The Journal says:

"Mr. Whitacre drew up the new management blueprint in a matter of four hours, this person said. The plan, under which there are expected to be no major firings immediately, is a reflection of Mr. Whitacre's desire that younger and stronger leaders take on more prominent roles at the 101-year-old auto maker."

So what happens to Lutz? The WSJ continues:

"Mr. Lutz, currently running the company's marketing efforts, will return to a role more closely involved with designing and dreaming up new products, this person said. "Bob is still very much on the team, and still plays a very important role…but not doing the marketing stuff," this person said."

Hmm, don't get us wrong, as we happen to think that's a good place for him. But it means that if Whitacre actually wants to keep the maximum car man he'll need to make sure this was something Lutz actually wants. Also, younger and stronger? Who does he have in mind to replace him? Susan Docherty? Brian Nesbitt? Someone from outside the company?

Lastly, while Whitacre's moves are definitely faster moving than GM's ever been — we still stick by our believe the position that really needs someone younger and stronger is the position of CEO.

UPDATE: Mark Reuss, son of former GM President Lloyd Reuss to take over at President of GM North America. GM Board member Stephen J. Girsky will become a special advisor to Ed Whitacre. Communications VP Chris Preuss will see him and his team pulled out from marketing and moved up to report directly to Whitacre. Susan Docherty gets marketing added to her portfolio. Finally, Lutz goes back to product planning and becomes a special advisor to the CEO.

UPDATE 2: Full press release:

GM Announces Leadership Changes

DETROIT – To improve accountability and responsibility for market performance in North America and around the world, several key leadership changes were announced today by GM Chairman and CEO, Ed Whitacre.

"I want to give people more responsibility and authority deeper in the organization and then hold them accountable," Whitacre said. "We've realigned our leadership duties and responsibilities to help us meet our mission to design, build and sell the world's best vehicles."

Mark Reuss is named president of GM North America. Reuss was briefly vice president of Engineering after leading GM's Holden operations in Australia in 2008. Reporting to Reuss will be Susan E. Docherty, who is appointed vice president, Vehicle Sales, Service and Marketing operations. Also aligned under the new North American group will be Diana D. Tremblay, who is named vice president, Manufacturing and Labor Relations. Tremblay was most recently vice president of Labor Relations. Denise C. Johnson is named vice president, Labor Relations. Johnson was most recently vehicle line director and chief engineer for Global Small Cars.

Nick Reilly is named president, GM Europe. Reilly has been leading the restructuring efforts in Europe with the Opel/Vauxhall operations and will leave his role leading GM International Operations.

Tim Lee is named president of GM International Operations, overseeing GM's Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Africa, and Middle East operations. Lee was most recently group vice president, Manufacturing and Labor Relations.

Bob Lutz remains vice chairman and will act as advisor on design and global product development.

Thomas G. Stephens remains vice chairman of Global Product Operations, and will now take on global purchasing in his organization, which will continue to be lead by Robert E. Socia, vice president, Global Purchasing and Supply Chain. Karl-Friedrich Stracke is appointed vice president, Engineering, reporting to Stephens. Stracke was most recently executive director of Engineering.

J. Christopher Preuss, vice president, Communications, will now report to Whitacre; he previously reported to Lutz.

The balance of the direct report staff remains unchanged and includes CFO Ray G. Young; John F. Smith, vice president Corporate Planning and Alliances; Terry Kline, vice president IS&S; Mary T. Barra, vice president Human Resources; Mike Millikin, vice president of Legal; and Ken C. Cole, vice president Government Relations and Public Policy.

Biographical information on all GM's corporate officers can be found at www.gm.com/corporate/about/officers.jsp?evar10=gm_investor_corporategov_officers#.

###

[via WSJ]

Photo Credit: David McNew / Getty Images News

After sarcastically apologizing for GM not providing any news lately he stated "I know you'd like the true, inside story of what really happened at General motors. I'm not giving it to you." At least not until he writes his next book.

But then, because he's Lutz, he did go on to say: "I think all of us were surprised. The whole General Motors team is genuinely saddened over what transpired. Fritz is without question a great executive."

After that it was mostly a discussion of the Volt, why the Asian automakers hated on Li-Ion tech, and talking about how California was getting 100 of the Volts first for a test, which makes sense given the existing electric car charging infrastructure and warmer climate.

The money quote: The transition to electric vehicles is as important as "moving from horses to horsepower." He's now "Maximum Charge" Bob Lutz.

