DriveInside.com | Monday March 8, 2010
All vehicle segments in India continued to grow in February 2010 on the back of new launches and the expected price-hike in the coming months. Almost all passenger car companies announced an increase in their vehicle prices after the excise-duty was hiked last week. There will be a further increase in prices in April, following the implementation Read More...
DriveInside.com | Monday March 8, 2010
American car companies, General Motors and Ford, may be able to win over a good share of erstwhile Toyota loyalists if they continue to focus on quality. Until its recent spate of car recalls, Toyota was considered the most reliable of all auto companies in the US. However, customers are now seriously considering switching to GM or Ford, which Read More...
DriveInside.com | Sunday March 7, 2010
General Motors will be focusing increasingly on India, China and Brazil to expand its business in the coming years. The company’s President, Mr Timothy E Lee, said last week that India offered a very good opportunity to GM to grow its Chevrolet brand, a process which is already well under way with the Chevrolet Cruze and the Chevrolet Beat Read More...
DriveInside.com | Wednesday March 3, 2010
US-based auto company, General Motors, is planning to recall 1.3 million units of the Chevrolet Cobalt and three models of the Pontiac brand to replace a motor in the power steering systems of the cars. GM announced the recall plan after US authorities received over 1,000 complaints regarding the cars’ power steering. These included 14 car Read More...
DriveInside.com | Saturday February 27, 2010
A number of auto companies in the country have hiked car prices following the announcement of Budget 2010-11 last week, which increased the excise duty on all non-oil products from 8 percent to 10 percent. The excise duty on bigger cars, which stood at 20 percent earlier, has also gone up to 22 percent. The companies that have announced definitive Read More...
DriveInside.com | Wednesday February 24, 2010
General Motors (GM) India this week introduced an automatic version of the Chevrolet Cruze, priced at Rs 13.7 lakh. The Cruze was launched in India in October 2009, and has been doing remarkably well in the country. The new Automatic Transmission (AT) version of the car is expected to push up its monthly sales by 250 units.
GM India Vice Read More...
DriveInside.com | Friday February 12, 2010
General Motors India will be doubling production at its Talegaon plant in Maharashta in March 2010. GM India Vice President, Mr P Balendran, told mediapersons that the company had earlier decided to increase output and start a second production shift at Talegaon from June 2010. However, this will now be done in March itself because of increasing Read More...
DriveInside.com | Tuesday February 2, 2010
Auto makers in the country continued to record high car sales in January 2010, on the back of several new model and variant launches and the impending hike in car prices later in the year. Market leader Maruti Suzuki posted a 21 percent sales growth in the month by selling 81,087 units in the domestic market, while Hyundai Motor grew by 40 Read More...
DriveInside.com | Friday January 8, 2010
General Motors India will be launching an electric version of the Chevrolet Spark in October 2010, at an approximate price of Rs 7 lakh. The car will be manufactured at GM’s Talegaon plant in Maharashtra, with battery technology from electric car company Reva. The e-Spark was showcased at the Delhi Auto Expo last week.
GM expects its recently Read More...
DriveInside.com | Monday January 4, 2010
General Motors India this week launched its much-awaited small car, the Chevrolet Beat. The Beat comes with a 1.2 litre petrol engine and will be available in three variants, priced between Rs 3.34 lakh and Rs 3.94 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). A diesel version of the car will be launched later this year. GM India President and Managing Director, Read More...
DriveInside.com | Thursday December 31, 2009
General Motors has extended the December 31, 2009 deadline to consider bids for its Swedish brand, Saab. While there are multiple parties interested in taking over Saab, the most important of these is luxury car company, Spyker Cars, which offered a new proposal to GM on December 20, 2009 after a failed bid. GM had earlier said that it would Read More...
DriveInside.com | Monday December 28, 2009
China’s Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) has bought a 50 per cent stake in General Motors India for $500 million (Rs 2,350 crore). Earlier this month, the two companies had announced a 50:50 joint venture to sell cars in both India and export markets. Detroit-based General Motors has invested $1 billion in India since it started Read More...
DriveInside.com | Monday December 21, 2009
Dutch automaker Spyker Cars has submitted a fresh offer to take over General Motors’ car brand Saab, even as GM prepares to shut down the company. Spyker Cars CEO Victor Muller said that the company had made all possible efforts to resolve the issues that had earlier prevented the conclusion of the matter, and that he hoped GM would seriously Read More...
