Oracle of Delphi

Nahh, we're just waiting for Lutz to move out in 2010, then we officially move into Detroit.

You mean GME badging don't you?

Get ready next fall, will be the premier of the Pontiac G0, a modified skateboard with the twin kidney grille theme, all it needs is foot power and/or gavity to keep you moving in that Pontiac style!

Thank You GME for the New 1.4-liter Global Engine! Edit, another source - http://www.motorauthority.com/cars/chevrol...for-gm-in-2009/

Jamie LaReau Automotive News June 2, 2008 - 1:52 pm ET DETROIT -- General Motors will unveil a Chevrolet compact car at an auto show this fall, with production slated to begin early next year, say sources familiar with GM's product program. The vehicle will be built on the Delta compact car architecture at GM's plant in Lordstown, Ohio. The car will use a new 1.4-liter global engine that GM developed and recently announced in Europe. The turbocharged four-cylinder engine will be used in several GM vehicles worldwide. The Chevrolet compact will not be called the Cobalt, says one source familiar with the plans. GM will produce the current-generation Cobalt through June 2010 as a 2009 model. It was unclear from sources whether GM will continue to build the Cobalt after that. Shared among five nameplates The car's engine will be capable of developing between 120 and 140 hp. Sources say mileage could easily exceed 40 mpg. "It's a pretty incredible engine; it's direct-injected with great power," the source says. "The small-displacement turbos make it possible to get great power so that GM might put it in the mid-sized products, too. It's an extremely important engine and a very capable powertrain." The new engine will be shared among five nameplates: Chevrolet, Pontiac, Saturn, Opel and Daewoo, sources say. That means the Lordstown plant could build cars for export. The engine continues the trend that GM started with such cars as the Pontiac Solstice GXP and Saturn Sky Red Line. Those cars use smaller engines and high-technology devices such as direct fuel injection and turbochargers to boost fuel economy and performance. Lordstown plant retooling GM is retooling its plant in Lordstown for a new vehicle, sources say. Lordstown union officials have heard that GM plans to add a shift. GM now is building between 1,400 and 1,500 cars a day at Lordstown; adding a shift would increase that output to 2,100 cars a day. GM builds the Chevrolet Cobalt as well as the Pontiac G5 and its Canadian counterpart, the Pontiac Pursuit, at the Lordstown plant. All these vehicles also are built on the Delta architecture. Meanwhile, GM is reconsidering bringing the Chevrolet minicar, the Beat, to the United States. "The Beat for the U.S. is getting a pretty thorough examination now that you see what's going on with fuel prices," says a source close to GM's product development. "It isn't definitively on there as a go product, but there is a lot of inside chatter and it's on the consideration list." Link: http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/arti...p;rssfeed=RSS34