As you can see, the LA Auto show folks just barely had time to replace Fritz's name with Bob's. We'll be there live this morning to see what, if anything, Bob has to say about yesterday's GM leadership musical chairs. Our bet is, however, that he'll be hustled in and out and not allowed to take any comments — but — we'll see if the "Maximum" man near the top of GM lets anything slip. (Hat tip to Rabbi Dave!)

Now don't get us wrong — we feel for Sarah, but when you pop them up in public in a place like GM's public page, well, all bets are off. Plus, comments like Ed Whitacre being "selfish" help us to understand the new interim CEO just a little bit more. Here's the full text:

"HE FUCKING GOT ASKED TO STEP DOWN ALL OF YOU FUCKING IDIOTS. IM FRITZ'S FUCKING DAUGHTER, AND HE DID NOT FUCKING RESIGN. WHITACRE IS A SELFISH PIECE OF SHIFT, WHO CARES ABOUT HIMSELF AND NOT THE FUCKING COMPANY. HAVE FUN WITH GM, I HOPE TO NEVER BUY FROM THIS GOD FORESAKEN COMPANY EVERY AGAIN. FUCK ALL OF YOU."

But, it's not like we can blame the kid — we'd be pretty pissed at Ed Whitacre too if he were selfish and wanting to run Government Motors all by himself. (Hat tip to highmileage!)

November 2008 wasn't a particularly golden month for sales, meaning any increase or decrease needs to be considered in context of previous sales. For instance, Ford and Toyota's November sales were roughly on par with last year but both companies are down between 20-24% through the first eleven months of the year compared to 2008.

Overall, the companies turning around their sales appear to be the ones introducing a lot of new product in the last year. [Automotive News (subs. req)]

Good Deal #1

What: Buy A 2010 Suzuki SX4 For Under $15,000
Where: Suzuki Dealers
Regular Price: $15,849
Black Friday Price: $14,599
Savings: $500 Holiday cash on top of current deals, for a total savings of $1,300.
Why Its A Good Deal: You won't find a better utilitarian vehicle in this price range. Better yet, it comes with an in-dash navigation system featuring Garmin software.

Good Deal #2

What: GM Dealer Closing Sale: $2,000 Off For Certain Customers
Where: Cadillac, Buick-GMC, Chevrolet Dealers
Regular Price: Already heavily discounted
Savings: $1,000-to-$2,000
Black Friday Price: Between $1,000 and $2,000 cheaper
Why It's A Good Deal: Nearly one-million customers living near a closing dealership will receive a letter in the mail this week offering them an additional $1,000-to-$2,000 to purchase a vehicle at a dealership staying open. Deal ends at the end of the month.

Good Deal #3

What: BMW Diesel Luxury Sedans — More Than 10% Off
Where: BMW Dealers
Regular Price: $43,900
Savings: $4,500
Black Friday Price: $39,400
Why It's A Good Deal: BMW is trying to get U.S. buyers to accept diesel vehicles as luxury vehicles and is putting $4,500 in cash where its mouth is. Powerful and efficient, BMW diesels at a discount is a great deal.

Good Deal #4

What: 2009 Cadillac CTS-V: $5,000 Savings
Where: Cadillac Dealers
Regular Price: $58,575
Black Friday Price: $53,575
Savings: $5,000
Why It's A Good Deal: The CTS-V is a world-beater and the few remaining 2009 vehicles on dealer lots qualify for a $5,000 cash back deal. It's the fastest stocking-stuffer on the block.

Good Deal #5

What: Remaining 2009 Dodge Rams Up To $5,500 Cash Back
Where: Dodge Dealerships
Regular Price: $21,510 - $39,935
Black Friday Price: Up To $5,500 Off
Savings: $5,500
Why It's A Good Deal: Dodge is hoping they'll have a few less 2009 Rams sitting under their tree and are offering up to $5,500 in cash back if you'll help rid them of a nicely-loaded one.

Bad Deal #1

What: Ford's Year-End Sales Event Unremarkable
Where: Ford Dealers
Regular Price: Fairly Cheap
Black Friday Price: $1,000 less plus 0% financing
Why It's A Bad Deal: Ford is not as poorly positioned as other American automakers so they're offering a measly $1,000 cash back and 0% financing. This is a good deal — on Black Friday 2006.

