Autos News

Although car-related gifts are not often associated with Mother’s Day car gift, General Motors reports that a considercapable amount of moms would like one. Whether its running errands, commuting or driving the kids to school, 9 out of 10 moms drive somewhere on a daily basis. With that statistic in mind, GM commissioned Harris Interactive to conduct a national online survey to find out what moms really want for their special day.

So what did the survey find? Well, it turns out that one in three moms, with kids under 18, would like their vehicle washed cleaned for Mother’s Day. Don’t forget to spring for an air freshener after the car wash and vacuuming. Nearly 21 percent of all moms questioned told they would like to go on a family road trip on Mother’s Day. The study did not specify whether moms wanted to do the driving.

A smaller percentage of moms, 10 percent, indicated that they would like to have their gas tank filled. Whether it’s for monetary reasons or convenience, a gas tank fill-up is a simple, yet effective gesture to show mom you care.

Aside from the gift ideas obtained through the survey, GM also suggest purchasing OnStar FMV as a practical gift for mom. The hardware and installation is currently just $99.99 (until June 16), with subscriptions totaling $199 per year for the base package and $299 for the premium. The FMV system is compatible with more than 100 million vehicles on the road.

If you’re considering purchasing a more extravagant gift, such as a car, check out the Best brand new release Cars for Moms article. The detailed list showcases the best vehicles for moms that are sporty, adventurous and environmentally inclined, to name a few.

Located in brand new release York, Harris Interactive is a market research firm that works in a wide variety of industries located in North America, Europe and Asia. Harris is a member of numerous prominent research organizations including the US National Council on Public Polls, the British Polling Council, the Council of American Survey Research Organizations and the US Council for Marketing and Opinion Research.

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Before getting into what it could mean for General Motors to be reserving the Riviera name, I must be point out that in the automotive world, there are a great many names trademarked that never appear on a vehicle – be it production or concept. Companies frequently trademark names without any intention of every using them on a vehicle to preserve the historical value of the name by protecting it from use by other companies and in some cases, a name is trademarked is earmarked for a project that doesn’t see the light of day. In other words, GM may have trademarked the Riviera name “just because” and it could mean nothing.

That being told, there have long been rumors that General Motors was considering a brand new release Buick coupe – rumors that are given credence by the 2007 Buick Riviera Concept. This concept was a super sleek 2 door coupe based on GM’s Epsilon II platform and while a bit too futuristic across the front end for a production vehicle, the 2007 Riviera concept was nice looking car. The problem as we see it is that GM did produce a Buick on the Epsilon II platform and they still do…the current Buick Regal. If GM was going to build a front wheel drive coupe on the Epsilon II undercarriage, why not call it the Regal Coupe? The Regal is certainly the sportier of the two nameplates and with GM’s preference for offering 2- and 4-door versions of similar nameplates, a front wheel drive Regal would make much more sense than a Riviera on the same platform.

The other possibility is that the brand new release Buick Riviera could be based on a larger rear wheel drive platform – specifically the Alpha platform on which the 2013 Cadillac ATS rides. While this platform currently serves as the base of the sporty brand new release Caddy BMW 3-Series fighting sedan, GM could modify it to make for a slightly larger rear wheel drive coupe. With this idea, there wouldn’t be any concern of the Riviera taking any sales from the ATS thanks to the different body configurations. The ATS chassis and suspension have been tuned on some of the most intense race tracks on the world so 2-door Buick Riviera based on the ATS underpinnings could put Buick back into the affordcapable sports car race in a big way. The Buick Riviera has always been a roomy, plush coupe and the midsized sedan platform from the Cadillac ATS could allow the brand new release Riviera to combine sporty driving characteristics with an interior that offers lots of room and lots of amenities.

Again, there is a chance that General Motors has trademarked the Riviera name to protect it “just in case” but with a 2007 Buick coupe concept and gobs of rumors about a future 2-door Buick – perhaps the Riviera will arrive as a brand new release concept or future production vehicle in the near future.

