January Flickr Calendar

December 31st, 2007

January Flickr Calendar

Make sure to check out FYI for January’s Flickr calendar. Happy New Year’s from all of us at GM Blogs. -Alicia Dorset, blog editor

Posted in Cars & Trucks

6 Comments

January 1st, 2008 at 3:15 pm
ghent

It would be great if Bob Boniface can design the next Cobalt with cues similar to Camaro and Volt, which were designed by him. GM’s biggest rival is Honda, not Toyota. Honda Civic Hybrid is the next best selling hybrid after Prius and one of the top sellers. Cobalt can be a mild hybrid that gets 40 mpg. Cobalt can be made to compete with Civic which is a tuner car that is popular in California. You should also put two-mode hybrid engines inside the Lambda crossovers to make them get 35mpg.
January 1st, 2008 at 10:37 pm
Edward Hayes

Thanks for the picture and calendar, that’s a nice picture and nice car too by the way.

But the picture I like most is on page 75 of February 2008 “Motor Trend” magazine in which Rick Wagoner DETHRONES last year’s #1 ranked Fujio Cho of Toyota in their 2008 Power List. In fact, everybody from GM is moving up in the world.

Bob Lutz from #7 last year to #4 this year.

Ed Welburn from #13 to #8.

Which means all three are ahead of Carlos Ghosn from #9 last year to #29 this year.

I like polls, especially when nearly half of the top 13 people in the entire industry work for GM.

Congratulations.

The bottom line is, it’s not all about money.

In fact take this new fastlane saying to the bank.

Money follows vision. Vision does not follow money.

And what great vision GM is creating.

1. Individual designers now in charge of entire brands.

2. Design houses around the world in charge of a particular field like Brazil in charge of small trucks.

The significance of that is now that design house is permanent and integral not temporal and fleeting. This will give prospective workers the confidence that their jobs will remain in Brazil. Now GM will draw the best workers in Brazil. Same concepts happening around the globe like China and Australia for example.

And I will bet you that GM’s designers and workers in China may outshine their U.S. counterparts because GM is pulling the best workers in China to its studios and management corridors while in the US they must compete with other better paying and more prosperous industries like- well any industry in California.

3. Design centers for individual brands and functions like Saab and the new electric car studio.

Pinch me I must be dreaming.

But now that GM seems to have some breathing room after 2007’s albatross invasion, the invasion of new product is about to begin with vehicles like the LaCrosse and greater things than these inside GM’s 8 or so design houses around the globe.

In the end, yes, it’s a very beautiful, beautiful picture that indeed is coming to fruition and I urge all of us from the bloggosphere to the ergosphere, we aught to support GM now more than ever, that pretty picture we was talking to you about is being now unveiled.
January 1st, 2008 at 10:47 pm
Edward Hayes

Oh, and ahhh…

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
January 2nd, 2008 at 2:32 pm
BILL GRIDLEY

On page 25 of the flickr calender blog ,there is a BUICK TORONADO. My uncle Bob had three TORONADOS and I believe his were OLDSMOBILES.I wish I had them now.
January 2nd, 2008 at 7:29 pm
ghent

1. Toyota has started assembling Camry in Russia. 60% of Russian car market consists of mid-size sedans. Hence, Toyota saw an opportunity for Camry, which doesn’t sell in Europe. GM should also assemble the Malibu in Russia and China.
Compare this to Toyota, which assembles Camry in Japan, USA, China and Russia. You have the right to assemble and sell the vehicle ANYWHERE on this planet. Malibu and the Opel Vectra have different characteristics and driving dynamics. It’s essential to grow the Chevy brand by assembling Malibu in Russia. The old Cadillac CTS is assembled and sold in China, whereas the new one isn’t. And GM exports the new CTS to Australia presumably because of small volume. Russia and China have dictated that any car sold there must be assembled there through joint ventures. Just like Chevy and Saturn in USA, Opel and Chevy can coexist in Russia.

2. Bob Boniface should also redesign the Aveo to compete with Honda Fit which is a hot seller.

3. Just like Honda, which is GM’s biggest rival, GM should offer Variable Cylinder Management(VCM), or cylinder deactivation to shut down 2 or 3 cylinders. From their website:”
The key benefits are fuel savings and lower emissions, with Accord owners in America reporting that their V6-powered Accords achieve four-cylinder-like fuel consumption.

The engine runs with the full six cylinders during acceleration or under high load, and seamlessly switches to four or three cylinders for cruising or low-speed running. The change between cylinder modes is seamless and is not obvious to the driver.”

During start-up, acceleration or when climbing hills - any time high power output is required - the engine operates on all six cylinders. During moderate speed cruising and at low engine loads, the system operates just one bank of three cylinders. For moderate acceleration, higher-speed cruising and mild hills, the engine operates on four cylinders.

With three operating modes, the VCM system can finely tailor the working displacement of the engine to match the driving requirements from moment to moment. Since the system automatically closes both the intake and exhaust valves of the cylinders that are not used, pumping losses associated with intake and exhaust are eliminated and fuel economy gets a further boost. The VCM system combines maximum performance and maximum fuel economy - two characteristics that don’t typically coexist in conventional engines. “
January 2nd, 2008 at 8:50 pm
Donnie Smith

I hope you all have a blessed 2008.

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FastLane

January Flickr Calendar

6 Comments

ghent

Edward Hayes

Edward Hayes

BILL GRIDLEY

ghent

Donnie Smith

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