Long time readers will notice the lack of foreign-market commentary here. It’s not that I don’t think cars in non-US markets are awesome, it’s just that I don’t ever expect to see them, so I don’t pay them too much attention. However, the Vauxhall VXR8 has been featured here before, way back in 2007. Well, it’s getting an update for 2011, so I figured it’s time to bring it back.

2011 Vauxhall VXR8 Specs

• 425 HP 6.2 liter V8
• 405 lb-ft of torque
• Magnetic Ride Control
• Six speed manual transmission standard
• Zero to sixty: 4.9 seconds

Underneath, the VXR8 is a Holden Commodore. That should ring a few bells – we briefly knew the Commodore in the US as the excellent Pontiac G8. With the Corvette V8, six speed transmission, and magnetic suspension, one could rightly call the VXR8 a four door Corvette.

Pontiac is gone, which is good for GM. However, there’s a market in the US for a car like this. There’s no reason GM couldn’t bring over the VXR8 as a Chevy. GM – are you listening?

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One of the biggest recalls in US history. A total of one and a half million GM cars and trucks are being recalled for a potential fire risk. The heated windshield wiper system could potentially short out, causing a fire.

The model years affected are 2006 through 2009, and these models are among the bunch: Cadillac CTS, DTS, Escalade (all models); Buick Enclave and Lucerne, Chevy Avalanche, Silverado 3500, ‘Burban, Tahoe, and Traverse; GMC Acadia, Sierra, Yukon (Regular and XL), Hummer H2, and Saturn Outlook.

Phew.

To date, five fires have been reported due to this system flaw. One might say that this is an example of cars simply getting too complicated. Add more features, and there are more things that can go wrong. We all survived for decades without heated windshield wipers. In fact, most of us still get by today without such a magical system. Just food for thought.

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When it counts, GM is extremely indecisive.  They can’t figure out how much the Volt is going to cost, what the point of GMC is, or whether they are selling Saab or not.  Except that they finally figured out that last one.  Probably.  Officially.  I think.

In what sounds like an official report, but who can say when it comes to GM, Spyker bought Saab for $74 million in cash.  As part of the deal, GM retains a whopping 1% of the voting rights – wooha!

Spyker, a tiny Dutch supercar company, will be changing it’s name to Saab Spyker Automobiles.  Not sure how quirky cars that nobody wants to buy fits in with Spyker’s image as a niche supercar maker, but then again, Spyker didn’t ask for my thoughts.

I’m guessing that Spyker has exceptionally deep pockets, or they wouldn’t be able to complete this deal.  Saab is a perennial money loser, and there’s no reason to expect that to change in the near future.  I wish Spyker luck with their handful.

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Remember how our good buddy Ed Whitacre said that the 2011 Volt would be available in the low $30k range, and be profitable?  This, after months of back and forth on pricing and profitability.

Well, it turns out Eddie was fudging a little bit.  GM clarified this most recent statement with the fact that the “low $30k” price would be after a $7500 tax credit. Since when do automakers price vehicles *after* a tax credit that buyers may or may not be eligible for?

Bad business Eddie, bad business.  Just say it’s gonna cost $40 grand plus.  We’ll get over it.  At least we won’t be confused anymore.

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Whoops, I mean, he “resigned.” Fritz Henderson, that is, former CEO of General Motors. Yesterday ol’ Fritzy tendered his resignation, which GM’s board promptly accepted. Which makes sense, since they fired him, of course. A guy doesn’t work for GM for 25 years, rise to the position of CEO, and then just quit after less than a year. It just doesn’t work that way.

So, GM canned Fritzy, for reasons unknown. It’s not like he actually put GM in the position they’re in today, after all. But he’s gone, so that’s that. Of course, his daughter didn’t take too kindly to the news, according to a wall post she put up on Facebook, that went a little something like this:

HE F*****G GOT ASKED TO STEP DOWN ALL OF YOU F*****G IDIOTS. I’M FRITZ’S F*****G DAUGHTER, AND HE DID NOT F*****G RESIGN. WHITACRE IS A SELFISH PIECE OF SHIFT [sic], WHO CARES ABOUT HIMSELF AND NOT THE F*****G COMPANY. HAVE FUN WITH GM, I HOPE TO NEVER BUY FROM THIS GOD FORESAKEN [sic] COMPANY EVERY [sic] AGAIN. F**K ALL OF YOU.”

Classy, little Henderson gal. Classy.

In Fritzy’s place, at least in the interim, will be a cat named Ed Whitacre Jr. If you’ve never heard of him, don’t feel bad, no one else has either. He’s basically a random old white guy, if you believe Jalopnik. Until GM finds a new full-fledged CEO, Whitacre will be calling the shots. Does anyone even care, anymore?

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Another quarter gone by, another billion down the drain. Actually, GM lost $1.2 billion in the third quarter, to be exact. It’s a good thing the US government bailed them out, or they’d be losing mon…. wait a minute, nevermind.

On a good note, GM’s cash reserves are reportedly up $3.3 billion over last quarter. So even though they’re losing money, they’re gaining it. Or something. Accounting is so strange.

Hi there – could you help spread the word about Houston Cars? I could really use your help in getting my work out to new readers. If you would send someone a link, email, or even mention it to your friends, I would appreciate it. GM loses $1.2 Billion in Q3 2009 is a post from: Houston Cars, home of the best darn car reviews around.

