Autoblog

General Motors has announced that it wil close its SUV plant in Janesville, Wisconsin by the end of this year in response to the woeful market for utility vehicles. The plant produces the GMC Yukon and Chevy Suburban and employs 1,200 UAW workers. GM was originally planning to shutter the plant sometime before 2010, but deteriorating market conditions have expedited the plant's demise. The news comes only one week after the General announced that it would be closing its Moraine, OH SUV plant early, as well.

Some analysts think GM could pull the plug on its Oshawa truck plant and Mexico facility in Toluca early too since truck sales are down as well, as GM has already announced that those plants are slated for closure. GM top dog Rick Wagoner stated last week that some stamping facilities could also face closure to help align production capabilities to demand.

[Source: CNN Money]

Click above for high-res gallery of our time with the 2008 Toyota Sequoia

Gigantor. The 2008 Toyota Sequoia arrives humongously revised from the already beefy first-generation. The Timberland Mica (Metallic Green) example that Toyota lent us for a week definitely deserves whatever size-related superlatives you can dream up. It's big, it's powerful, it doesn't sip fuel. There is a need and a market for this type of vehicle, however. If Sequoia buyers don't actually utilize its considerable capabilities, that's not Toyota's fault. This year marks the migration of Toyota's full size Sport Utility to the same mechanicals that underpin the new Tundra, ladling on capability to an already fairly competent and refined vehicle.


All photos ©2008 Dan Roth / Weblogs, Inc.

Promising the best possible fuel economy for whichever type of vehicle its customers choose, GM's Bob Lutz and Ed Peper trotted a full lineup of green vehicles from their arsenal. The Aveo5, Impala E85, Malibu Hybrid, Tahoe Hybrid, Silverado Hybrid, Volt, Equinox Fuel Cell, Beat and Groove were used to show off that Chevy will be the brand carrying the greenish flame most prominently into the future for GM. Lutz talked about having a whole range of options available to meet future trends, from hybrids, to flex-fuel burners, to fuel cells, to electrics like start/stop technology and good old-fashioned economy cars that get great fuel economy.

Hybrid vehicles still don't make much sense for automakers. The cost of the technology is more than what consumers are willing to pay and in many cases the fuel-saving benefits can be achieved with a simple diesel motor (at least in Europe). Because of this, coming up with the right sticker price can be a major stumbling block. Price it too high and no one will want to buy your hybrid, but discount it too much and money will be lost on every model sold.

GM got into a spot of bother recently when alleged prices for its new full-size hybrids SUVs were released on its website last month. The problem was that the listed prices "were too low" according to GM spokesman Terry Rhadigan. The Chevy Tahoe 4-Door two-wheel drive hybrid was listed at $47,915 and the four-wheel drive was listed at $50,720. The GMC Yukon two-wheel drive hybrid came in at $48,370.

The 'correct' prices are scheduled to be announced next week, though Popular Mechanics already have the two listed as $49,270 for the Yukon Hybrid 2WD and $48,815 for the Tahoe Hybrid 2WD. If that's the case, then the prices accidentally released last month weren't off by all that much.

$49,270 and $48,815, respectively

[Source: The Detroit News]

Vehicle sales are slow throughout the US right now, and a slumping housing market coupled with high gas prices means that trucks and SUVs are being hit extremely hard in particular. Large truck and SUV sales are down 9% through July year over year, and GM has halted overtime at six locations to help keep its large vehicle inventory under control. Workers from Flint; Oshawa, Ontario; Ft. Wayne, IN; Janesville, WI; Arlington, TX; and Silao, Mexico will need to punch out after completing eight hours work. GM wants to be sure inventories of its all-important large trucks don't get too high, which could necessitate higher incentives if available stock gets out of hand. GM looks very serious about keeping cash rebates in check, even with the possibility of a strike looming next month.