DriveInside.com | Thursday December 17, 2009
American automaker General Motors (GM) said this week that it would showcase six of its concept vehicles and its upcoming small car Chevrolet Beat at the Delhi Auto Expo in January 2010. The vehicles to be displayed include the hybrid car Chevrolet Volt, sports car Chevrolet Camaro, SUV Chevrolet Captiva Extreme, the electric version of the Spark, Read More...
DriveInside.com | Friday December 4, 2009
US-based General Motors (GM) and China’s Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) announced a joint venture last week to manufacture and sell vehicles in India. The 50:50 JV – GM SAIC Investments Limited – will have its headquarters in Hong Kong, and will sell light commercial vehicles and small cars. It will start with manufacturing LCVs Read More...
DriveInside.com | Thursday December 3, 2009
The Chief Executive Officer of General Motors, Mr Fritz Henderson, resigned from his post this week, just eight months after assuming office. Henderson’s resignation came as a response to the company board’s decision that GM needed faster restructuring and a change in leadership. He was asked to leave at a meeting held in Detroit recently. The Read More...
DriveInside.com | Wednesday December 2, 2009
Passenger car sales in India rose significantly in November 2009, on the back of a low-base effect and festival discounts. Car sales had plummeted by 19.3 per cent in November 2008, compared to sales in the same month in 2007.
Maruti Suzuki posted a 61.6 per cent growth in domestic sales, up from 47,103 units in November 2008, to 76,106 units Read More...
DriveInside.com | Sunday November 29, 2009
General Motors’ Swedish car brand Saab is still eliciting interest from bidders, after the deal with Koenigsegg fell through. China’s Beijing Automotive Industry Holdings (BAIC) which was to get a minority stake in Saab under the earlier deal, is now said to be interested in buying the company. It is not yet clear whether BAIC will do this on its Read More...
DriveInside.com | Sunday November 29, 2009
The JD Power India Initial Quality Study 2009, which rates vehicles based on the problems customers have with them in the first 2-6 months of ownership, ranks the Chevrolet Spark highest in the compact car segment. The Maruti Ritz tops the premium compact car segment, while the Ford Ikon is number one in the entry midsize segment. The Honda City Read More...
DriveInside.com | Friday November 27, 2009
US-based auto major General Motors (GM) has confirmed that it is not planning to shut down any of Opel’s four production plants in Germany. The company had recently announced that it would shift its European headquarters from Zurich to Russelsheim, which is also Opel’s main operational base. Nick Reilly, the head of GM’s European operations, said Read More...
DriveInside.com | Thursday November 26, 2009
General Motors (GM) may shut down its bankrupt unit, Saab, as it does not expect to find new buyers for it. Swedish company Koenigsegg Group AB, which had earlier decided to buy Saab, recently cancelled the acquisition. GM will now either keep the brand, or shut it down completely. Industry experts feel that closing Saab will not impact GM Read More...
DriveInside.com | Tuesday November 17, 2009
Auto company General Motors (GM) has decided to pay back a $6.7 billion loan to the US government before the scheduled time. The company will start paying the US treasury $1 billion per quarter, late this year, and will repay the entire amount by the middle of 2011. In December 2008, GM received a $50 billion bailout from the treasury which was to Read More...
DriveInside.com | Friday November 13, 2009
General Motors Chief Executive, Fritz Henderson, apologized last week for the company’s shoddy handling of the Opel deal. In a television interview in Germany, Henderson said that he deeply regretted provoking angry reactions from government leaders, Opel workers and trade unions in the country. He said that the company bosses had not intended to Read More...
DriveInside.com | Monday November 9, 2009
The head of GM’s European operations, Carl-Peter Forster, who quit last week after GM decided not to sell Opel to Magna International, may soon take charge of Jaguar-Land Rover (JLR). According to media reports, Forster was given the offer earlier this year and is likely to take over JLR’s British operations within the next few months.
55-year Read More...
DriveInside.com | Saturday November 7, 2009
The head of General Motors’ European Operations, Carl-Peter Forster, quit last week after the company announced that it would keep its European unit, Opel, instead of selling it. After months of negotiations with Canada-based Magna International, GM finally announced that it would restructure Opel on its own instead of selling it to Magna. The Read More...