Yesterday General Motors officially entered Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection – which came as no surprise to anyone.  After having a day or so to digest the facts, I’m very saddened by what the US automotive industry has come to.  When Government Motors ( the new name? ) emerges from bankruptcy, the United States government will own a whopping 60% of the new company.  At what a price, though.  Already, the US has “loaned” $19 billion to GM.  The loans, of course, are really just bailout money in disguise. 

But wait, there is more

Over the course of GM’s bankruptcy, the US is expected to flush another $30 billion down the GM money toilet.  That brings the total “investment” in GM to a whopping $49 billion.  This is all money that the US taxpayers will never see again, as GM has no hopes of ever paying it back, barring a miracle of some sort.

Chrysler beat GM into Chapter 11 by a few weeks, and is even more of a mess.  Once the sale of the “Good Chrysler” goes through, the UAW will own the bulk of the company, with Fiat and the US owning minority stakes. 

Ford marches on, unaided

To date, Ford Motor Company is the only major US automaker to survive without federal bailout money, and without bankruptcy protection.  In the coming months, I expect Ford to drastically increase its market share.  There are plenty of folks who want to continue to Buy American and support our manufacturing base.  However, plenty of these folks won’t consider buying from a bankrupt automaker – that leaves Ford as the only choice.  It’s either that, or buy one of them ‘foreign cars. 

If you were in the market for an American car – would you consider Government Motors, Chrysler, or Ford?  Why?

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The past two days have been dark ones for the domestic auto industry.  On Thursday, Chrysler, LLC made a powerful announcement – they would not be renewing franchise agreements for 789 Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep dealerships.  The list was made publicly available, and can be viewed here. 

To follow up that bad news, GM announced today that 1,100 of their own dealers would not be selling new cars for very long.  This one is a little trickier – GM isn’t yet in bankruptcy.  However, these dealers apparently haven’t met the franchise requirements set forth by GM – something that GM previously didn’t enforce.  But now it gives them an “out”.

That’s almost 1900 new car dealers

Any way you spin the numbers, nearly 2000 dealers is a whole lot.  At an average of 50 or so employees for store, that’s 100,000 people who could be out of work – not exactly great news in any times, but especially not good in this economy.

Things are worse than they sound

Most of the dealers that won’t have their franchises renewed are small volume new car dealers.  As in less than 1 car a day small.  If these stores have been surviving on this tiny volume of new cars, then surely they’ve been playing the used car game pretty well.  If that’s the case, the loss of a franchise will be tough to swallow, but it won’t mean closing the doors.  Used-car megastore, anyone? 

I wouldn’t wish this outcome on any dealer, especially the stereotypical small-town family owned dealership.  These folks work very hard, and have managed to stay alive in a tough market.  The smart ones will tough it out, and survive as used car stores.  The weaker ones will close their doors, unfortunately laying off all their staff.  But to think that everyone employed at these dealerships will be jobless is incorrect – considering it “thinning the herd” , if you will.

There will be more to come

If you’re thinking that this is the end of the mass dealership closings, you’re mistaken.  Chrysler, GM, and Ford all have dealer networks that are far too large and costly.  They will be thinned, whether with the help of bankruptcy court or not.  It’s nothing personal – just a matter of survival for the domestic automakers.

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Though losing money is nothing new to GM, the magnitude of this loss and and rate of burn are stunning.  GM is down to $11.6 billion in cash, and that is only because the U.S. gov’t is giving away money to every one.

GM’s Q1 results are spectacularly bad – there’s no denying that.  And there’s a very real possibility of a GM bankruptcy in the near future.  If there’s any way at all to spin a negative into a (somewhat) positive, this is it : Toyota lost more money than GM in the first quarter of 2009.  That’s right, Toyota managed to lose $7.7 billion – their worst performance ever, by far.

Of course, the difference here is that GM is on Uncle-Sam funded life support, while Toyota remains a long-term viable company, with healthy amounts of cash on hand to get through any rough patches.  One horrific quarter hurts, but it won’t change the fact that Toyota is better positioned for long-term success than GM.

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In an announcement that surprised no one today, GM officially announced the end of Pontiac as a brand, by the end of 2010.  So that’s Pontiac, Hummer, Saab, and Saturn that are toast – GM is now down to 4 brands that will carry on.

Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC, and Buick are the so-called “Big 4” that will remain.  Chevy and Cadillac I see – but Buick and GMC are rebadge-brands.  With no unique product, I have trouble seeing why GM should split marketing dollars 4 ways, rather than 2.  Keep Buick in China ( for some reason they love Buicks ), but it serves no real purpose here.  Keep the good ones and make ‘em upscale Chevy’s.

Pontiac was dead anyway

The G8 is an awesome car.  I want to get that out there right away.  But people aren’t buying them – it’s a lot of coin for a Pontiac, no matter how good it is.  Perception is huge, and the perception is that Pontiacs are crap.  Based on the G3 and G5, well, the perception is true.  The brand isn’t relevant, and hasn’t been for decades.

No more GTO or Firebird

The last Goat was a turd… but the goats of old were awesome.  And who could forget the Firebird?  A badge-engineered Camaro, for sure, but still a great piece of history.  It’s sad to say that there will never be a new Firebird rolling off the production line.  Not so sad that they should keep Pontiac around though. 

Will it be enough?

Going from 8 brands to 4 is a huge step in the right direction.  But is it too little, too late?  Maybe.  Two brands is a more sustainable setup, at least in my eyes.  Hopefully I’m wrong, and GM can survive, and prosper.  Let’s see how this plays out over the next few months / years. 

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