thegriffon

I see the logic, but it is poorly done. Should never have passed the ad agency's review, let alone the client briefing. Until they replace the Torrent it's not even true.

Are we looking at the same truck? The new shark-nose looks, more aggressive to me.

According to the NIST, 1 mile is exactly 1.609 344 km (by definition), and 1 US gallon is 231 cu in or exactly 3.785 411 784 L. Where did you you find those hinky factors? The US has two sets of standards for feet, yards and miles. The standard units are the "international", defined on the basis of 1 yard = 0.914 4 m (and thus 1 foot = 0.304 8 m, 1 inch = 2.54 cm and 1 mile = 1.609 344 km). For geodetic surveys however the "survey" standard of 1 yard = 3600/3937 m, and thus an international unit (feet, yards or miles) is 0.999 998 survey units

http://toyota.jp/markxzio/

Just say 54.1 mpg—you can't express a result to a greater accuracy than the conversion factors you use to calculate it.

No, this is just for the Frontier. A potential Ram/Titan is completely separate. If anything the Dakota will be replaced by the Frontier (unlikely).

New Video:

Not yet they haven't.

Yes.

Sets New Record for Global Automakers General Motors Sells 1,031,974 Vehicles in China in 2007 Shanghai, China – General Motors Corp. announced today that GM and its joint ventures sold 1,031,974 vehicles in mainland China in 2007, setting a new record for global automakers. Sales in 2007 rose 18.5 percent from 2006. GM was the market leader among global automakers in mainland China for the third consecutive year. SAIC-GM-Wuling, GM’s mini-vehicle joint venture with SAIC and Wuling Motors, achieved domestic sales growth of 20.1 percent to 548,945 units. It enjoyed record demand for its family of Wuling brand minivans and was China’s leader in mini-vehicle sales for the second straight year. GM’s flagship joint venture with SAIC, Shanghai GM, experienced domestic sales growth of 16.9 percent to 479,427 units. Shanghai GM was once again China’s leader in passenger car sales among joint ventures, a distinction it has held since 2005. Inclusive of exports, Shanghai GM delivered more than 500,000 vehicles in 2007. Buick remained Shanghai GM’s most popular brand, with domestic sales of 332,115 units. Sales of Chevrolet products in China by Shanghai GM and SAIC-GM-Wuling jumped 20.7 percent to 172,182 units. The Cadillac luxury brand experienced domestic sales growth of 148.1 percent to 7,022 units. “Despite growing competition across the board, demand remained robust for our established products such as the Buick Excelle and LaCrosse and the Chevrolet Lova [Aveo sedan],” said GM China Group President and Managing Director Kevin Wale. “Several of our new products such as the Cadillac SLS, Buick Park Avenue and all-new Chevrolet Epica also got off to a good start.” GMAC-SAIC Automotive Finance Co., GM’s automotive financing joint venture, likewise continued to grow. At the end of 2007, it was providing wholesale service to more than 460 dealers and retail service to more than 590 dealers in 146 cities across China. Its number of retail contracts approximately doubled in 2007 on a year-on-year basis. In 2007, GM and SAIC signed an agreement for an eighth joint venture in China, Shanghai OnStar Telematics Co. Ltd., which will provide a range of in-vehicle safety, security and communication services to Shanghai GM customers in China. In addition, Shanghai GM signed an agreement to establish China’s largest and most comprehensive vehicle proving ground in Anhui province. GM also announced an ambitious collaborative strategy to support the Chinese government’s pursuit of energy-efficient and environmentally friendly transportation. The automaker is establishing the GM Center for Advanced Science and Research at its new corporate campus in Shanghai to carry out advanced research projects in cooperation with the government, industry partners and academic institutions. In Beijing, it is setting up the China Automotive Energy Research Center (CAERC) with Tsinghua University and SAIC to develop a comprehensive and integrated automotive energy strategy for China. “In order to keep up with market demand, we plan to add to what is already the largest product lineup with the roll out of several additional models in 2008,” Wale added. “At the same time, we will continue to strengthen our investment in new facilities and technology. “Our goal is to fully leverage our global resources in China, with China and for China in order to contribute to the sustainable development of the local automotive industry,” said Wale. “By working together, we are confident that we can find solutions that will improve energy security, lead to a cleaner environment and support China’s long-term growth needs.”

