General Motors Puts a Price on The Chevrolet Volt

General Motors has announced the price of the upcoming Chevrolet Volt. US$41,000 (AU$45,500) as a starting price. Not bad for a plug-in hybrid. It’ll go on sale in the US in October/November.

The plug-in hybrid is also an eligible vehicle under the American government’s federal tax credit system, which means US$7500 in the pocket for any buyer. General Motors is also offering the car on a lease plan for a little as US$350 for 36 months with an initial down payment of just US$2500, although this is only available to customers within the same area codes of the launch cities; Austin, California, Michigan, New York City, Texas and Washington D.C
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GM to recall 1.3M Compacts

General Motors Co. said Monday it will recall 1.3 million Chevrolet and Pontiac compact cars sold in the U.S., Canada and Mexico to fix power steering motors that can fail.

The recall affects 2005 to 2010 Chevrolet Cobalts, 2007 to 2010 Pontiac G5s, 2005 and 2006 Pontiac Pursuits sold in Canada and 2005 and 2006 Pontiac G4s sold in Mexico.

The automaker said the vehicles are still safe to drive and never lose their steering, but it may be harder to steer them when traveling under 15 mph.

GM spokesman Alan Adler said it will take time for the automaker to get 1.3 million new power steering motors from the supplier, JTEKT Corp., and GM will notify car owners when the parts are available.

Adler said the failures are rare and the cars can still be driven until motors can be replaced by dealers. Drivers will see a warning light and hear a chime if the power steering fails, but they could be surprised when the steering becomes more difficult.

GM told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about the recall on Monday. NHTSA began an investigation into 905,000 of the models on Jan. 27 after getting 1,100 complaints that the cars lost their power steering assist. The complaints included 14 crashes and one injury.

The recall comes at a time of heightened interest in auto safety after sudden acceleration problems experienced in some Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles.

Toyota has had to recall 8.5 million vehicles worldwide to fix problems with sticky gas pedals, floor mats that can snag the gas pedal and cause unintended acceleration, and brake software problems with the Prius gas-electric hybrid.

Toyota executives have been summoned to testify before congressional committees investigating the company's actions and whether NHTSA did enough to make sure the Toyotas are safe.

2010 Cadillac SRX General Motors SUV

The all new 2010 Cadillac SRX is produced based on the Provoq concept vehicle. The V8 has been dropped for this generation. The 2010 Cadillac SRX will start production this summer to be sold as a 2010 model, and will have a starting price of $34,155.

2010 Chevrolet Camaro Sports Car Pictures

General Motors started manufacturing Chevrolet Camaro sports car in 1967 until 2002. After a hiatus for several years, General Motors began production of the fifth-generation Chevrolet Camaro on March 16, 2009. 2010 Chevrolet Camaro sales started in April 2009.




In the 2007 Transformers movie, one of the robots character named Bumblebee is portrayed as a yellow 1976 Chevrolet Camaro that, midway through the movie, becomes a fifth-generation Chevrolet Camaro. The movie prop cars were built by Saleen using molds of the actual concept car provided by General Motors. The movie prop cars are heavily modified Pontiac GTOs with the Camaro Concept's exterior and interior. A modified fifth-generation Camaro reprises the role of Bumblebee in the sequel, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

Chevrolet Volt Attracts 33000 Buyers

The all-electric Chevrolet Volt in an undated image courtesy of General Motors.


In a bid to show the demand for the upcoming all-electric Chevrolet Volt, a proponent of the car has released details of an unofficial waiting list for the vehicle with over 33,000 prospective buyers.

On Tuesday, Dennis a New York neurologist released details gleaned from the list showing that 33,411 people had signed up to show their intent to buy a Volt when the rechargeable car is released in 2010.

The list shows the highest number of potential Volt buyers in California, Texas, Florida and Michigan. It also includes potential buyers from 46 countries outside the United States.

The average price buyers were willing to pay for the car was $31,261 -- substantially less than the $40,000 GM has said it will cost to build the first-generation of the car equipped with a massive lithium-ion battery pack.

GM has been racing to finish development of the Volt in time for the planned launch as the centerpiece of its effort to break a costly association with gas-guzzling vehicles at a time when truck sales are tumbling and gas prices remain high.
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