Court Approves Saab’s Bankruptcy, Appoints Two Receivers – But is it Really Over?

As expected, the District Court of Vanersborg accepted Saab’s request the same day, Monday December 19, and declared the Swedish carmaker bankrupt.

The company's CEO, Victor Muller, blamed General Motors for blocking every rescue attempt that involved the Chinese company Youngman Lotus Automobile, including its latest offer of a US$5 million funding to continue the restructuring process.

“That, basically, was the last nail in the coffin of this beautiful company”, said Muller only hours after requesting that Saab be declared bankrupt.

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2014 Chevrolet Impala wants to be more than America's Favorite Fleet Car, will Share Platform with Cadillac XTS

With more than a decade on its back, the current Chevrolet Impala is well overdue for a replacement. Introduced in 1999, the eighth generation of the Chevy's full-size sedan switched to a front-wheel drive layout with GM redesigning the large sedan in 2005.

According to the Automotive News Data Center, Chevy has sold more than 2.8 million units of current model since 1999, with 2007 proving to be the vehicle's best year with a little over 311,000 deliveries. This year, through the end of November, GM has sold close to 161,000 Impalas.

But as we said, it's time for the current Impala to give its place to a new model. Last week, GM confirmed plans for the development of the 10th generation Impala, which will be produced at both its Oshawa Assembly Plant in Canada and the Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Plant.

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The Company Formerly Known as “Old GM” is Dead at Age 103

It was long overdue, but it was bound to happen: the company lawyers named Motors Liquidation Co. but which we came to know as "old GM" during the 2009 government bailout period, died on Thursday, December 15.

Though it had a very long lifespan of 103 years, no one really noticed its demise. After all, this was just U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Gerbert signing the death certificate. Giving birth to the “new GM” two years ago was a very painful process – and one that most of those involved would like to forget.

It meant the sacrifice of three of its brands (Pontiac, Hummer and Saturn) and getting rid of another (Saab, which ironically is now in a similar position), closing 13 plants along with 900 dealerships. GM also had to reduce its U.S. workforce from 91,000 to 68,500 employees, which either way, is a far cry from the 525,000 workers it had in the States and another 100,000 outside the country in 1955.

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New 2013 Chevrolet Sonic RS is All Show, Little Go, will Debut in Detroit

When General Motors previewed the Chevrolet Sonic series with the Aveo RS Concept at last year's North American Auto Show, the company also hinted at a spicier version inspired by the study.

Following the launch of the regular Sonic models, Chevrolet has now revealed the production Sonic RS that will go on sale late next year after making its world premiere at the Detroit Motor Show in January.

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Saab Files for Bankruptcy After All Rescue Plans Fail, This Could be the End

It is sad news for the automotive world to learn of the demise of a company. Unfortunately, Monday December 19, will mark the end of the road for Swedish carmaker Saab – and this time it looks like it is final.

Earlier this morning, Swedish Automotive N.V. (Swan) announced that Saab Automobile, Saab Automobile Tools and Saab Powertrain filed for bankruptcy with the District Court in Vanersborg, Sweden.

This comes after Youngman, the Chinese company which last week promised to pay for the carmaker’s restructuring, informed Saab that it cannot provide the funding necessary for the continuation of the process.

Therefore, Swan concluded that, with GM vetoing any proposed plan until now, and without the essential funding, it would be insolvent. Thus, it was better for its creditors to file for bankruptcy.

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Court Rejects Saab’s Administrator Resignation, GM Rejects Any Chinese-Related Plan…

There are so many turns and twists in Saab's road to salvation or closure on an everyday basis, that it’s very easy to lose track of what's actually going on with the Swedish automaker.

On Monday Guy Lofalk, the court-appointed administrator who proposed the termination of the carmaker’s restructuring process, quit. Two days later Saab announced the appointment of another administrator, Lars-Henrik Andersson.