Bad Deal #2

What: Baja MotorSports Phoenix 250cc Street Motorcycle A Bad Deal Free
Where: PepBoys
Regular Price: $1,999.99
Black Friday Price: $1,499.00
Savings: $500.01
Why It's A Bad Deal: Even with a $500 discount you're still buying a cheap-for-a-reason Chinese bike that's going to require riding lessons, a license and possibly being abandoned two weeks later on the side of the road.

Bad Deal #3

What: Get Less Than 3% Off Of A BMW M3
Where: BMW Dealerships
Regular Price: $54,850
Black Friday Price: $53,350
Why It's A Bad Deal: BMW knows it has a great product in the M3 sports sedan and it's throwing its smallest cash back offer on them. For less than 3% off most buyers won't notice it.

Bad Deal #4

What: Get A "Free" Upgrade To An AWD Charger You Didn't Want
Where: Dodge Dealerships
Regular Price: $30,540
Black Friday Price: $25,700
Why It's A Bad Deal: Dodge has a slate of attractive incentives for those wanting to buy a new car from them, but the "free" upgrade to an AWD Charger is selling you an unpopular AWD upgrade instead of more cash off the car you actually wanted.

Bad Deal #5

What: Subaru Donates $250 To Charity For You
Where: Subaru Dealers
Regular Price: Regular Price
Black Friday Price: Still The Regular Price On Many Models
Why It's A Bad Deal: We think Subaru's "Share The Love " event is great for the five charities that get $250 when you buy their car, but it's not a great deal for consumers. Blame it on Subaru building cars people want.

Crudele's looking to "rent" the Corvette from All American Chevy in Middletown, NJ by using and abusing GM's 60-day money back guarantee. Good idea right? Yeah, except that — if you'll remember from our guide on how to screw GM out of a 60-day money back guarantee — if he puts so much as a ding, dent or scratch in it, he'll be liable for the full price of the 'vette. Now, we're not saying you should put a ding, dent or scracth into Crudele's new 'merican super car. But we can imagine it'd be pretty difficult to not want to do it if we saw it parked — you know — anywhere.

If anyone spots Crudele, be sure to snap a picture of him and his new Corvette to send in to our tips line — if he ends up actually following through with his dastardly plan to screw himself out of taxpayer-paid bailout money. We'll call it Crudele Corvette Watch. [NY Post]

GM has been given $52.9 billion in TARP/Federal loans and financing arm GMAC has been given $12.5 billion of which approximately 8.6 billion can be considered GM money. If total car sales reach 10.5 million in 2009 and 12.5 million for 2010 and GM has roughly equal market share next year as it did in 2008 then GM will sell roughly 5.06 million over the next two years. Add and divide and you end up with about $12,200.

Rather than point out that this money protects jobs and keeps American industry from faring worse than it already is, we'll just make a list of all NTU's assumptions used to come up with the $12,200 per car figure plus our own analysis of how many of their assumptions are full of crap:

• GM will sell 5.06 million cars in 2009/2010 combined.
  (NTU's numbers on GM sales for 2010 are okay based on a SAAR of 10.5 million, the reality is they'll possibly do worse than the 2.31 million cars and instead do 2.25 million.)
• GMAC will loan no money back to finance a car to anyone who is also a taxpayer
  (They will)
• GM will have the same market share in 2010 it had in 2008
  (Almost certainly not. It'll probably be worse)
• Total vehicle sales will reach 10.5 million in 2009
  (More like 10.7 million as of late October)
• Total vehicle sales will reach 12.5 million in 2010
  (Maybe.)
• GM will not pay the $6.7 billion back
  (GM's already said it plans to start paying back the loans at the end of this year and even GM's not that PR-illiterate. We think.)
• GM will never pay any loan back
  (See above.)
• GMAC will never pay any loan back
  (GMAC has an unfair advantage according to the NTU study itself, therefore we assume it'll remain in business long enough to pay some portion of the loan back.)
• GM will not sell any cars after 2010
  (OK, here's the real silly part of the study. We all know GM will more than likely still sell cars after 2010, even if they're cars we wish they wouldn't sell.)

*assuming everything above.

[NTU via Carscoop]

Photo Credit: Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images

It was little more than half-a-century ago the armies of Rome, Berlin and Tokyo were defeated by Detroit's "Arsenal of Democracy" equipped by American carmakers. Yet to hear it lately from conservatives and leaders in the Republican Party, American automakers are what's wrong with this country, should be boycotted, and go bankrupt.

