2013 Chevrolet Colorado Pickup Truck Caught Without Camo at Parking Lot

The next generation of the Chevrolet Colorado pickup truck concept has been doing the motorshow rounds this year having made appearances (in chronological order) at the Bangkok International Auto Show in Thailand, at the Buenos Aires Motorshow in Argentina and more recently, at the Australian auto show in Sydney.

While each model was presented in a different trim and body style, all three Colorado trucks were concept studies, with GM stating that it will reveal the final production version by the end of the year.

For those of you wondering if the road-going model will actually look like the concept, send your greetings to Carscoop reader Palit W. who dropped these photos of the production 2013 Chevrolet Colorado scooped undisguised (bar Chevy's logos) at a parking lot in Thailand.

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GM and LG to Jointly Design New Electric Vehicles

Not long after the announcement on the collaboration between Ford and Toyota on the development of a new RWD hybrid drivetrain, rivaling General Motors came out with details on its own deal with South Korea's LG Group for the design and engineering of future electric vehicles.

The deal builds on GM's expanding relationship with LG, which is the battery cell supplier for the American firm's Chevrolet Volt and Opel Ampera extended-range EVs.

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GM Canada Puts a Price on 2012 Buick Regal eAssist and Regal GS

Following a similar announcement in the USA earlier this month, General Motors has now released pricing for the 2012 Buick Regal eAssist and Regal GS in Canada.

The new Regal with GM's eAssist micro-hybrid technology that's good for 8.3 lt/100km in the city and 5.4 lt/100km on the highway, will start at CA$34,190, while the sporty Regal GS fitted with a 270-horsepower 2.0-liter turbocharged engine will start at $42,345.

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GM Refuses to Repair 400,000 Chevrolet Impalas, Says it's “Old GM's" Responsibility

On June 29, a woman named Donna Trusky filled a class-action lawsuit against General Motors in Detroit. The subject was a defect in the suspension rods of the 2007-2008MY Chevrolet Impala, which caused the tires to wear prematurely – in Trusky’s case, after only 6,000 miles. As it turns out, GM had warned police departments about the issue and fixed the defective rods, but it did not do the same on the civilian cars.

General Motors seeks to dismiss the lawsuit, which could cost it millions of dollars as it potentially affects more than 400,000 cars. The company's argument is that the warranty claim was honored by its predecessor, General Motors Corp, which is now called Motors Liquidation Co – or “Old GM”, after its 2009 bankruptcy and the subsequent bailout by the US government.

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Opel Working on Several New Models Including Calibra Coupe and Small SUV

General Motors Europe president Nick Reilly has confirmed several new models for the group's joint Opel and Vauxhall division, including a new small city car. Reilly recently told Autonews that the so-called "Junior" Opel will be positioned as a premium model targeting “people who care about the status of their car, what it can do, what features and telematics it has”.

Reilly says his previous experience as the CEO of GM Daewoo in Korea has been helpful in developing the small Opel: “We learned quite a lot in Korea, where they actually make money in small cars”. His intention is to make the “Junior” a profitable project for Opel.

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GM Reduces Truck Production Due to Unusually High Inventories

General Motors is cutting back on production at its Ford Wayne, Indiana plant that builds the GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Silverado pickup trucks, due to reduced demand and high inventories.

According to the UAQ Local 2209 site, the Detroit automaker has cancelled Saturday shifts at its plant. A person familiar with the plan told Autonews that Saturday shifts had been cut in half since the beginning of 2011

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Chevrolet Cruze Tops US Compact Car Sales Chart in July

The Chevrolet Cruze was the best-selling compact car in the US in July, with 24,648 deliveries, while in June, Chevy’s compact sedan beat not only its segment rivals like the Toyota Corolla and the Hyundai Elantra, but also all cars irrespective of size. Read more »

GM’s EN-V to Replace Cars in Tianjin, China’s Futuristic Eco-City

At the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, General Motors (GM) unveiled a trio of two-wheeled neighborhood electric vehicles (NEVs) collectively named EN-V to the world.

Unlike the brand’s mainstream models, these concepts were lightweight and compact EVs for an as-of-yet unrealised city of the future. With a host of telematics and cameras to avoid other EN-Vs, pedestrians and other obstacles on the road coupled with a highly accurate GPS system, these concepts were theoretically accident-proof and self-driving.

Now a consortium from China and Singapore are drawing up plans for Tianjin Eco-City: a large-scale prototype for the sort of sustainable, high-density communities we’re expected to see in the coming decades.

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Made in the USA: Weak Dollar Boosts Local Production

The US dollar has been dropping relative to other currencies including the Euro and the Yen, hitting a historically low level compared to the last 30 years. This means that imported goods of all kinds, including automobiles, are now more expensive in the States. However, on the other hand, the weak dollar has made US exports cheaper and therefore more competitive in the rest of the world.

This is especially good news for US car manufactures notes Edmunds.com analyst Michelle Krebs: “The weak dollar is good for manufacturers in the US, whether they're the Big Three of German or whatever, because they can export at an advantage”.

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Report: GM Seriously Considering but has Not Yet Decided on Production of Cadillac Converj Coupe

When Cadillac unveiled its Converj concept at the Detroit Motor Show in 2009, it drew a lot of attention thanks to its cutting-edge styling and equally impressive hardware as it was powered by the firm's Voltec hybrid system that comprises of a 16 Kw, T-shaped battery pack and a four-cylinder gasoline engine range extender.