GM Holden's release provides more details behind the reasoning for the move: GM Announces Management Moves Mark Reuss succeeds Chris Gubbey as new Chairman and Managing Director of GM Holden Mark L. Reuss (44), Executive Director of Global Vehicle Systems and Integration, has been named GMAP Vice President, and Chairman and Managing Director of GM Holden. He takes up his new position on 1 February 2008. Reuss will replace Chris Gubbey, who has been appointed GME Vice President and Managing Director, GM Russia and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Gubbey has been Chairman and Managing Director of GM Holden since August 2007. Nick Reilly, GM Group Vice President and President of GM Asia Pacific, comments, “This is a fairly unusual move for GM. As a general rule, GM doesn’t move executives after such a short time, especially in such an important market as Australia, but Chris’ unique expertise in working within partnerships and in developing countries made him the ideal candidate to grow GM’s business in Russia at this critical time. “Mark is the ideal replacement for Chris. His extensive leadership experience, as well as his product engineering and manufacturing knowledge, will be hugely beneficial to GM Holden. His previous work on global programs and systems integration are very appropriate for Holden’s future.” Reuss first joined GM in 1983, and during his 25 years has led various product organisations including being responsible for overseeing the production studios where ideas for GM brands that come from GM’s marketing divisions are moved quickly to second-stage production. He was appointed Executive Director, Architecture Engineering and GM Performance Division in 2001 where he started the new GM Performance Division and launched associated production products and race vehicles. This responsibility included all production engineering in the creative design studios and concept vehicle production for auto shows. In October of 2005, Mark was appointed Executive Director, North American Vehicle Systems and Architecture. In this job he held the release engineering responsibilities for North American Vehicles in all functions of the vehicle. His educational qualifications include a Bachelor of Engineering degree in mechanical engineering from Vanderbilt University in 1986, and Masters in Business Administration from Duke University in 1990. He is a certified Industry Pool test driver on the North Course of the famed Nurburgring and has earned his license for Grand American Road Racing. Chris Gubbey, joined GM Holden in August 2007 after seven years in China. Under his leadership, Shanghai GM - GM's flagship joint venture in China - became China's largest manufacturer of passenger cars and the country's most advanced automaker. Chris comments, “It has been an exciting and whirlwind few months at GM Holden which has included the launch of the VE Ute, the announcement of VE Sportwagon and the strengthening of our export business model with the start of Pontiac G8 production. “With Holden’s growing role within GM globally, I am confident that the business is moving in the right direction. “Whilst I’m obviously excited about the new challenge in Russia, I feel a genuine sadness to be moving on during this dynamic time for GM Holden. “Being a real product guy, I’m sure that Mark will be a great asset in a company, and a country, that truly loves its cars.”

GM Daewoo Sales Increase 25.2% in 2007 Domestic Sales Grow 1.7%/Export Sales Jump 29.9% Seoul – GM Daewoo Auto & Technology (GM Daewoo) announced today that it sold in Korea and exported 960,186 complete vehicles in 2007. This was an increase of 25.2 percent from 2006, when the Incheon-based automaker sold 767,161 vehicles. GM Daewoo’s domestic sales in 2007 grew 1.7 percent to 130,542 units from 128,332 units in 2006. The increase was due primarily to steady sales of the Matiz mini-car, Tosca premium midsize sedan and Winstorm SUV equipped with an eco-friendly diesel engine. GM Daewoo also received a boost from its network of customer test-drive centers that are open 365 days per year, as well as its aggressive and innovative marketing campaigns such as the Residual Value Guarantee Program and Hi Five Festival. Exports of complete vehicles grew 29.9 percent to 829,644 units last year from 638,829 units in 2006. GM Daewoo continued to fully leverage the GM Group’s sales and distribution networks. Products manufactured in Korea are sold under a range of brands, including GM Daewoo, Chevrolet, Buick, Pontiac, Holden and Suzuki in more than 150 markets. Exports of complete knockdown (CKD) kits increased 22.1 percent to 926,446 units in 2007 from 758,658 units in the previous year. GM Daewoo’s CKD export business is supplying GM manufacturing facilities in China, Thailand, India, Colombia, Venezuela and other emerging markets. In total, GM Daewoo exported 1,756,090 complete vehicles and CKD kits in 2007. This was a 25.7 percent increase from the previous year’s 1,397,487 units. When sales in Korea are added, GM Daewoo sold domestically and exported 1,886,632 complete vehicles and CKD kits, which represented growth of 23.6 percent from 1,525,819 units in 2006. On a monthly basis, GM Daewoo sold 88,952 complete vehicles worldwide in December, which was up 31.4 percent from 67,685 vehicles sold in the final month of 2006. GM Daewoo’s domestic sales in December reached 13,174 units, a decrease of 13 percent from 15,149 units sold in the same month in 2006, while exports of complete vehicles grew 44.2 percent to 75,778 units from 52,536 units in the same month in 2006. Exports of CKD kits in December rose 7.6 percent year-on-year to 78,443 units from 72,934 units in 2006.