Senator John McCain told reporters that we should have never bailed out Chrysler and GM and let them go under.

"No, I don't think we ever should have bailed out Chrysler and General Motors," McCain told The Detroit News. "We should have let them go into bankruptcy, emerge and become viable corporations again."

This, of course, while he was out drumming up support for his 2010 Senate run while serving as the grand marshal of a NASCAR event where the very good ol' boys he was drumming up support from were watching Chrysler and GM products race. And, as The Detroit News points out, we did let them go into bankruptcy. We're still waiting to find out whether they'll emerge as stronger companies.

Confusingly, McCain seems to be channeling John Kerry in being for the bailout before he was against it. Now, of course, he's going so far as to refer to it as "Socialism."

And just this weekend RNC Chairman Michael Steele responded to the news of GM going further in debt by pointing out this statement:

"Today's release of General Motors' financial results is further proof that President Obama's economic experiments are wrong for America."

Of course, GM lost $4.2 billion in the third-quarter last year so this is actually an improvement, of sorts. And GM also announced they'd be repaying loans ahead of schedule.

So who do the Republicans like? At last year's Detroit Auto Show we had a conversation with Senator Bob Corker, the Republican who lead the charge against the bailout, and he talked about the Volkswagens he loves. Not a surprise given VW is joining Nissan in building a huge plant in his state.

In fact, there have been a number of foreign car companies moving better-than-minimum-wage assembly plants into states represented by Republican senators, including BMW in South Carolina, Toyota in Texas, Nissan/VW in Tennessee, and Mercedes-Benz and Hyundai in Alabama. Of course, we can't blame the Chrysler-Fiat "Global Strategic Alliance" alliance on the Republican party.

So when the far right goes to Boycott GM they're doing so for the benefit of companies like Volkswagen and Toyota, who have both surpassed GM as the world's largest automaker in the last year.

Ironically, this is the same Republican party upset about the Chinese purchase of Hummer. As Republican Representative Duncan Hunter told the Wall Street Journal: "Any money that is going to China or to Chinese companies is contributing in some way to China's military buildup."

So supporting American car companies is socialism and supporting every other country's investments in production capacity is capitalism and therefore good for America.

But hey, the Germans, Japanese, Chinese and Italians are our friends so who says we need any domestic car production or car companies? Of course, we're probably just paranoid. Maybe the real reason the Republicans hate GM and Chrysler is just that they really like Ford.

Photo Credit: DiggerHistory

That's because they went from an astounding $95 billion in debt pre-bankruptcy to $17 billion under the "New" GM. Here's the full press release. Items to note:

● GM Q3 earnings: EBIT loss before special items of $261 million and managerial net loss of $1.2 billion.'
● Cash reserves increased by $3.3 billion to $42.6 billion.
● GM posted revenue of $28 billion in the third quarter of 2009 (July 1-Sept. 30, 2009), which was up approximately $4.9 billion in Q2
● GM will burn $8.3 billion in cash this next quarter on debt repayments, Delphi and restructuring so expect the 4th quarter to look worse than this quarter.
● GM "anticipates modest growth, with total industry volumes estimated at 62 to 65 million." Expects US SAAR at a rose-colored 11-12 million units sold in 2010.
● GM spent $320 million for cull of 2,042 U.S. dealers.
● These aren't "real" financial results. All these numbers are not provided using GAAP principles. So, you know, if you're an accountant, prepare to vomit a little bit before you go any further.

General Motors Announces the New Company's July 10-September 30 Preliminary Managerial Results

* Operating actions result in EBIT loss before special items of $261 million and managerial net loss of $1.2 billion
* Continued progress on structural cost reductions
* Healthier balance sheet with significantly lower debt
* $3.3 billion positive managerial operating cash flow favorably impacted by working capital; $42.6 billion third quarter liquidity position expected to decline materially in the fourth quarter
* Accelerated plan to repay U.S. and Canadian taxpayers; first $1.2 billion payment in December

DETROIT – General Motors Company (GM) released today preliminary non-GAAP managerial results1 for its first 83 days of operation, providing an initial look at its financial performance since it began operations as a new company on July 10, 2009.

"We have significantly more work to do, but today's results provide evidence of the solid foundation we're building for the new GM. With a healthier balance sheet and a competitive cost structure, our focus is on driving top line performance. We'll achieve that by winning customers over, one at a time, with vehicles that deliver performance and value," said GM President and CEO Fritz Henderson.