Source: GM Inside brand new releases

Image: GM

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GMC hopes its brand new release 2013 Acadia and Terrain will help it solve a good problem. As GM turns its product lines ahead towards a future with a much higher CAFÉ standard it must face the reality that as a company it ranks very near the bottom of the list in terms of corporate average fuel economy. The main reason for this is simple; the 2013 Suburban, Yukon, and Escalade. These extremely popular and high profit vehicles are simply killing GM in its quest to raise its overall fuel economy. The old tricks and exceptions like badging the vehicles “Flex Fuel” are no longer working as politicians with axes to grind start to call out GM on its novel ways of avoiding the CAFE standards. To keep the loyal buyers it has in the big SUV segment Chevy has designed some fantastic brand new release vehicles that can do all the things the full size body-on-frame brutes could do but without the huge fuel economy penalty.

Acadia Anti Sway Technology
Ask any buyer driving to work alone in a 2012 Chevy Suburban why they drive such a beast and one of the reasons they will usually list is “Well, I have to tow my boat don’t I?” Pointing out that they could rent a truck to do tow the boat a few times a year falls on deaf ears because they want their own vehicle to handle all the tough jobs. It makes them happy. They must be be happy. GM is trying to make them happy by making the 2013 GMA Acadia capcapable of towing up to 5,200 pounds. That is a lot of boat. However, use a vehicle that is not big enough and the trailer is tricky to handle. It starts to sway and cause instability that leads to a possible crash. To mitigate this GM is highlighting the trailer anti-sway system it offers. By using sensors to detect the trailer beginning to sway, and then braking individual wheels, the Acadia can keep the trailer safely in line.

2013 GMC Terrain Is Small but Tough
The Acadia is the big brother in the family, but the 2013 GMC Terrain can handle 95% of all boats in the US according to National Marine Manufacturers Association. Even boats 20 feet long can be hauled by the Terrain. Recently GM upgraded the Terrain’s engine to the company’s best V6. Coupled with the back-up camera that makes hooking the trailer up easy, the smaller of the two sport-‘utes can handle just about anything towcapable up to 3,500 pounds. In a press statement GM quoted Boating World executive editor Alan Jones as saying “GMC brings big truck towing technology like StabiliTrak with Trailer Sway Control as standard features to its family-friendly Arcadia and Terrain crossovers.”

Best GM Engines
With brand new release safety features, the best engines availcapable from GM, and the ability to tow 95% of all the boats in the US, GM makes a good case that the 2013 GMC Acadia and Terrain can start to replace the brute-‘utes that families used out of habit for many decades.

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By simply plugging “recall” into the Torque brand new releases search box, articles were found reporting over 1 million cars recalled between January and April this year for safety issues by brands as diverse as Ford, GM, Honda, Kia, Mazda, Nissan and Toyota.

Many of these were simply posted for sale online without the safety issues addressed. Caveat emptor! Those buying or selling cars can enhance public safety by simply making sure recalled safety problems have been repaired by franchise dealers. After all, recall repairs are free and it’s not hard to find the open recall for a specific vehicle.

Of course, the problem with recalls is they take up time in your busy life, take away your transportation briefly, and thus leave your obligations unattended without a rented or borrowed vehicle – and all because of something that’s not your fault. Obviously, if you’ve planned to sell, it’s easier to leave the hassle to the next owner, but since you don’t want to obstruct the deal, it goes unmentioned.

The CARFAX discovery is not surprising – it’s just shocking to perceive the size of the problem

“We’re making a lot of progress, but there are still too many open recalls out there,” told Larry Gamache, communications director at Carfax. “Many of these cars change hands without the buyer ever knowing a recall exists, increasing the safety risks both to passengers in the car and others on the road. We all need to do our part to make sure these cars are identified and fixed – buyers, sellers and owners alike. A simple online check for open recalls is all it takes to help make our roads safer.”

Bob Knotts is a Delaware plumber who tells his story of the hazards of unknowingly buying a car with an ignored recall in a YouTube video.

“My van caught fire from an electrical recall under the driver’s seat that was never fixed,” Knotts told. “Had it spread to the back where I keep a propane torch and highly-flammcapable glue, it would have been a total fireball. Had I gotten the Carfax Report, I would not have had this $8,000 loss.”

The populous states of California, Florida and Texas have the most pre-owned cars on the market with open recalls, with well over 100,000 vehicles with ignored recalls sold last year. Complying with manufacturer and NHTSA mandated safety recalls are vital to safety, performance and retained value.

