Lets face it, new technology first generation automotive lithium-ion batteries are very expensive. It is this cost that will make the initial adoption of electric cars slower and less widespread than we would like. GM has positioned the Volt to have the least batteries, and thus the least expense possible, yet will still tip the [...]
The Chevy Volt concept was first unveiled in January 2007 to much fanfare and great national enthusiasm. Soon after, the typically outspoken GM vice chairman Bob Lutz told the world he expected the Volt to be sold for under $30,000. This further stoked the enthusiasm.
Later, he had to take those words back. [...]
After a lightning fast 40 days, GM exits bankruptcy protection today by successfully selling the best assets of the old company to the new GM. And so on this day the new GM begins.
The new GM has only four brands; Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC, and Buick. Its footprint is drastically reduced with less dealerships, [...]
Only 35 days after GM entered bankruptcy protection, a Manhattan judge late Sunday issued a ruling allowing GM to sell its best assets to a government backed “new GM.”
This ruling came after 3 days of the court hearing objections from a loosely formed and apparently ill prepared group of dissident bondholders, union retirees, and other.
This [...]
We often discuss the Toyota Prius here though the car strictly shouldn’t be compared to the Volt which is truly in another category altogether. The Prius is worth mentioning primarily because comparisons are inevitable and more more so because GM product czar Bob Lutz has openly admitted the Volt program was begun in an effort [...]
On Tuesday in a New York City court, GM took the final step towards emerging from bankruptcy. Including testimony from CEO Fritz Henderson, GM filed for the court to approve the 363 sale of the old GMs best performing assets to the new GM. This request has taken place a mere 30 days after GM first [...]
Since 1984 GM has had a relationship with Toyota at the New United Motor Manufacturing Incorporated (NUMMI) joint-venture plant in California, where the Pontiac Vibe, twin of the Toyota Matrix, has been built. GM’s bankruptcy process and the shedding of the Pontiac brand had made GM’s future role in that plant uncertain.
Bloomberg reports [...]
Elon Musk is the CEO of Tesla Motors, the company credited with jump starting the nascent electric car revolution, and inspiring Bob Lutz to conceive the Volt. Musk was the founder of PayPal who made his fortune by selling it, and besides Tesla also also founded a private space exploration company.
Musk is a man of [...]
When GM entered into bankruptcy protection on June 1st there was uncertainty about how long the process would take. On paper its simple; move all the best performing assets into a new GM in a so-called 363 sale. Bad performing assets would then be gradually liquidated in court. Immediately prior to entering court, the [...]
The value proposition of the Chevy Volt could change further. People tend to be fixated on its sticker price, but the complex nature of the vehicle and its interaction with the national economy, government, and natural resources really have created a moving target for the Volt’s price.
GM will not confirm pricing until May 2010 [...]
When GM went into bankruptcy on June 1st, it carried with it a risk that it might not rapidly emerge. It was hoped from the start that the quick-rinse or 363 sale bankruptcy could be completed within 60 to 90 days. Continuing in court for months or years would be an agonizing and [...]
GM’s successful restructuring hinges upon the ability to focus on its four core brands. Since the bankruptcy filing, GM has already announced it is in the late stages of selling the Hummer brand to Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Company Ltd of China.
Today they have announced that they have a proposed contract with the [...]