Revenue

GM posted revenue of $28.0 billion in the third quarter of 2009 (July 1-Sept. 30, 2009), which was up approximately $4.9 billion compared to the revenue recognized by General Motors Corporation, or "Old GM," in the second quarter of 2009.

The improvement was largely attributed to a higher global seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 67.8 million units in the third quarter, compared to 62.7 million units in the second quarter of 2009, and GM's stabilizing global share. In China, Brazil, India and Russia (BRIC), GM had 13.0 percent of the combined market share in the third quarter, up 0.2 percentage points from the second quarter of 2009.

GM's global share was 11.9 percent in the third quarter, up 0.3 percentage points from the first half of the year for Old GM. GM's U.S. market share in the third quarter was 19.5 percent, flat in relation to Old GM's U.S. share for the first half of the year.

GM finished the third quarter with U.S. dealer inventories of approximately 424,000 vehicles; a reduction of approximately 158,000 units from the end of the second quarter.

Contributing to GM's sales in the U.S. was the strong retail performance of some of its newest vehicles, including the Chevrolet Camaro and GMC Terrain, as well as the Chevrolet Equinox, Buick LaCrosse and Cadillac SRX which are generating higher average transaction prices and higher residual values than previous model year vehicles.

In other markets around the world, strong consumer appeal for a number of GM's newest vehicles including the Holden and Chevrolet Cruze, Daewoo Matiz Creative, Opel/Vauxhall Astra and Chevrolet Agile are helping to reclaim global share. In fact, the Astra recently claimed its first major award by winning the prestigious Golden Steering Wheel award by the Auto Bild magazine and the Agile was just elected the 2010 Car of the Year by AutoEsporte magazine in Brazil.

The China market in particular is proving to be a strong contributor for the company's results. Maintaining a leading market share position in China, GM and its joint venture partners continue to see an upward trend, selling more than 478,000 vehicles in the third quarter of 2009, up from approximately 451,000 and 364,000 units in the second and first quarters, respectively.

Managerial Results

After the inclusion of special items, GM's managerial earnings before tax for the July 10-Sept. 30 period was a loss of $1.0 billion. GM recorded special items for the same period of $505 million, attributed primarily to dealer restructuring, attrition-related charges and Delphi.3 For the July 10-Sept. 30 period GM posted a managerial loss after-tax of $1.2 billion.

GM managerial earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) before special items for the July 10-Sept. 30 period was a loss of $261 million, with GM North America reporting a loss of $651 million and GM International Operations reporting a profit of $238 million. Managerial earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) was $1.5 billion before special items.

Total structural cost for the company has been significantly reduced by the resizing and delayering of the company including salaried and hourly headcount reductions, engineering savings and volume related savings. GM structural cost for the period July 10-Sept. 30, 2009 was $9.1 billion. Structural cost for Old GM for the period Jan. 1-July 9, 2009 was $22.0 billion. For the 9-month period ending September 30, 2008, Old GM had structural cost of $37.8 billion.

While financial statements between Old GM and GM are not comparable, the above structural costs breakdowns for the two companies are provided for perspective.

Balance Sheet and Cash

For the period July 10-Sept. 30, GM had positive managerial operating cash flow before special items of $3.3 billion, reflecting the favorable working capital impact from production start up, timing of supplier payments and lower capital spending. The favorable working capital impact is not expected to repeat itself in the fourth quarter (see the "Looking Ahead" section below). For the period July 1-July 9, Old GM had negative operating cash flow of $3.6 billion, reflecting extremely low production in North America.

As of September 30, 2009, cash and marketable securities totaled $42.6 billion. Included in this amount was $17.4 billion held in escrowed funds from the United States Treasury (UST) and Export Development Canada (EDC), with $8.1 billion of this amount allocable for future repayments of the UST and EDC loans, $2.8 billion for the recently completed Delphi settlement and $900 million for healthcare in Canada, leaving a remaining escrow cash balance of $5.6 billion.

In light of improving global economic conditions, stabilizing industry sales and its healthier cash position, GM announced today that it plans to accelerate repayment of its outstanding $6.7 billion in UST loans as well as the C$1.5 billion (US$1.4 billion) in EDC loans ahead of the scheduled maturity date of July 2015.

