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For all of you (ourselves included) who have lusted after the Opel Insignia, it looks like we'll finally have the chance to see what the fuss is all about. As part of General Motors' strategy to build up the Buick brand beyond its LaCrosse, Enclave, and (aging) Lucerne models, the 2011 Regal will be arriving on our shores next year, available only with four-cylinder engines and front-wheel drive.

Initially, just the naturally aspirated Regal will be available, packing GM's trusty 2.4-liter, direct-injected four which produces 182 horsepower and is good for 30 miles per gallon on the highway. In the late summer of 2010, however, a model with the Ecotec 2.0-liter, 220-horsepower engine will roll out, mated to an all-new Interactive Drive Control System (IDCS) which allows the driver to change the suspension settings between Normal, Tour, and Sport modes. Both engines will be mated to six-speed automatic transmissions.

The Regal will come standard with many premium features, like heated, leather seats, Bluetooth, XM satellite radio, OnStar, and eighteen-inch wheels (or nineteens with the IDCS system). That, combined with the sleek styling of the Euro Insignia, should make the Regal a pretty fierce competitor for upmarket Ford Fusions.

No word on pricing has been released at this time, but we'll keep you posted. Stay tuned for more details when this car makes its official reveal at next month's Los Angeles Auto Show. In the meantime, click through the post to read GM's official press release.

http://www.sub5zero.com/auto-news/new-auto-industry-breakdown-cause-things-done-...

As part of the New General Motors, we know that more work will go into building up the Buick nameplate, all starting with the introduction of the LaCrosse earlier this year. And according to a few reports, GM's Bob Lutz has pretty much confirmed that the European Opel Insignia will be brought over to American soil as a Buick Regal.

The Regal is already on sale in this guise in the Chinese market (pictured above), and we welcome the addition of this award-winning Euro sedan to the United States. As of this writing, there are no details to discuss, but stay tuned.

+ Jalopnik: GM's Lutz Confirms Buick Regal Is Back!

Tomorrow morning, General Motors is expected to announce part of their new lineup; however, word is out, through Twitter, after a small GM get-together, and this is what we have so far.

A new Cadillac, the ATS Concept, that is expected to rival the BMW 3-Series will be released and will come as a sedan and a coupe. The Cadillac XTS is a new flagship sedan that will be available in four-wheel drive, a new CTS (and potentially CTS-V) Coupe is on tap to hit showrooms next Spring, and the all-new Chevrolet Malibu, that will not be in production till 2012, are going to be unveiled. It looks like GM’s private party wasn’t that private after all. We will have to wait till tomorrow morning to know if it’s all true.

Click on the link below for more about the new General Motors lineup.
+ Autoblog: From the Twitterverse: GM shows 3 Series-fighting Cadillac ATS, all-new XTS, 2012 Malibu

Tomorrow, General Motors and eBay launch a new website, gm.ebay.com , that will allow customers to buy new GM vehicles online.

GM and eBay have announced the launch of a new type of car shopping. The new website will run the same way that eBay Motors is run; that is, consumers can negotiate a price with dealers, bid for a certain car, ask dealers questions about a particular car, work out financing, and can even immediately buy a car by clicking on the Buy It Now button. Unfortunately, GM and eBay have decided that this experiment should only be available in California (for now). GM will be selling its Buick, Pontiac, GMC, and Chevrolet models online through its California dealers.

For more about the new website click on the link below.
+ GM Fast Lane Blog: General Motors and eBay: Reinventing the Car-Buying Experience 

General Motors is going through a metamorphosis, as you know. Actually, this isn’t the first time. GM 1.0 was the emergent GM—a collection of disparate and dysfunctional brands (Chevrolet, Oakland/Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick and Cadillac) and parts makers assembled before and immediately after WWI by William Durant and others. GM 2.0 is the professional GM created by Alfred Sloan, starting in 1923. Sloan and his successors created an organizational structure focused on distinct market segments bolstered by a culture of strong styling and R&D. GM 2.0 worked from the ‘20s through the ‘60s and generally is viewed as GM’s best incarnation. GM 3.0 is the cancerous GM beset by bad labor contracts, difficulty coping with international competition and excess capacity. GM 3.0 begins roughly with the oil crisis of 1973 and extends to 2009. GM 4.0 is the post-bankruptcy GM. This is part four in a series that covers issues with the direction of GM 4.0.