On Thursday, after Andersson turned down the job, Saab said that Lofalk would eventually be replaced by Lars Soderqvist.

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GM Boss Mark Reuss Builds a Fantasy Supercar Out of the Company’s Parts Bin

Almost every car fan has, at one point or another, considered building his ideal car: for example, one with a Ferrari or Lamborghini bodywork, a Pagani interior, a Veyron engine, Porsche everyday usability and all this at the price of a used 300,000-mile Ford Escort…

Well, the automotive term for this is a parts bin special; that is, a model built by borrowing only (or mostly) existing parts from other models. Mark Reuss, GM’s North American president, was asked by Car & Driver to assemble his dream car by using components that already exist on the company’s shelves.

We have to admit that, even though General Motors is not the first carmaker that comes to mind when picking components to assemble our dream car, Reuss has managed to conjure a pretty interesting vehicle.

The bodywork would come from the 2002 Cadillac Cien concept, which Reuss believes “defined Cadillac”.

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GM Confirms Next Generation Impala, will Invest $68 Million to Prep Oshawa Plant

The Impala is a historic nameplate for Chevrolet with roots that go back to the golden era of American automobiles, the 1950s, and it's one that General Motors isn't about to let go despite the fact that the series has faded away into mediocrity these past years.

Today, the Detroit-based company confirmed plans for the development of a brand new Chevy Impala and announced an investment of $68 million to prepare its Oshawa Assembly Plant in Canada for the production of the next generation sedan.

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Will China’s New Tariffs Really Harm Foreign Manufacturers Like GM?

Yesterday, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced that a new tax is imposed on U.S.-made vehicles with a motor capacity of 2.5-liters and above, effective today, December 15.

The so-called “anti-dumping” duties imposed not just on U.S. carmakers, but all companies that manufacture cars in the United States, were imposed because the Chinese authorities felt that U.S. imports were “damaging the local car industry”.

Most analysts, on the other hand, agree that this is China’s response to the World Trade Organization rejecting its appeal on U.S. duties on imported tires three months earlier.

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Official: 2013 Cadillac ATS gets New 2.0-liter Turbo with 270HP, Plus 2.5L and 3.6L V6 engines [Video]

Cadillac is not…horsing around with its soon-to-be revealed 2013 ATS as the Detroit automaker will offer the compact sports saloon with a newly developed 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-four producing an estimated 270-horsepower and 260 lb-ft. of torque (353 Nm) straight from launch.

The 2.0T is a different engine than the one used on the current Buick Regal GS, with the ATS being the first GM model to receive the force-fed powerplant.

“This engine is the perfect match for the new ATS, which will be a refined performance luxury sedan,” said Don Butler, Cadillac vice president of Global Marketing. “The 2.0T has an exceptionally smooth and responsive power curve that will make the ATS nimble, quick and fun to drive.”

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China Slaps New Duties on U.S.-Made Cars because it’s Damaging its Domestic Industry!

Another chapter in the tense relationship between the world’s two biggest economies, those of the United States and China, has opened today with the announcement by Chinese authorities of new duties on U.S.-made cars that are imported into the country.

Reuters reported that the Commerce ministry of China said on its website that the measure, which imposes “anti-dumping” and “countervailing” duties on cars with an engine capacity of 2.5-liters and above, is effective tomorrow, December 15, and will last for two years.

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BMW and General Motors to Cooperate on Fuel Cell Technology

With developing costs on new technologies rising and markets fluctuating in unforeseeable ways, cooperating with other manufacturers is the way to go.

BMW has been one of the first to mingle with its automotive counterparts. Since 2002, it has been cooperating with Europe’s second largest group, PSA Peugeot Citroen.

Only a few days ago, it announced a new deal with Toyota, in which the Germans will provide the Japanese with their diesel engines in exchange for Toyota’s vast expertise on hybrid technology.