Brent Saba had just dropped a church group off at Philadelphia International Airport on Sunday morning and was heading north on Interstate 95 when it happened: His 15-passenger van ran out of gas. Saba, a 24-year-old church pastor, made it to the shoulder just past the Ben Franklin Bridge and waited more than 30 minutes for someone to stop and lend him a cell phone. Then he waited a while longer for AAA to arrive with fuel. With gas prices hovering at $4 a gallon, motorists like Saba are putting less fuel in their tanks — then coming up empty on the highway. Though national statistics on out-of-gas motorists don't exist, there's plenty of anecdotal evidence that drivers unwilling or unable to fill 'er up are gambling by keeping their tanks extremely low on fuel. In the Philadelphia area, where the average price for a gallon of regular broke $4 on Friday, calls from out-of-gas AAA members doubled between May 2007 and May 2008, from 81 to 161, the auto club reported. "The number one reason is they can't stretch their money out from week to week," said Gary Siley, the AAA mobile technician who helped Saba. "Some of them are embarrassed. ... They say, 'I was trying to make it till Friday,' and they couldn't do it," said Siley, who has assisted numerous out-of-gas motorists. Saba blames himself for not paying enough attention to the fuel gauge, saying he doesn't normally let the tank get so low. But he said the spiraling cost of gas has led the church to reduce its use of the fuel-guzzling van. And when he does get gas, he puts in only a half-tank. "If the prices were lower, I'd probably just fill it up," Saba said. Research from The Nielsen Co. shows that drivers have been making more frequent trips to the pump but limiting how much they put in the tank. Convenience stores, which sell about 80 percent of the nation's gas, are seeing fewer fill-ups, said industry spokesman Jeff Lenard. "When the pump hits a certain dollar amount now, you're seeing more customers stop," said Lenard, with the National Association of Convenience Stores. "They're purchasing fewer gallons." And that means playing Russian roulette with the gas gauge. In Dallas, Courtesy Patrol — a roadside assistance program operated by the sheriff's department — reports a doubling in the number of daily fuel calls from stranded motorists in recent months. Sheriff Lupe Valdez herself recently came to the aid of a mother and her two children who had run out of gas along an interstate. In some cases, motorists have gotten stuck in the middle of the highway, creating a dangerous situation, said Lonnie Lankford, a Courtesy Patrol shift leader. "It's just breaking the backs of the people, these gas prices," he said. Transportation officials in Oregon and Tennessee also report increasing numbers of stranded motorists in need of gas. AAA Mid-Atlantic, which has nearly 4 million members in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and the District of Columbia, reported a 15 percent year-over-year increase in calls from members with empty tanks. "We're seeing a lot of frustrated motorists who are trying to cut corners, and this is one way they're doing it," said AAA Mid-Atlantic spokeswoman Catherine Rossi. "But they're shooting themselves in the foot, or the wallet, in the long run." That's because perpetually running on fumes can damage a car's fuel pump — requiring repairs that make a full tank of $4 gas seem like a bargain. As for Saba, he was just thankful he made it back to North Philadelphia in time for his 11:30 a.m. church service. "What I was thinking to myself was, at least the weather's nice," he said. "It was beautiful outside and that made things a lot better." Link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24920462/

WASHINGTON - From higher electric bills to more expensive gasoline, the possible economic cost of tackling global warming is driving the debate as climate change takes center stage in Congress. Legislation set for Senate debate Monday would require a reduction in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from power plants, refineries, factories and transportation. The goal is to cut heat-trapping pollution by two-thirds by midcentury. With gasoline at $4 per gallon and home heating and cooling costs soaring, it is getting harder to sell a bill that would transform the country's energy industries and — as critics will argue — cause energy prices to rise even more. Sen. Joe Lieberman, the Connecticut independent who is a leading sponsor of the bill, says computer studies suggest a modest impact on energy costs, with several projections for continued economic growth. Sponsors says the bill also offers billions of dollars in tax breaks to offset higher energy bills. Lawmakers returning from the Memorial Day break have more than just energy legislation to work on: * Through a printing error, a 34-page section of a $290 billion farm bill did not make it into the final version that became law. Senators now must deal with the missing section on trade and international food. * The House and Senate are going back and forth over spending for the Iraq war, college benefits for veterans and New Orleans' levees. The debate on global warming is viewed as a watershed in climate change politics. Yet both sides acknowledge the prospects for passage are slim this election year. Several GOP senators are promising a filibuster; the bill's supporters are expressing doubt they can find the 60 votes to overcome the delaying tactic. Sharp divide among lawmakers Only a few senators now dispute global warming. Still, there is a sharp divide over how to lessen the country's heavy dependence on coal, oil and natural gas without passing along substantially higher energy costs to people. The petroleum industry, manufacturers and business groups have presented study after study, based on computer modeling, that they say bear out the massive cost and disruption of mandating lower carbon emissions. Environmental groups counter with studies that show modest cost increases from the emission caps provide new incentives to develop alternative energy sources and promote energy efficiency and conservation. "This debate is going to be mostly about costs," says Daniel Lashoff, director of the Climate Center at the Natural Resources Defense Council. "But we want to make sure in that debate we don't forget that the cost of inaction on global warming would be much higher than the cost of the emission reductions called for in this bill." The proposal would cap carbon dioxide releases at 2005 levels by 2012. Additional reductions would follow annually so that by 2050, total U.S. greenhouse emissions would be about one-third of current levels. The bill would create a pollution allowance trading system. That would generate billions of dollars a year to help people offset expected higher energy costs, promote low-carbon energy alternatives and help industries deal with the transition. Part of the $6.7 trillion projected to be collected from the allowances over 40 years would go toward $800 billion in tax breaks to offset people's higher energy costs. These reductions "will not only enable us to avoid the ravages of unchecked global warming, but will create millions of new jobs," contends Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer of California, who heads the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Some believe bill goes too far The legislation is not as strong as some Democrats, including presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, would like. They want cuts in CO2 emissions of 80 percent by 2050. Others lawmakers believe the bill goes too far, too fast. They fear it will outpace development of the technology needed to make the shift from fossil fuels, causing energy prices to soar. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the likely GOP presidential nominee, recently announced a less ambitious plan to cut greenhouse emissions 60 percent by 2050. He has not said whether he will support the Senate bill, although he favors a cap-and-trade approach. A separate GOP proposal, from Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio, would set milestones for carbon dioxide reductions over the next 20 years. It would allow for mandates after that time once a clearer picture develops about new, low-carbon energy technologies. Senators advocating aggressive action on climate change say that would be too late to avert the worst effects of global warming. Also in dispute is the distribution of pollution allowances. Many Democrats, including Clinton and Obama, want to auction all allowances. The Senate bill would give about half of them to states, municipalities and affected industries. Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, said he will try to get that changed so that none goes to what he considers to be special interests. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., also wants most, if not all, the allowances auctioned and the money going out in checks to anyone earning $150,000 or less, or $300,000 for couples. Link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24921511/

