New Malibu to be Offered in Australia as a Holden, will Sit Between the Cruze and the Commodore

Last week, GM released the first teaser photo of its upcoming Chevrolet Malibu ahead of its global debut on Monday, April 18. The next generation of the Malibu is the first Chevy mid-sized model designed for the global market and will be sold in up to 100 countries around the world including Australia where it will be launched under the Holden brand.

The Holden Malibu will arrive in Australia for the first time in 2012 with a range of four cylinder engines, effectively replacing the unpopular Epica, a badge-engineered version of the South Korean Daewoo Tosca, which itself had taken the place of the Vectra.

“The Malibu will play an important role within the Holden line-up, providing a spacious and efficient four-cylinder alternative for Australian customers,” said Holden Chairman and Managing Director Mike Devereux.

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Stunning Chevrolet Mi-ray Roadster Concept Premieres at Seoul Motor Show

GM's Korean subsidiary lifted the wraps off the Mi-ray hybrid roadster concept at the 2011 Seoul Motor Show today, as a tribute to Chevrolet's 100th anniversary this year. The aggressive-looking Mi-ray (which means “future” in Korean) was developed by the GM Advanced Design Studio in Seoul and pays homage to the bow-tie brand's sports car heritage.

The roadster uses styling cues from Chevy's 1963 Monza SS and the 1962 Corvair Super Spyder, but also from aircrafts, with its aerodynamic fuselage being reminiscent of modern jet fighters. Elements like the scissor-doors, the pronounced wheel-arches and the sharp front bumper add further drama to the Mi-ray's appearance.

The car's bodywork is made of lightweight materials such as carbon fiber and carbon fiber reinforced plastics, while the turbine-shaped wheels (20-inch front/21-inch rear) are made of aluminum-carbon fiber composite.

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Buick Envision Concept SUV Heads to Shanghai Auto Show

A new Buick concept model called the Envision will make its global debut at the Shanghai Auto Show on April 18. Jointly developed by Shanghai GM and the Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center (PATAC), the Envision is a crossover model designed for the Chinese market, although the company points out the vehicle incorporates Buick's "dynamic, fluid, quiet and comfortable" styling language.

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Chevrolet Teases All-New Global Malibu Sedan, will be Sold in Nearly 100 Countries [with Video]

This is the first official photo of the all-new Chevrolet Malibu show car that will debut simultaneously at the Shanghai Auto Show in China and the New York International Auto Show in mid-April. And if you’re wondering why GM made plans to show it in China, that’s because unlike the current model that’s offered only in North America, the new Malibu will be a global vehicle that will be sold in nearly 100 countries on six continents and built in multiple locations, including China and two facilities in the United States.

“This Malibu takes Chevrolet’s established and award-winning nameplate to new places and introduces it to new audiences around the world,” said Rick Scheidt, vice president of Chevrolet. “Whether the Malibu is sold in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, or Australia, it has been engineered from the ground up to meet the needs of customers around the world.”

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Watch This Space: High Performance Holden Cruze SS said to be in the Works

In Australia, the SS badge has a special meaning to Holden owners. Its most frequently associated with the Commodore large car and to a lesser extent, the ultra-rare Torana SS of the 1970s. It’s all about big Aussie V8’s and rear-wheel-drive. It’s as Australian as Fosters beer and Four’N Twenty pies.

So now, there’s talk of a performance version of the Cruze small car in the works - and insidious rumors this front-wheel-drive econobox may carry the prestigious double ‘S’ moniker previously reserved only for V8 models. “Sacrilege!” you scream, and I’m more than willing to agree. Nevertheless, let’s push on and see what the Australian rumor mill has in store for us.

It’s possible a high performance version of the Cruze would use the same 132 kW, / 180HP and 230 Nm 1.6-liter turbo four from the European Vauxhall / Opel Astra as there drivetrains are readily interchangeable thanks to both using the GM’s Delta II architecture.

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Opel Launches Meriva Color Edition Special in Germany

One year and some 120,000 European sales after the introduction of the second generation Meriva onto the market, Opel is enhancing the small MPV’s range with the presentation of a new special edition model. Read more »

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SAAB CEO Jan Åke Jonsson to Retire, Victor Muller Takes Over Temporarily

Dutch automaker Spyker Cars NV announced on Friday that Saab Automobile’s Chief Executive Officer and President, Jan Åke Jonsson, has decided to step down from his position on 19 May, 2011. The company said that until a successor to the longtime Saab executive is found, Spyker Car’s CEO Victor Muller will temporarily assume the role of President and CEO of Saab Automobile AB in addition to his role as Chairman of the Board.