A production version would be a perfect “halo” car for the brand: stylish and at the same time eco-friendly.

Recently, word got out that Cadillac gave the green light for the production version of the Converj and that the company had awarded a production contract to A123 Systems for the development of the Nanophosphate lithium-ion batteries to be used in future electric vehicles.

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GM Wants to Become the “Apple” of the Automotive Industry

Now here's an ambitious claim: at General Motor's second annual Global Business Conference, the Detroit firm's Global Chief Marketing Officer Joel Ewanick said he wants to transform the company into the “the next Apple”.

And by that, Ewanick means to emulate Steve Job’s ingenious transformation of Apple into an innovative company with “must-have” products that are set apart from their competition by their novel features and sleek design.

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2012 Chevrolet Orlando to go on Sale in Canada this October, Priced from $19,995

General Motor's newest proposal in the minivan segment, the 2012 Chevrolet Orlando, is so close but yet so far away for U.S. consumers. You see, the Detroit-based automaker today announced Canadian pricing for the Orlando before it arrives in dealers across the country in October 2011.

The South Korean-built people carrier hit European dealerships in the beginning of the year and even though the bigwigs over at GM had initially made plans to bring it over to the States, they reconsidered and decided to offer the 7-seater model only in Canada.

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GM Recalls 2012 Chevy Impala and Buick LaCrosse Over Separate Issues

General Motors announced today that it is recalling 11,905 2012MY Chevrolet Impala and 4,293 MY2012 Buick LaCrosse sedans sold in the US and in Canada over two separate issues.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Association, the 2012 Impala recall affects certain cars manufactured from April 19, 2011 through July 29, 2011 and concerns the installation of the power steering hose. If misplaced, the hose could be damaged and leak power steering fluid onto the engine compartment and the catalytic converter, with the risk of a fire.

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Video: Chevrolet Camaro Side Airbags Deploy While Drifting and Without an Accident!

Airbags are made to deploy when a vehicle is involved in a crash, usually when the car is travelling over a certain speed and it comes to abrupt halt be that because it collided or was hit by another vehicle, and in some cases, due to a roll over.

That said, airbags are not meant to open without an accident of some sort. At least that's the theory because according to this Youtube video, the side airbags on this latest generation Chevrolet Camaro deployed without an accident while driver Paul Beiswenger was drifting the car at the Milan Dragway in Michigan.

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GM to Cut its Platforms by More than 50% in the Next Decade

At the second Annual Global Business Conference for investors and financial analysts, General Motors revealed details on a new plan that “will ensure a long-term sustainable performance” for the Detroit automaker.

Among other measures is the massive reduction of platforms used by GM brands globally in order to cut development costs and benefit from economies of scale.

“More of our components will be common and more of our vehicles will be on global architectures” said the GM CEO, Dan Akerson.

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AAA Survey Reveals 25% of Americans Couldn’t Afford a US$2,000 Car Repair Bill

The former American Automobile Association, now known by its acronym AAA, is probably the most recognisable organisation of its type in the world.

And with some 52 million members, it’s also one of the world’s largest if not the largest automobile associations in the world.

Suffice to say, when the AAA speaks, the world listens. In a recent telephone survey of 1,009 adults in the continental United States, the AAA found that 12.5% couldn’t cover a US$1,000 (€701) car repair bill and 25% couldn’t cover US$2,000 (€1,402) car repair bill.

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GM's Low-Cost China Brand Baojun Begins Sales of New 630 Sedan, Priced Under $10k [61 Photos]

Not content with being China's largest foreign automaker, General Motors hopes to further increase its sales in the country with its newly launched low-cost Baojun brand, which the Detroit automaker developed with local partners SAIC and Wuling.

With the Baojun brand, GM wants to compete in the fast-growing market for new cars in smaller Chinese cities targeting first-time buyers with a budget of around $10,000. Domestic Chinese rivals include Chery Automobile, Geely Automobile Holding and BYD.

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Opel Says Second Generation Ampera Will be Cheaper, More Stylish

Even though deliveries of Opel’s extended-range hybrid aren’t expected to begin until early 2012, the company is already planning the successor to the Chevy Volt’s European alter-ego.

According to British magazine Autocar, the second generation of the Opel / Vauxhall Ampera is scheduled for release in 2015 and, if sources from within the company are reliable, it feature a more radical design and a lower starting price than the current model.

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It Came from eBay Hell: Camaro Meets Batmobile

Fancying a GM classic with a little more, ahem, pizazz than your run-of-the-mill F-Body Chevrolet Camaro? Welcome to the wonderful world of eBay and the DreamRyder (that's how the owner spells the name of the car).

The DreamRyder is the creation of one Bill Logan who used a V8-powered 1984 Chevrolet Camaro Convertible as a base. Logan says he spent 13 years to complete all the customizations, which include a fiberglass body said to be inspired by a number of animals such as the bat ray and the eagle.

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GM is World’s Number One Automaker, Toyota Drops to 3rd Place behind VW

Well, it was almost certain to happen after the March 11 earthquake and Tsunami hit Japan causing multiple problems to the country's automotive industry. Toyota, the world’s largest carmaker, saw its production drop by 23% to 3.37 million units for the first half of the year - and includes sales of Lexus, Daihatsu and Hino vehicles.

As a result, the Japanese company lost the title of the world’s largest automaker that it held since 2008 to General Motors, which saw its sales rise by 8.9% to 4.536 million units for the first six months of 2011. For the time being, second place goes to the Volkswagen Group which sold 4.13 million units worldwide.

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