Well your profile says you're two, that's pretty early to go gray! :AH-HA_wink: How old are you really Dave?

This spring, America hit a historic point. With average gas prices per gallon edging toward $4, America's notoriously profligate ways started to change fast. Americans are driving less, using mass transit more, buying fewer gas guzzlers, indeed shopping less wantonly in general, and lowering their previously unshakable confidence as consumers. Suddenly, Americans are acting differently; if not exactly like Swedes, then not quite like themselves, either. It's a shift that could change the world. And there are more changes to come. So far the price shock has triggered the most obvious consumer shifts in the United States. Europeans, already greener, are also are buffered by a stronger currency, and Asians are protected from the spiking price of oil by subsidies that control the impact on gas prices at the pump. But if oil prices continue to rise, and the subsidy dam breaks, as seems likely, the energy revolution now transforming America will spread. "We sailed through $80 a barrel," notes energy authority Daniel Yergin, author of "The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power" and chairman of Cambridge Energy Research Associates. "But that doesn't mean we'll sail through $200 a barrel. That sort of price would have enormous global consequences." A year ago no one was talking about $200 oil, and now everyone in the markets is, for scary reasons. Oil prices climbed from $10 in 1999 to $95 last year without slowing the surging world economy, in large part because the markets believed the spike was at core driven by rising demand, particularly from India and China, which feeds growth. There was concern over supply, too, but nothing like the tumult prompted by the stranglehold OPEC imposed on the world in the 1970s, at least not until recent months. As the per-barrel price climbed over the last few months, with futures reaching $135 last week, the consensus began shifting to a new more gloomy view: that not only would long-term demand, led by China and India, continue to grow, but that the supply threats, including increasing conflict, falling investment, industry bottlenecks and downward estimates of big field reserves in major oil states—aren't going away any time soon. Now many (though not all) serious people take $200 oil—and the prospect of another '70s-style oil shock—seriously. Goldman Sachs warned that the $200 barrier could be hit within the next six to 24 months. That's way too fast for comfort (or should be) even for those who welcome high gas prices as a way to induce energy conservation and fight global warming. Already skyrocketing oil prices are causing real pain for ordinary people, threatening global economic growth, and reviving the specter of inflation. The price pressure is now particularly acute in big emerging markets like China and India, which in recent years had become paragons of fiscal responsibility that tended to dampen global inflation by exporting cheap goods and services. Now they threaten to become exporters of inflation, particularly if energy price controls give way. Americans now making up for their losses at the gas pump by flocking to Wal-Mart for cheap Chinese goods would be out of luck. Make no mistake: $200 oil in 2009 would be a painful shock, not just a green tax on gas guzzlers. Oil drives so much of the global economy, it's almost impossible to fully imagine the world of $200 oil. No question, the shock will force nations to go greener much faster than now, particularly by conserving energy and developing and adopting new non-fossil fuels. But none of this can happen full stop in six to 24 months. So the predictions tend to be gloomy: some analysts see a shift toward regional trade, and even a major reversal of globalization itself, as rising transport costs make it too expensive to ship many kinds of goods long distances. A major acceleration in the transfer of wealth that has, in the past five years, shifted trillions of petrodollars from oil consumers to producers would alter the world balance of power—including a boost for the troublesome oil autocrats of Iran, Venezuela and Russia. At $200 a barrel the proven oil reserves of the six Gulf nations alone would rise in value to $95 trillion, about twice the size of public equity markets, according to Morgan Stanley managing director Stephen Jen. That would make the Sovereign Wealth Funds of oil states market kingmakers. Western efforts to press more openness on these funds, many controlled by royal courts, would surely grow. While some optimists believe the windfall could bring the Middle East into the modern world if it's smartly invested, that's a big if. Already many small states are struggling to wisely invest their oil windfall to date, and the corrupting curse of oil wealth is well known. Michael L. Ross, associate professor of political science at UCLA, notes that the percentage of the world's wars that take place in oil states is growing. The number of oil states is also rising—with Cambodia, East Timor and others joining the ranks—with more likely to follow as prices climb. Many of these newcomers are small, and ill equipped to cope with the corruption that often wastes the windfall. Article Continues: http://www.newsweek.com/id/139395/