The 59-year old executive, who has worked for Saab for close to 40 years, took over the helm of the company in 2005 when it was still under the ownership of General Motors. Jonsson has been credited for playing a key role in the savior of Saab when the Detroit automaker wanted to close down the brand.

“I have been with Saab Automobile for almost my entire career of 40 years, of which almost six years as the head of Saab Automobile,” said Jonsson in a statement. “The last three years have of course been very demanding and forced me to focus on one thing only – my work. Now it is time for me to also spend some time on other things that had to stand back for my duties to Saab Automobile.”

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Buick LaCrosse with eAssist Promises 37 Mpg on the Highway

Starting this summer, Buick will offer the 4-cylinder LaCrosse sedan with the eAssist micro-hybrid technology as standard. The LaCrosse eAssist uses a variety of systems and body modifications to deliver an estimated fuel economy rating of 37 mpg on the highway and 25 mpg in the city (pending EPA certification).

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General Motors Vehicles Held Hostage by Allied Systems ltd.

General Motors is taking legal action against Allied Systems, Ltd. over a payment dispute that's turned ugly. Somewhere along the way $47 million worth of GM product was "lost", being kept off the dealer lots and out of consumers' hands. The vehicles are currently in limbo, otherwise known as Dearborn, Michigan and Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Here's the chain of events: 1) Teamsters union wouldn't accept Allied's wage concessions, 2) Allied tries to resolve money issue by charging GM 15% more for services, 3) GM "declines to pay", 4) Allied declines to deliver vehicles.

Dan Flores, a spokesman for the General, said, "Last Thursday Allied Systems ceased providing transportation services to GM. As a result GM took immediate steps to resource the work previously performed by Allied. Allied was in possession of 1,700 vehicles."

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VIDEO: Corvette ZR1 ALMS Ad Belittles BMW, Ferrari and Porsche, but Ends up Losing to M3s in Sebring…

Just before the season opener of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) at the Sebring International Raceway in Florida this past weekend, GM aired an aggressive commercial touting its 638-horsepower-strong Corvette ZR1. The ad claims that the firm’s engineers had to reduce the stock ZR1’s LS9 engine output by 168HP in order to compete in the race and “just to be fair against Porsche, Ferrari and BMW”.

For one, the Corvette ALMS racers are actually powered by a V8 loosely based on the Z06’s LS7 engine (see the second video after the jump). Perhaps most importantly, the Corvettes finished third and fourth in the GT class in Sebring behind two BMW M3 GTs… Videos follow after the break.

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Cadillac Marks its Return to Racing with a Series of Short Films on the CTS-V Coupe

"Refueled: The Return of the CTS-V" is the name of Cadillac’s new series of short films that were created to give us a behind-the-scenes look at the development of its all-new CTS-V Coupe racing car, with which the company marks it return to competition after a four year hiatus. The newly released footage documents the genesis of the CTS-V Coupe racecars as well as their connection to the production version of the sports coupe.

The Cadillac CTS-V will make its competition debut at the season-opening race of the Sports Car Club of America World Challenge GT series in St. Petersburg, Florida on March 25-27. The GT series’ schedule for 2011 includes eight races in the U.S. and Canada from March to October. Click through to the jump for the videos.

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GM Renames Camaro to 'Ke Mai Luo' in China, Priced from $76,400!

At next month’s Auto Shanghai in China, General Motors will launch the local market version of its flamboyant pony car, the latest generation of the Chevrolet Camaro - but with a twist; it will carry a different name in China. “The Camaro will have a sonorous Chinese name — 科迈罗 (Ke Mai Luo),” said GM in a statement today without giving any further explanations. And yes, just for the fun of it, we tried Google translate but nothing interesting came other than this (if you separate the words): ‘Section Main Luo.’

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Holden Unveils its Own Version of the Cruze Hatchback

Even though it was Chevrolet that came out first with both a thinly disguised concept in 2010 and this year’s production version of the Cruze hatchback at the Geneva Show, the five-door model was actually penned by GM’s Holden division at the Port Melbourne studio in Australia. Now, it’s finally time for Holden to reap the benefits of its work with the release of the first official photos of the compact hatchback with the Australian brand’s lion logo.

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New Chevrolet Colorado Show Truck Unveiled Ahead of Bangkok Premiere

General Motors has lifted the wraps off the pre-production version of its next generation Chevrolet Colorado pickup truck in advance of the Bangkok International Auto Show on March 25, where it is making its global public debut. The Colorado Show truck will lead to a toned down production model that will be revealed within the next few months and first go on sale in Thailand later this year. The Detroit automaker is keeping mum about whether or not the Colorado will come to the States.