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Supplier Issue Forces GM to Halt Chevy Cruze Production in Ohio

While models like the Corvette or the Camaro usually make the headlines with their performance numbers, looks or Nürburgring lap times, “bread and butter” models that sell in high volumes are those that matter the most to companies like General Motors.

The Cruze, which has sold more than a million units less than two years after its global launch and is currently the second-best-selling small car in the U.S. trailing the Toyota Corolla by 4,000 units, is a prime example.

That’s why halting production on Monday at GM’s Lordstown, Ohio plant where the Cruze is manufactured, must have been quite a blow for the Detroit company.

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GM Confirms Turbo Engine for the New Malibu, Could be for the RS or SS Model

At a press event for the introduction of the new 2013 Malibu on Monday, General Motors confirmed the presentation of a turbocharged model to Motor Trend magazine.

Chevrolet officials said that the force-fed variant of the Malibu would be introduced in about a year's time from now, without elaborating further on the specifications of engine or the model trim.

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Holden Rumored to Decide on the Future of the Commodore by the End of December

Once a production hub, Australia's motoring industry is now facing the prospect of losing one of its most acclaimed model series, the Holden Commodore (and apparently, its Caprice derivatives) after the upcoming redesign, which is scheduled for 2013.

While production of the 2013 Commodore VF will endure at least until 2017, The Sydney Morning Herald (via its Drive car site) is reporting today that Holden chairman and managing director Mike Devereux confirmed that the brand will decide on its local manufacturing future beyond 2018 before the end of December.

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GM Moves On to New Battery Technology for the Pure-Electric Spark

Electric vehicles may be all the rage in the zero-emission-obsessed 21st century automotive world, but they are not the novelty carmakers would have you believe.

In fact, the first electric vehicle was manufactured in the early 19th century, predating the invention of both gasoline and diesel internal-combustion engines. Its limited range, though, along with the rapid development of road infrastructure in the early 20th century that made travels much easier, caused its demise.

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Shocker: Crash Tests Reveal that Most Cars Sold in Latin America are Deathtraps on Wheels

The FIA Foundation announced the results of the first ever crash tests carried out by the Latin New Car Assessment Program (Latin NCAP), and the news isn’t good for consumers and automakers alike.

Actually, the crash test results reveal a terrifying reality: most of the best selling cars in Latin America’s emerging markets offer minimal or no protection at all to their adult occupants let alone children...

Max Mosley, president of Global NCAP, said: “The latest results of the Latin NCAP reveal that South America’s most popular cars are still about 20 years behind the levels of safety enjoyed in Europe and North America. This cannot be acceptable.”

"We want to see the UN’s global crash test standards applied to all new cars across the world. And we want consumers to be aware of the life and death choices they make when buying a new car," Mosley added.

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Ward's Auto Announces the 10 Best Engines of the Year

The annual list of Ward's 10 Best Engines of the year has been released. The magazine's editors chose the winners after spending October and November driving 36 vehicles with 34 of those featuring new or significantly upgraded powerplants.

To be eligible to participate in the competition, Ward's states that "each engine must be available in a regular-production U.S.-specification model on sale no later than first-quarter 2012, in a vehicle with a base price below $55,000".

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Attention, Serious Buyers Only: 1995 Cadillac 900S Convertible

From the 1980s right through to the beginning of the 21st century, General Motors tried its best to simplify the art of badge engineering as a cheap and easy way to expand its offerings and increase its profits.

Apparently, some of GM's enthusiasm for badge-trickery managed to rub off on certain consumers like the owner of this 1995 Saab who artfully transformed the open-top model into the Cadillac 900S Convertible in a way that a 1990s GM exec would say, "why didn't I think of that?"

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GM to Use More Carbon Fiber and Composite Materials in Future Models

General Motors announced today that it signed a deal with Teijin Limited, a Japanese company that is among the leaders in the carbon fiber and composites industry.

The two companies will cooperate in the development of carbon fiber and composite materials for future use in high-volume GM cars, trucks and crossovers.

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