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In a disastrous turn for the small Swedish maker, the consortium of buyers for Saab, which included Swedish supercar manufacturer Koenigsegg, have reversed their decision to buy Saab. This news comes one month prior to the planned signing of the deal that would have saved Saab. Considering the fact that there exist no other bidders for Saab, this development could signal the shutting down of the historic, quirky Saab brand. Should Saab's fate be this bleak, it would mean that the relatively-promising new Saab 9-5 will never see the light of day.

"We're obviously very disappointed with the ...

Steven Rattner, Former Chief, US Treasury's Auto Task Force, was the man who led the auto industry's bailout. Not surprisingly, he was critisized for his lack of automotive industry experience, which he accepts in an interview with Fortune. More interestingly, he talks about why the auto task force team decided to remove former CEO Rick Wagoner from his perch.

Rattner points to several key factors that led to the decision. One is what he calls "perhaps the weakest finance operation any of us had ever seen in a major company." This comment is within the context of poorly ...

GM has announced that it will shut down Saturn and close its dealerships after racing legend and billionaire dealership owner Roger Penske dropped his bid for the troubled GM brand. The deal fell through because GM's board did not agree to Penske's resuscitation plan of sourcing cars for the Saturn brand from another automaker (Renault had been a possibility).

“Without that agreement,” Penske Automotive said, “the risks and uncertainties related to the availability of future products prohibit” the vehicle distributor from moving ahead with the deal.

A statement from GM added, “This is very disappointing news and comes ...

The car racing game against which to measure all other car racing games is about to get better! Sony has released these pictures of GranTurismo 5, which will include new rides like the Nismo GT-R GT racer.

GT 5 will give virtual drivers a choice of over 1000 cars, which is twice the number of GT''s "closest racing competitor", a certain Xbox 360 game called Forza 3. A neat feature will even allow racers to upload footage of their racing prowess directly to YouTube.

Gentlemen, get ready to start your consoles!

[Source: Sony via Autoblog]

If you are among GM or Chrysler owners who were worried about senators fixing your axles at your next repair, worry no more: the US government has ended its warranty program for the two companies now that they have exited bankruptcy. According to Ron Bloom, the new head of the auto task force,

With the successful emergence of the new companies, consumers can now feel assured that the companies have the financial wherewithal to meet their warranty commitments on a continuing basis.

The United States government has invested $641M in the warranty program, but that sum has been returned to ...

Yes, you heard right: you will soon be able to bid for a new GM car on eBay, including buying the car at the 'Buy Now' price you have surely already seen on eBay when buying old Star Wars figures.

This experiment is part of New GM's revival plan, in which the company is reducing its size, killing off brands and in general, trying to streamline its global operations.

eBay Motors is already one of the most highly-trafficked automotive websites in the US, so GM's experiment may actually be turn out to be a pretty good idea.

[Source ...

The automotive press has been busy today reporting on GM's exit from bankruptcy as the 'good' assets of bankrupt GM have been sold to a new entity, 60.8% of which is owned by the US government. As one would hope, GM CEO Fritz Henderson has announced deep cuts in the decision-making ranks, cutting the team in half and eliminating the matrix management structure. Henderson has reaffirmed the company's focus on just four brands, namely Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and Buick.

All these are good moves that GM should have made a long time ago, but the best news ...

On the heels of its historic bankruptcy and as part of its "GM Reinvention" public relations campaign, General Motors has announced the opening of the 'largest and most technologically advanced battery lab in the United States' on the grounds of its Technical Center campus in Warren, MI.

“The new global GM battery lab will benefit consumers across America by helping us advance the development of battery technology in the United States and put cleaner, more efficient vehicles on the road more quickly and affordably,” said Fritz Henderson, GM's president and CEO.

The Global Battery Systems Lab is four times ...

You do not need me to tell you about the historic bankruptcy of GM today. Furthermore, you probably do not need yet ANOTHER opinion on what it all means. But this is rightpedal and therefore, I am bound to share my opinion with you.

Reading comments on the bankruptcy across the internet, I can best sum up the overall public sentiment as a sense of anger at the government for not having gone through these motions several months ago. Why, people are saying, did the government give GM $20B then, only to let them waste it on their way to ...

It has been reported that Canadian auto parts manufacturing giant Magna has won  the bid to buy GM's Opel/Vauxhall. While there may yet be a last-minute surprise by FIAT, the other leading contender, the tentative agreement is likely to hold. Magna's bid backed by Russian state bank Sberbank and Russian truck company Gaz.