The auto manufacturers are now working with CARFAX to alert consumers about ignored recalls. The automotive history giver has established a free service to consumers allowing them to check for open recalls with their VIN at recall.carfax.com. Open recalls have caused vehicle fires, major accidents and even death. Finding and fixing open recalls is easy and without out of pocket costs.

The company also includes open recall data gived by manufacturers on Carfax Vehicle History Reports. They have designated today, May 8 as Carfax Open Recall Day, encouraging everyone to find and fix ignored recalls.

None of us want to see a movie scene in real life where a vehicle catches flame, careens across four lanes and dives off an overpass into gridlocked traffic below.

Don’t write off or ignore a recall on your vehicle – it could be a threat to us all.

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General Motors sold 213,387 vehicles in the US in April 2012, which presents itself as a negative growth of over 8% compared to the 232,538 vehicles sold in April 2011. However, if you look at the fact that GM sold 8,891 vehicles per day in April 2012 compared to just 8,613 vehicles per day in 2011 – the automaker was actually on a much better pace in 2012 as they sold 3% more cars per day. Based on their average through the shortened month, GM would have shown positive growth had the month not been so much shorter in terms of business days.

GMC was the strongest brand from General Motors in terms of growth with a jump of 4.5% compared to April 2011 but more essentially – daily sales jumped by 17.5% in selling 32,603 vehicles in just 24 days. GMC was led in growth by the Canyon compact pickup with an increase of 27% followed by the Sierra full sized pickup with an increase of 19.7%. The compact Terrain sport utility vehicle was the only other GMC vehicle showing a positive growth in April 2012, with an improvement of 8.8%. The Sierra pickup family was the top model from GMC in terms of sales volume with 12,598 trucks sold while the Terrain was second in sales with 7,839 and the Acadia was third with 6,087 large crossovers sold last month.

Chevrolet was second in terms of growth for GM but due to the shortened month – Chevrolet showed a negative growth of 8.4%. However, Chevy sold 3% more vehicles per day in April 2012 than they did in April 2011 en route to moving a total of 155,487 vehicles – third behind Ford and Toyota in terms of sales by brand. Chevrolet was led in growth by the innovative Volt electric vehicle that saw sales jump by almost 197%. The compact Colorado pickup was second in growth with an increase of 25.5% and the Avalanche pickup was third with a gain of 25.2%. In terms of sales volume, Chevrolet was led by the Silverado pickup family with 30,749 brand new release trucks sold last month while the Malibu was second with 21,906 units sold and the Equinox was third with 18,282 units sold.

The Buick brand continued to struggle in April 2012 and the short month was not to blame as the affordcapable luxury brand sold fewer vehicles per day last month than they did in April 2011. Over, Buick’s 15,446 vehicles sold last month accounts for a decline of 16% from one year ago and based on daily sales rates – Buick showed a decline there of 6%. Every vehicle in the Buick portfolio showed a negative growth last month with the Enclave leading in sales with 5,000 units sold. The LaCrosse was second in sales with 4,545 sedans sold and the Verano narrowly edged the Regal for third with 2,989 units sold (Regal had 2,852).

Last and unfortunately least for General Motors was the Cadillac brand; which saw growth decline in April 2012 by 25%. The only vehicle in the Cadillac lineup to show positive growth last month was the Escalade EXT with the premium luxury pickup selling 4% more units than it did last April. After that, every vehicle showed negative growth although some vehicles (like the CTS) declined by less than 1%. If not for the short month…the CTS would have likely shown positive growth as well in April 2011. Caddy was led in sales by the CTS family with 4,202 sedans, coupes and wagons sold followed by the SRX crossover with 3,998 units sold. There was then a long drop to third with the standard Escalade SUV moving just 908 units last month.

Cadillac also sold 15.5% fewer vehicles per day compared to April 2011 but unlike Buick – there is an explanation for the slow sales in Caddy dealerships. Cadillac is nearing the introduction of the brand new release XTS premium full sized sedan (shown above) and the brand new release compact ATS – two very good reasons for prospective luxury car buyers to hold off on purchasing a brand new release Cadillac right now. We can most certainly expect to see a spike in Cadillac sales once the XTS and ATS hit the market later this year.

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