“Although this is a show vehicle, the basic proportions and form convey the vision for the next-generation Colorado that we will bring to market,” said Brad Merkel, GM's global vehicle line executive.

“It reflects a stylized version of the new truck, one that takes into account rugged dependable truck capabilities for commercial use as well as sophisticated refinement for personal-use needs.”

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GM Suspends Production of Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon in Louisiana Due to Lack of Parts from Japan

In yet another stark reminder of how intertwined today’s automotive business is, General Motors announced on Thursday that is suspending production at its Shreveport Assembly in Louisiana for the week of March 21 because of a parts shortage resulting from the crisis in Japan that started with last week’s tremendous earthquake and tsunami.

“We will resume production at Shreveport as soon as possible, and at this point, we have sufficient vehicles to meet customer demand,” General Motors said in a written statement.

The Shreveport Assembly in Louisiana produces the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon compact pickup trucks.

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GM Design Grandisimo Approves Design of Next Holden Commodore Due in 2013

*2011 Holden Commodore Series II pictured here

Good news for Commodore fans; General Motors design boss Ed Welburn was in Melbourne recently to sign off on the styling of the next Holden Commodore, due in Q3 2013. The as-of-yet-unrevealed VF Commodore will be an evolution of the current generation VE, sharing the same rear-wheel-drive platform and V6 engines. "It's the absolute right Commodore for that market,” Mr. Welburn was quoted as saying, “I feel very good about it.”

Holden is said to be looking into lightening the VF’s components to improve fuel economy with the new model, and is also putting a strong emphasis on improving drivetrain efficiency. Though Mr. Welburn refused to comment on whether the Commodore would come to the U.S. badged as a Chevy, he did say:

“They are doing work for Holden and for other projects around the world. They are a very talented team – very talented – and I want to take full advantage of that. So, they are responsible for the look and feel of all Holden products, but they are doing work on Chevrolets, they have done some wonderful Buick work, and I could not be more proud of the work that they do.”

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Study Shows What Brands Captured the Interest of Pontiac Owners in 2010

A new survey from RL Polk & Co. suggests that most Pontiac owners who bought a new car in 2010 chose a product from General Motors. More specifically, of the 57,641 Pontiac customers looking to replace their car, GM was able to recapture 53.3% of them, with 33.5% being a Chevrolet vehicle, 11.7% a GMC, 6.7% a Buick, and 1.5% a Cadillac model.

A significant percentage of buyers defected to the Ford brand, which ranked 3rd overall with 10.5%, while the Chrysler Corporation saw the Dodge brand ranked 9th, capturing 3.2%. Jeep and Chrysler together were able to capture the interest of 1.7% of Pontiac owners looking for a new vehicle in 2010.

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Saturn Vue Comes Back to Life as the Chevrolet Captiva Sport for Rental Fleets

Meet General Motor’s newest offering in the world of rental vehicles; the Chevrolet Captiva Sport. Even though GM makes no word of the Saturn brand in the press release, most of you will probably see the Vue hiding behind the Chevy bow-tie on the grille. And that’s about the only difference between the Vue and the 2012MY Captiva Sport, which is also sold under various nameplates in more than 50 markets across Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, the Middle East and South America.

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eBay Find of the Day: George Barris’ 70-X Toronado from Expo ‘67

George Barris is a living legend, perhaps best known for his work on the Lincoln Futura-based Batmobile for the ‘60s Batman TV series starring Adam West. One of his lesser-known creations is this: the 70-X Toronado, aka a heavily customized 1967 Oldsmobile Toronado. It was one of four custom Olds’ commissioned by Canada’s Imperial Oil and built by Barris for Expo ’67 in Montreal. And now you have the chance to own this unique piece of customising history for the low, low price of US$99,000.

The Toronado held the distinction of being the first front wheel drive car produced in the U.S. since the Cords of the 1930s, though was otherwise ordinary for the time. A 425ci big block under the hood, a wide grin and two sharp fender protrusions to impale unsuspecting pedestrians were the standout features of the ’67 model year. In Barris’ hands, though, the Toronado became something even more exotic.

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Software Glitch Causes HVAC Problems on 2011MY Buick LaCrosse and Cadillac SRX Models

In the latest round of safety recalls, General Motors has issued a warning on certain 2011MY Buick LaCrosse sedans and Cadillac SRX crossovers due to a software glitch that may disable the driver’s ability to adjust the settings on the hearing, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems.

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