GM will reportedly maintain a 35% stake in Opel, and the deal will go through even if GM files for bankruptcy on Monday, as is widely reported.

[Source: NYTimes]

We are a few weeks out from the end of the 2009 NY Auto Show, but we saved an in-depth, uninterrupted interview for those of you who think about the state of the US car industry night and day.  We caught up with Todd Lassa, Detroit Editor for MotorTrend, a dear friend to rightpedal, and one of the most respected automotive journalists in the country in order to discuss the state in which Detroit finds itself.

While so many profess to know what Detroit’s problems have been, few have the breadth of insight that Todd brings to the discussion ...

As was widely rumored last Friday, General Motors has indeed shuttered Pontiac in its continued efforts to survive bankruptcy. This spells the end for a company dating back 88 years which created American icons like the Firebird, the cult-icon Fiero and even the talking Trans-Am of my Knight Rider-enriched childhood. Alas, Pontiac did too little too late, its recent Solstice being little more than a re-badged Opel GT and the G8 an Australian import.

GM's announcement today stated that Pontiac will be phased out by the end of 2010, leaving the corporate parent to focus on core brands Chevrolet ...

LG Chem, part of the Korean giant LG, has outbid Massachusetts-based A123 Systems as the manufacturer of the Chevy Volt battery packs. GM will be acquiring the batteries, 200-300 packs of which are needed for every Volt, through LG Chem subsidiary Compact Power Inc. Compact Power’s CEO Prahbakhar Patil asserts that there exist no obstacles that might halt the manufacturing process.

LG Chem plans to eventually build the batteries in the US, as we discussed in our 2009 Auto Show video coverage.

[Source: GM-Volt]

Yes, yes, I know you know that things have not been going, shall we say, ‘that well’ for the car industry of late. Given the downturn, it is inevitable to see major shifts in the center of power among the big corporations. But two recent pieces of news really demonstrate just how bizarre the car industry has become. Tell me I am not alone when I think that the below would make for one heck of a corporate thriller celebrity gossip rag, replete with courtships, breakups, back-stabbing and unpredictable behavior:

VW gets weak - Porsche buys VW - Porsche gets weak - VW ...

In part 3 our look at the 2009 New York International Auto Show, we took a look at the Hyundai Genesis Coupe, the GM Segway (officially called the Segway P.U.M.A.), the Bentley Continental Supersports, and the Nissan 370Z NISMO.

Bentley Continental Supersports
We pretty much said it all in the video: most powerful, fastest and greenest Bentley of all time! Have your stupendous power and be kind to the planet at the same time, courtesy of the engine’s flexibility to run on ethanol.  The Supersports is some 200lb lighter than the regular Conti, in part due ...

Although any part of this rumor is yet to be confirmed, it appears that concurrent with GM’s planned presentation to the government of a restructuring plan tomorrow, Rick Wagnoer, CEO of GM, will be resigning from his post. The intriguing part of this news is reports that Wagoner is stepping down at President Obama’s request. Mr. Wagoner has been CEO of GM for eight years and has been at GM since 1977.

We will know more tomorrow and if true, the move represents yet another dramatic chapter in GM’s troubled trajectory of recent months. It has been ...

Bob Lutz, the 76-year old GM Vice Chairman of Product Global Development (which really means “resident car guy”) will retire by the end of 2009. He was hired by GM at the tender age of 69 in order to oversee a product overhaul, and it is fair to say that under his watch, GM has indeed improved its product lineup. In April, Lutz will transition into a vice chairman and senior advisor role, making room for Tom Stephens, 60, currently executive vice president of global powertrain and global quality.

Before arriving at GM, Lutz’s last role in the industry ...

As a former automotive engineer who spent years working in and around Detroit and a life-long car enthusiast, I take great interest in the state of the global automotive industry and the issues it is facing. As an American, I am concerned by the difficult state in which the US automotive industry finds itself. You see, I do not want to see it fall apart and care what happens to it, even if I think the manufacturers are largely to blame for their own troubles. For too long, they ignored the simple rule of good commerce: building great products. Legacy ...

After 77 years of claiming the title of the world's largest automaker based on sales figures, GM has now fallen to number two behind the Japanese giant Toyota. The difference is small, namely a bit over 600,000 units. To give you an idea of the scale of these two companies, Toyota sold 8.97 million vehicles, compared to 8.36 million for GM.

GM may not mind so much because while the psychological boost of being the world's largest car company is not negligible, neither is the intensity of the spotlight, often negative, that comes with the ...