GM plans to repay the United States, Canadian and Ontario government loans in quarterly installments from escrowed funds, beginning next month with an initial $1.2 billion payment to be made in December ($1.0 billion to the UST and $192 million to the EDC), followed by quarterly payments. Any escrowed funds available as of June 30, 2010 would be used to repay the UST and EDC loans unless the escrowed funds were extended one year by the UST. Any balance of funds would be released to GM after the repayment of the UST and EDC loans.

In addition, the company has begun to repay the German government loans which were extended to support Opel, and had a balance of €900 million (~US$1.3 billion) as of September 30, 2009. Opel has already repaid €500 million (~US$0.7 billion) of that in November, and will repay the remaining €400 million (~US$0.6 billion) balance by the end of the month. The cash balance in Europe as of September 30, 2009 was US$2.9 billion.

GM's total debt as of September 30, 2009 was $17 billion, including $6.7 billion in U.S. government loans, $1.4 billion in Canadian government loans, $1.3 billion in German government loans and $7.6 billion in other debt globally. The $17 billion debt level does not include the UAW or CAW VEBA notes or preferred stock, which are $2.5 billion, $0.7 billion and $9 billion, respectively.

While GM has reached settlements for the UAW and CAW VEBAs, the debt associated with the agreements will not be recognized until all preconditions are met and they become effective, which will be December 31, 2009 or later. Prior to the start of the new GM, total debt of Old GM was $94.7 billion as of July 9, 2009.

Looking Ahead

Globally, GM expects total vehicle industry volume to moderate in the fourth quarter of 2009, with an estimated SAAR to be approximately 65.4 million units, down from 67.8 million units in the third quarter. Following the expiration of the successful ‘Cash for Clunkers' stimulus program in the U.S. which contributed to GM's strong sales in the third quarter, the company anticipates the U.S. industry total vehicle SAAR volume in the fourth quarter will be approximately 10.7 million units, compared to 11.7 million units in the third quarter.

Looking ahead to 2010, GM anticipates modest growth, with total industry volumes estimated at 62 to 65 million units, with a modest recovery in the U.S. market where the outlook for the 2010 calendar year for total vehicles is estimated at 11-12 million units.

GM expects to have negative net cash flows in the fourth quarter of 2009 due to a number of factors including cash outflows relating to the Delphi settlement of $2.8 billion, the working capital impact of payment term adjustments of approximately $2 billion, payments for U.S., Canada, Ontario and Germany government loans of approximately $2.5 billion and continuing restructuring cash costs of approximately $1 billion. As a result, global cash balances at the end of 2009 are expected to be materially lower than third quarter levels of $42.6 billion.

# # #

Keep in mind that although a move like this would suggest GM's now a fiscally stronger company, it's not expected to show a profit when financial results are reported on Monday.

In its last quarterly earnings report, in May, the company said its had lost $6 billion and had used $10.2 billion more in cash than it generated from operations. One would assume they'll have to show numbers a bit better than that. We guess we'll have to wait and see whether this early repayment is a financial victory or a pyrrhic one.

The Buick Regal has officially returned, and the specs read like a laundry list of ways GM could build a car to make people look at Buick again. As the car is based heavily on the Opel Insignia, the Regal wears almost identical styling save the grille and badge on the nose. While the looks do impress, it's what's under the skin that's really getting us interested. The base car gets the 2.4 liter four cylinder with 182 HP and a highway fuel economy of 30 MPG while the uplevel car will have the 2.0 liter direct injected turbocharged four-banger which saw previous duty in the Cobalt SS, though tuned to a less hairy 220 HP and still delivering 29 MPG highway. Both mills have a six speed automatic transmission. The turbo model gets something we need to know more about called "Interactive Drive Control System" (IDCS) which allows four different driver-selectable suspension settings.

Inside the Regal borrows heavily from the LaCrosse's playbook, with sweeping lines, dramatic lighting, and rich textures. Seems to be finished with a bit more modern and clean flair then the LaCrosse's traditional luxury bent. We'll be seeing more of the car at the LA Auto Show but until then, check out the video, press release and official images.

[Source: GM]

The GM Onstar Car Hero was pitched in the press release in the following manner:

The Car Hero turns driving into gaming and challenges the driver's skills against the car's autonomous system. Once you enter your destination into the navi app on your smart phone, you can play against the vehicle to "win" complete control over the system and gain access to increasingly outrageous driving scenarios.

Naturally, our response was something trite and snarky: "Whoever came up with the "GM Car Hero" needs a very stern talking to." We didn't expect the following email exchange:

Hi Ben,

I'm all ears.