Record V8 Sales Ensures 12 in a Row for Commodore GM Holden has finished 2007 with Australia’s best selling car for the 12th consecutive year, helped by record sales of V8 models. More than 57,300 Commodores were sold in 2007, which was nearly 10,000 ahead of its closest rival. Strong sales of high end VE Commodore models such as SS, SSV and Calais V saw V8 Commodore numbers surpass the record of 10,982 set in 2003 by almost 500. Sales of V6 and V8 Commodores to private buyers were also up an impressive 35% on 2006, reflecting a growing popularity of the new VE range among Aussie families. GM Holden’s flagship WM Caprice became the best selling car in the Upper Large car segment (< $100K) in 2007 on the back of a 140% increase in sales and a 32% share. When combined with the other leading car in the segment - the WM Statesman - Holden claimed a 58% segment share. The Captiva, launched in late 2006, proved another strong seller for GM Holden in its first full year of sales, ending the year as the third best selling model in the highly competitive Medium SUV segment. The introduction of a diesel variant in March proved popular with customers, with diesel accounting for more than half of Captiva sales in the last three months of the year. The improved diesel engine in the Rodeo in March also proved attractive, with sales of Rodeo 4x4 diesels up 25% in 2007. Overall, the year saw GM Holden sell 146,680 vehicles, delivering a 14% market share. Holden had the second highest sales overall, behind Toyota (236,647 sales and 22.5% market share), but well ahead of Ford (108,071 sales and 10.4% market share). In the fiercely competitive passenger segment, Holden sold 104,848 vehicles in 2007 for a 17% market share. The new VE Ute is off to a strong start, with sales in December the best month for Holden Utes since June 2003. 2008 sees the launch of the next VE derivative, with the VE Commodore Sportwagon due out in the first half of the year. Holden Executive Director – Sales, Marketing and Aftersales, Alan Batey, today said Holden’s results showed the strategy of offering customers a wider range of performance and diesel options was being well received in the market. “What better way to enter the 60th anniversary year of Holden’s first all-Australian car, and the 30th Anniversary of Commodore, than as Australia’s favourite car for an amazing 12th successive year. “To achieve this against a backdrop of cheaper imports and even wider consumer choice makes it even more special. “With the VE range in particular we have a strong model mix and record V8 sales which shows that for many Australians, performance and handling are still at the heart of what many look for in their vehicles. “And with the addition of VE Commodore Sportwagon in 2008, we’ll have even more for them to get excited about in the coming year.”

GM Daewoo and GM Holden will have separate releases providing comparative figures. This author should do more research.

If you get to 60 you will wear out the wheel bearings too quickly. Stay under 45.

It's not a dual role. His position as a GM AP VP is MD of Holden. His position is analogous to Hans Demant's as GM Europe VP and MD Adam Opel. More significant is that the head of GM Holden is just a GM AP VP, while the head of GM Daewoo is a full GM VP (but not Group VP), even though all both report to Nick Reilly, GM Group VP in charge of GM Asia Pacific.

Not so much for the entities as the individuals. This is Reuss' next step in training to run GM. From here he will be shuffled among larger GM regional groups — Daewoo, Vauxhall, GM China, GM AP etc. If he does well he will eventually end up running GMNA and then GM.

No, for the earlier thread on C&G.

Reuss' last job has already been filled by Dennis Mooney (but as a full VP), who preceded Gubbey at Holden.

What nice, round, perky Tatas they are too!

Now is is pronounced tay-ter or tar-tar?

I thought this would be a "Fantasy Automaker" type thing.

Thank you. I even tried looking it up and couldn't find it anywhere. The only dictionary of Indian English I could find didn't spell it as you see it now in print, although apparently in some regions outside India 1 lakh is 10,000. You will also see cruore in Indian articles and press-releases, which is apparently 10,000,000 or 100 lakh. Thus in India you will often see the annotation 7,78,45,500 instead of 77,845,500.

A normal Indian car is a scooter. Seriously. In India it's an automobile even if it has two or three wheels.