I have noted in my previous blogs on GM 4.0 that GM’s remaining core problem is with branding, now that its’ former biggest problems – unit costs and scale costs – are being dealt with through bankruptcy. By branding, I don’t mean marketing B.S., I mean the entire set of perceptions and beliefs that consumers hold about your company or its divisions. Branding addresses the expectations customers have about things they can’t see on a spec sheet or a test drive. It also covers their understanding about how others will perceive what they drive. That stuff is very important.

CLICK HERE to continue reading this article.

General Motors has launched a new video feature on its website GMReinvention.com called Tell Fritz. The idea behind this vlog is that people can send in any questions, comments or concerns about the new GM and GM’s CEO Fritz Henderson will answer these questions as often as possible.
 
Click video to hear one question answered or on the link below to connect to the website and to send your questions to Fritz.

+ GMReinvention.com

Bob Lutz, General Motors’ product chief who had planned to retire at the end of this year, is not leaving GM after all.

Lutz, 77, had announced in March that he would be leaving GM as, “The industry may need five years to recover.  I did the math and decided 82 was a little old to be dealing with these problems.” However, CEO Fritz Henderson stated that Lutz has agreed not to retire and that he will be working on marketing and advertising, brands and creative design. Henderson stated that GM will, “Merge the marketing, brand and image under Lutz” and that Lutz will report to Henderson.

Sources say that Lutz had been tapering his role and spending a smaller amount of time at GM, in the last few weeks. It is unclear as to how much all this will change and what kind of workload Lutz will have in the coming years.

To find out more click on the links below.

+ International Business Times: Bob Lutz to un-retire, GM CEO Henderson says
+ The Detroit Bureau: Lutz is Back at GM

General Motors, which had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June, has risen out of bankruptcy protection after creating a “new GM,” which is made up of what are arguably its best assets.
 
The New GM is going to keep its most profitable brands, Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, and GMC, while selling off all the other brands that they owned; including Hummer and Saab. The New GM will also run with 13 fewer U.S. plants and 27,000 fewer US employees as compared to last year.
 
GM is getting $60 billion in financing from the U.S. treasury, which gives the government a 61-percent share in the new company; however, government officials have repeatedly stated that they do not want to be involved in the day-to-day running of the firm.
 
Along with the emergence from bankruptcy the new GM is also speculated to don a new look.  GM insiders claim that the blue background on the company’s logo is being changed to green. The idea behind this change is to portray to the public that GM will be greener, more focused on fuel economy, and more capable of making quick decisions.

To read more about the new GM click on the links below.

+ BBC: Business: GM Leaves Bankruptcy Protection
+ MSNBC: The new GM: Fewer suits, greener logo?

Click Here To read about Bob Lutz Future With GM

+ Nextautos: Bob Lutz To Stay On With General Motors

Sales Figures for June 2009 have been released and it looks like Ford is on the right track.

Ford Motor Company states that its sales have increased and it is now only 10.9 percent in the negative as set against its sales in June 2008. Sales for GM and Chrysler on the other hand have not picked up as much as Ford. GM has seen a drop of 33.6 percent and Chrysler has seen a drop of 41.9 percent compared with June 2008.

BMW, Nissan, and Honda are all down by 20 percent and more compared with last June and Toyota is down by over 30 percent. Subaru and Volvo are the only two companies that have seen an increase in sales since June 2008. Subaru’s sales are up by 3.4 percent while Volvo has just squeaked into the green with a 0.6 percentage thanks to its new XC60.

 
Automakers    Percentage of Decrease in Sales    Cars Sold in June 09    Cars Sold in June 08
Ford                   -10.85                                        155,195                       174,091
General Motors    -33.60                                         176,571                      265,937
Chrysler              -41.85                                          68,297                       117,457
Nissan                -23.14                                           58,298                        75,848
Honda                -29.55                                         100,420                      142,539
BMW                  -20.29                                           20,849                        26,155
Toyota                -31.87                                         131,654                      193,234

+ Autoblog: By the Numbers: June 2009: Bankruptcy a Bad Idea Edition