I think you know the answer to that question.

I knew they were hunting this guy! How dumb do you have to be? Whenever you walk into an automaker's factory or engineering facility, there are signs prominently displayed letting everyone know that cameras and camera phones are prohibited. Unfortunately for an electrician at the General Motors Assembly plant in Oshawa, Ontario where the Camaro is due to begin production late this year he ignored the warning. Worse yet, he took some shots inside the body shop where pilot production units were making their way down the line and then showed them to his kids. The youngsters evidently extracted said photos and shared them with the world. The electrician with 28 years of seniority has apparently now learned that those signs were not an empty threat. Even though there is nothing particularly secret about how car bodies are welded together or about how the new Camaro looks, GM and other manufacturers are serious about those policies. This employee who apparently just wanted show off a bit for his kids is now unemployed. Was it worth it? If you're going to whip out the camera phone, you might want to be a little more discreet about how you share the pics. Link: http://www.autoblog.com/2008/06/01/no-came...red-for-camaro/

Don't take it so hard blu, look at it as a dating opportunity!

BV, My condolences on your Grandma, hopefully they will be able to cure her, or at the very least, not let her suffer. My Grandma died in 1991, and to this very day I still miss that woman. My prayers are with you!

Brand meaning one specific marque like Chevrolet, Pontiac, etc.

I'm interested in why most people here like the brand you do, what 1st drew you to the brand you like, and how old were you when you 1st got hooked on the brand?

I have seen a total of 3 GM ads since I've came back to the USA 9 days ago. The sad thing is, one was for the the Cadillac Escalade, the other was for the GMC Acadia, both these ads were on TV, the other add I saw was for the Pontiac G8, it was an internet ad. These are not the vehicles GM needs to be pushing in the days of 4 bucks a gallon gas, which is surely to go higher. They should be showing ads that show GM vehicles that get 30 mpg or more, once again GM shoots itself in the foot.

Looks like one happy Chevy owner in Columbia, South America. GM should use this as a commercial in Central and South America.

I will have to give that some thought, it's pretty close to when I have my surgery.

Congrats DF, hoped I helped in some small way! Sorry I couldn't make it up there.

Nice that it will have a lot of extras. This compact Opel will have adaptive suspension "Flex Ride", Bluetooth handsfree, DVD or hard drives Nav, iPod adapter or an intelligent lighting system (AFL).

I wouldn't mind having that as a collector car.

Well, I'm not here to argue with you, I'm just trying to shed some light on why things are the way they are. That's all.

I guess I'm one of the few that can read this!

I hate to disagree, but it took Holden and Mike Simcoe almost 4 years to benchmark the last generation BMW, this began in 1999. Then 2 years to clay it up and build mules/prototypes etc. Which brings us to 2005, Holden got their 1st vehicle in 2006, that really wasn't all that long, when you consider that Mike Simcoe had to build this platform from the ground up.