Drew Dowdell

Among General Motor's restructuring and cost slashing activities of 2018, GM was apparently in talks to sell their headquarters in Detroit. GM bought the Renaissance Center in 1996 for $70 million and has made substantial renovations over the years. The RenCen, as it is also known, was originally built by Ford in 1971 who later sold it in the 1980s. The potential buyer was billionaire Dan Gilbert. Talks fell through rather early because the aging structure requires expensive upgrades to its heating and air conditioning systems along with other renovations. There does not appear to be another buyer in talks with GM at this time. News of the potential sale follow a year of cost cutting measures by the company that include closing five North American plants and cutting up to 14,000 jobs. The company hopes to have $6 Billion in annual savings by 2020. View full article

You must live way out there. I"m 30 miles from the PIT airport and its usually between $50 and $60 dollars one way in Uber/Lyft. I do it because of the mileage non-reimbursement.... but they'll reimburse me for a Lyft. It makes no sense, but it's the system I have to work with.

I use Uber/Lyft to get to and from the airport primarily because work won't reimburse mileage for the trip and it is a 60 mile round trip for me which adds up as much as I travel. That said... Uber and Lyft aren't all that expensive today even with human drivers. They're cheaper than taxis.

Cost cutting has been coming to M-B for a while. One could argue that it started with the LS400, but now they also have Genesis to contend with.

Cadillac will be unveiling the Cadillac CT4 along with a V-series version on May 30th according to Motor1. Both the CT4 and CT5 ride on a second generation Alpha platform called Alpha 2. The CT5 is offered in rear-wheel drive with all-wheel drive being an option. It is highly likely that the CT4 will get this same offering. There is word that the V-series version of the Cadillac CT5 will also debut. It is likely to pack the same 4.2-liter Blackwing V8 that is available in the CT6. The CT4 V-series is likely to get an uprated version of the 3.0TT. While the CT5 is more of a fastback style, the spyshots of the CT4 shows a more conventional sedan profile and an Escala style grille similar to the CT5's. The CT5 is likely to start in the high mid-$30k range while the CT4 will be aimed more at entry-level luxury buyers. View full article

No, just a padded leather jacket, padded leather gloves, and motorcycle boots.

I'll bring my helmet and leathers just for you.

What were they like to drive? I'd imaging "turbo-lag" was immense.

If it was just about that, I'd turn it over to a management company and let them deal with it. I want the money.

Well I turned down the job offer that was made a bunch of pages back. Just wasn't enough money, but the job would have been fun. I couldn't justify taking that big of a hit to the paycheck though. I think I'm moving forward with selling the last rental property too. I might also be transitioning some things here at C&G. Keeping up with the news on a daily basis is exhausting when one also works a day job.

I don't see Civic or Accord going away. 300k units in just the US is still a lot of units... and they still sell them in EU, Japan, and China. This really feels more like a One Ford strategy where they reduce the number of platforms they use and the number of alacart options available. Get ready for LX, EX, and Touring being the only choices. Right now they have Base, LX, EX, Touring, Sport, EX with Navigation, Touring with Navigation, Si, etc. There will also probably be a reduction in the number of powertrain variants offered. Expect a lot more CVTs where possible.

I've tried the Grom... it was like riding a clown bike.

Updated and final list: Acura NSX Acura TLX PMC Edition Alfa Romeo Quadrifoglio BMW Z4 sDrive30i BMW X7 xDrive50i BMW 330i xDrive BMW M850i xDrive coupe Buick Regal GS AWD Buick Envision AWD Cadillac XT4 AWD Sport Chevrolet Bolt EV Chevrolet Blazer RS AWD Chevrolet Silverado Trail Boss Chrysler Pacifica Dodge Challenger Scat Pack Fiat 124 Spider Ford Fusion PHEV Ford Raptor Ford Mustang Bullitt GMC Sierra Denali 1500 4WD Honda Civic Honda HR-V Honda Passport Hyundai Veloster N Hyundai Elantra GT N-Line Jeep Gladiator Kia Niro EV EX Premium Kia Telluride SX AWD Lexus LC 500 Hybrid Lexus UX 250 Hybrid Lincoln Nautilus Mazda3 Mazda MX-5 Miata Mercedes CLS53 Mercedes GLE450 Nissan Leaf Plus Ram 2500 Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid Toyota Corolla Hybrid Toyota Rav4 Hybrid Volkswagen Arteon Volkswagen Atlas Volkswagen GLI Volvo S60

The selection of sedans was poor. I ended up in an Acadia Denali. Android auto in GMs is still rubbish.

4th floor garage? Looks like another one above it.

Good riddance then.

from my co-worker: Z4, Atlas, X7, 124 Spyder, CLS53

Help me pick out what cars I need to focus on. I usually can get 7 to 8 drives in maximum. You tell me what you want me to write about. Acura NSX Acura TLX PMC Edition Alfa Romeo Quadrifoglio BMW i8 Roadster BMW Z4 sDrive30i BMW X7 50i xDrive BMW 330i Adaptive M BMW M850i xDrive Buick Regal GS AWD Buick Envision AWD Cadillac XT4 AWD Sport Chevrolet Bolt EV Chevrolet Blazer RS AWD Chevrolet Silverado Trail Boss Chrysler Pacifica Dodge Challenger Scat Pack Fiat 124 Spider GMC Sierra Denali 1500 4WD Honda Civic Honda HR-V Honda Passport Hyundai Veloster N Hyundai Elantra GT N-Line Jeep Gladiator Lexus LC 500 Hybrid Lexus LC 500 Hybrid Mercedes CLS53 Mercedes GLE450 Nissan Leaf Plus Ram 2500 Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid Toyota Corolla Hybrid Toyota Rav4 Hybrid Volkswagen Arteon Volkswagen Atlas Volkswagen GLI Volvo S60 Motorcycles: Honda Super Cub 125cc Honda Monkey 125cc Honda Grom 125cc Other manufacturers which have registered (but not submitted vehicle models): Kia, Ford and Mazda

BMW is renowned for their inline 6-cylinder engines, Mercedes and Land Rover are jumping back in the game, GM has a new diesel inline 6, now add Mazda to that list. Jalopnik combed through the Mazda financial report and found references to the new engine line. Mazda is apparently working on a 6-cylinder version of their Skyactiv-X engine for use in longitudinal applications. In case you need reminding, Skyactiv-X is Mazda's spark controlled, compression Ignition technology that allows the engine to run in spark-less mode part of the time. This allows for lower emissions and higher fuel economy. One of the trade-offs is lower engine refinement when in SCCI mode. Now that Mazda has it working well on 4-cylinder engines, it is apparently going to try its hand on mathematically better balanced inline 6-cylinder engines. Mazda is also planning on including 48v Mild-hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions of the engine as well. Also on the plan is an inline-6 Skyactiv-D diesel that Mazda is calling a second generation. This likely builds on the know-how gained from the development of the Mazda CX-5 Diesel that was finally released at the New York Auto Show. What both of these engines point to is a new large vehicle platform which is rear-wheel drive based. It's possible that the next iteration of the Mazda CX-9 could ride on this new platform and Jalopnik even speculates a new Mazda 6, though we have our doubts on that. Either way, this continues Mazda's slow but steady move up-market. View full article

I won't be surprised when I have to write the article "Talks between Workhorse and GM fell through after Workhorse was unable to obtain financing...."

I don't know how Workhorse, which has been losing lots of money, is going to afford to buy the plant much less keep the lights on. Lordstown was greatly underutilized when they were building ~250k Cruzes a year there. How many trucks can Workhorse think they're going to sell with no dealer network.... even at that price.