
Not coincidentally, both the GMC Sierra Heavy Duty and Chevrolet Silverado Heavy Duty also topped their segment earlier this year in the 2005 J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Study.
No doubt, one of the factors in the heavy-duty trucks’ top rankings was the performance and durability of their Vortec small-block V-8 engines. Perhaps no other vehicle is purchased as much for its workload capabilities as a heavy-duty pickup, whether that means towing a trailer or a heavy payload in the bed. We are continually amazed at the uses customers put our trucks through, especially those with the tried and true small-block V-8.
The New York Times writes today about GM’s two-mode hybrid system, to be available in the Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon in late 2007. The hybrid system, under development with DaimlerChrysler, will use a second set of gears and Displacement on Demand to achieve fuel economy in highway driving as well as in city driving.
By Bob Lutz
GM Vice Chairman
Last week, I had the opportunity to spend three days with our Product Development team in Brazil, and it was, honestly, an emotionally rewarding experience!
This small team, battling against stiff competition in a market just recovering from a severe slump, saddled with an exchange rate that makes previously profitable exports all but infeasible, and blessed with very little in the way of new capital, is responding with unmatched creativity and enthusiasm.
Their ability to re-use previously tooled parts from a variety of available sources, spend a minimum for new sheetmetal and bold, new interiors, add engines that can run on any combination of gasoline, ethanol or even CNG, is resulting in a stream of exciting new products ideally suited for markets that are developing and which cannot accommodate the costlier and more sophisticated products created in traditional Western countries.
In our latest podcast, we hear from the Pontiac Summer Solstice Party at Times Square in New York last night.
Listen to excerpts from the concert by JET, The Vacation, Citizen Cope and Kinky. We also talk to Maxim model Rachel Perry, hang with some big names at a VIP party, and of course, check out the new cars at Pontiac.
Download the MP3 (12.6 MB)
Hoy, General Motors te invita a seguir por Internet su primera transmisión en español directamente desde el Salón Internacional del Automóvil de Buenos Aires, en el Predio Ferial de Palermo.
Vas a escuchar al señor Ray G. Young, presidente de GM Mercosur y a la señora Elizabeth Moscato, directora comercial de GM de Argentina. Ellos van a hablar acerca del desempeño de GM en el mercado argentino y sobre los nuevos vehículos que llegarán pronto a ese país.
También podrás escuchar al señor Maxililiano Laroquette, un ingeniero argentino nacido en Buenos Aires y que desde hace más de 13 años trabaja en el centro de diseño de GM en Warren, Michigan.
Esperamos que disfrutes de esta primera transmisión por Internet desde Argentina y te invitamos a dejar tus comentarios al respecto en el blog Fastlane. Bienvenidos a Radio Fastlane.
[This is our first Spanish language podcast. It's from the GM press conference at the Buenos Aires Auto Show held at Predio Ferial de Palermo on June 16.
Ray G. Young, President of GM Mercosul operations, and Elizabeth Moscato, GM Argentina's sales and marketing director, speak about GM Argentina's market position and future products for the country. The press conference also features GM Lead Engineer Maximiliano Larroquette, who is Argentine by birth and works at GM's Global Design Center in Warren, Michigan.]
You may have heard that GM has been showing select media some of our key future products at the GM Design Dome in recent weeks. One of them was Peter DeLorenzo of Auto Extremist, who’s normally a pretty tough critic of ours. We can’t tell you more about the future vehicles yet, but see what he has to say. (Look below the photos of the Corvette Z06):
FastLane radio host Deb Ochs talks to Dave Hill, chief engineer for
Corvette, about the 2006 Corvette Z06 launch. The Z06 is the fastest production Corvette ever and the fastest car GM has ever offered. Hill talks about the body structure and aerodynamics, and what’s shared between the CR6 and the Z06. He also reveals how fast it is and how much it costs.
By Bob Lutz
GM Vice Chairman
Earlier this week I was at the GM Annual Meeting and one of the shareholders asked me to give a glimpse into the future of GM’s product direction. As I was doing so, I decided that I should share my thoughts on FastLane since most of you were not in the ballroom at the time. So here goes . . .
We’re not sure exactly who The Auto Prophet is, but he points out the merits of the pushrod engine, including its advantages as a platform for advanced technology, compact design that is easy to package within a motor compartment and great power and torque curves:
The Redemption of the Pushrod? Various pundits occasionally slap GM for selling pushrod engines. I have even been known to do it myself. But I have come to understand and respect GM’s use of OHV designs, and the critics should stop and think about it for a few minutes.
We agree, and those are some of the reasons why we continue to develop OHV technology. We’d like to hear your reactions.