[Source: Freep]

SUV owners love the flexibility that their removable or stowable third-row seats afford them, and thieves have taken note. A growing number of third-row seats are being stolen and sold at swap meets, and the removable seats on the Chevy Tahoe are one of the main targets. Chevy designers made the seats easy to install and remove, with only two bolts keeping the additional seating attached to the vehicle. Police officials in Long Beach, CA told Inside Line that the problem is so bad right now, crooks are "breaking into parked SUVs and grabbing third-row seats in the middle of the day". Police are offering to engrave metal under the the seats in several spots to help identify the stolen goods.

[Source: Inside Line]

Bob Lutz has apparently climbed down from the parapet of passing all costs onto the consumer... that is, when it comes to green tech. In fact, GM appears to be considering subsidizing the cost of its hybrids for consumers. The world's number two automaker has three hybrid transmissions in the works: a simple bolt-on starter/alternator combo called BAS, a BAS+ system that uses li-ion batteries instead of nickel metal hydride, and a dual-mode system with two electric motors that will debut later this year in the Tahoe and Yukon. The dual-mode is the priciest of the bunch, carrying a $10,000 premium per vehicle for a 25% fuel economy savings. Even though GM has licensed the technology to BMW and DaimlerChrysler to keep the costs down, Lutz declares that "if we price it at full cost recovery, I'd say we probably would sell -- not very many." Lutz didn't give any indication of what kind of subsidy might be offered to entice buyers, saying the question is "How much do you want to do and how much financial pain can you endure?"

Lutz also said that "nearly every Cadillac product could feature a hybrid variant as early as the next two years," but none of the hybrids detailed are meant for the Volt. That car is an electric car with range assist, not a hybrid.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]

The combination of high gas prices and a sales slowdown at Cadillac have caused the heads of GM's luxury division to consider adding a hybrid to the mix. During an interview with the Detroit News, John Howell, Caddy's head product honcho was quoted as saying that, "Pretty much every program I am looking at going forward has got a hybrid as part of it."

He remained mum on a timeframe for the addition of gas-electric hybrids into the Cadillac lineup, but for 2009, the blingtastic Escalade will be sporting a two-mode hybrid drivetrain, much like its GMT900 platform siblings, the Tahoe and Yukon. Such a system is expected to boost fuel economy by 25-percent over the standard gas-powered model.

[Source: Detroit News]

Sometimes news is just too good to keep to yourself. Just ask GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz. With his company supposedly claiming 13 spots on Edmund's Consumers' Most Wanted list, Lutz just had to brag a bit on the corporate blog before the winners were made public.

And he should brag. Most other car of the year awards are chosen by us automotive writers who usually prefer horsepower over hip room. As the name implies, Edmund's CMW awards are chosen by the car-buying public. And despite not voting with their wallets, the car-buying public who visits Edmund's really like their GMs.

The GMC Acadia got Most Significant vehicle of the year, beating out Honda's Fit, the Toyota Camry Hybrid, the Ford Edge and the Toyota Tundra.

Click through to see Edmund's press release as well as the other category winners.

[Source: Edmunds, GM FastLane Blog]

On any given Sunday morning, if I were offered the keys to either a Saturn Sky or a Chevy Tahoe with a big boat hitched to the back, 110 times out of a hundred I would put down that gnarly top on the Sky and make my way to the beach via the twistiest road I could possibly find. Once there, I would much rather go for a swim and lay on the beach than mess around with trying to launch a boat and later haul it out of the water.

Having made my own personal biases clear on this subject, there are clearly a great many people who would make the opposite choice. Many people choose to drive big SUVs for a wide variety of reasons, and with gas prices again at $3 a gallon and rising around most of the most of this country, those people would surely like to get a bit better gas mileage. After a long wait, they will soon have the option of a full-sized General Motors SUV with a new two-mode parallel hybrid setup, and AutoblogGreen has just had the opportunity to take a first drive in one. If this first application of the new hybrid system jointly developed by GM, BMW and DaimlerChrysler is of interest, check out ABG's detailed report by clicking here.