Steve Anderson
Design Challenge Creative Director,
General Motors Design - Los Angeles

Next came our response:

Well, that's a hilarious response I wasn't expecting.

The quip about your concept was in keeping with our general attitude
towards vehicles which isolate drivers from cars and mitigate the driving
experience. While I appreciate the concept as something which might
appeal to guitar hero kids, it still puts control out of the drivers hands and
makes the car a gaming appliance, something that makes me recoil in
horror.

Regards,

Ben Wojdyla
Associate Editor - Detroit
Jalopnik.com

Then came Steve Anderson's responde explaining the concept in more detail:

Hi Ben,

Thanks for the response. As a qualified nut-case auto enthusiast (own:
Lotus Elise SC Jim Clark Edition & CTS Sport Wagon owned: '61 E Type OTS,
Lamborghini Countach LP400, 4 911's of various vintage and a BMW M
Coupe), I completely agree with your appliance assesment.

The Car Hero concept would (theoretically) do just the opposite of what
you're concerned for by introducing (to the youth audience) the
familiarity of a gaming challenge to what has in essence become a commoditized
appliance. The benefit being that you end up "challenging" the operator
to either learn or improve their road skills as well as provide an incentive
to stay engaged and improve their skills - imagine if you'd had this
instead of the traditional driver's ed program. To your concern for
taking control out of the driver's hands, I think we can both agree that many
actually deserve such a draconian device but the Car Hero differs as it
gives the operator a chance to gain skills and "earn" un-obstructed
vehicle control. As one wag aptly put it, "Essentially this will not only make
people better drivers, but will also allow expert road stallions to have
a continuous challenge". Of course, they can also take the Timothy Leary
tack and "drop out" of the whole driving thing altogether - let the vehicle's
embedded autonomous control system do it all while they twitter away.

The desired outcome of Car Hero use would be someone who truly
appreciates driving skills and goes on to seek out a more authentic experience once
the gaming novelty has worn off.

In the end, the challenge was to create a vehicle which re-engaged the
"de-motorized" youth of tomorrow and I thought it foolish to create just
another car.

Thanks for the dialog,
Steve Anderson

Then our response to clarification:

That's a pretty interesting take on it. I hope you realize this is now very
post-worthy.

Regards,

Ben Wojdyla
Associate Editor - Detroit
Jalopnik.com

And finally, grudging acceptance on the part of Mr. Anderson:

By all means - keep up the good work.

Steve Anderson

So there you go. We actually think Mr. Anderson makes a pretty good case for his concept.

Here is what he said, specifically, about the $500K limit on executive pay according to Automotive News:

"To find top-level people where you need them, that's a more difficult thing to do at that salary level. I don't think (the caps) will be lifted, but hopefully they'll be modified."

Whitacre's right. We'd imagine it's going to be tough to find really talented people to work at GM for any price — especially with a randomly-derived ceiling. But we think they're going about it the wrong way. GM really should be advertising working for the automaker as a public service. So, you know, do it for America. [Automotive News]

How do we know it's not an important speech? It's at Texas Lutheran University way out in Seguine, Texas. I'm Lutheran and I live in Texas, and I forget Texas Lutheran University exists sometimes. Though to be fair to Chairman Whitacre, it's quite possible he's just shamelessly promoting his wife, who is a regent at TLU.

Buy hey, it'll be streamed live right here at 8:30 PM (EST) tonight and maybe, just maybe, he'll break some news. Go ahead, Ed, I dare you. Make alerting the world to your completely random and almost certainly unimportant speech somehow necessary.

GM Press Release

General Motors Chairman Ed Whitacre will speak to students and faculty of Texas Lutheran University tonight at 8:30 p.m. ET.Whitacre, who taught business policy at Texas Lutheran University in 2007 following his retirement from AT&T, will talk about the automobile industry and the global economy.
Texas Lutheran University will broadcast the lecture via live webcast. To view the lecture live, visit: http://www.stretchinternet.com/flash/player/tluadmin.html
Please note: the speech will only be available live. A replay will not be immediately available following the speech.

Photo Credit: Jamie Rose/Getty Images

Most of the concepts have pretty regular wacky shapes and smart grid communications features the futurists are always in love with, of course they're all "green" and electric, but one in particular made us shake our heads. Whoever came up with the "GM Car Hero" needs a very stern talking to.