General Motors, taking a page from the Bush administration's "Setting The Record Straight" communications, has gone live with a website called "GM Facts And Fiction" designed to directly address criticism levied against the company. A quick glance at the site, located at gmfactsandfiction.com, indicates that the main topic of PR concern for the General right now is whether they're asking for a government bailout or not. That's not all, though: The site doesn't pull punches, incorporating "myth" topics with titles like "GM Still Doesn't Make Cars People Want To Buy" and "GM's Biggest Problem In North America Is Its Union Contracts." Some of our favorite facts and fiction after the jump. Jalopnik Snap Judgment: We love us some pushback, even if it is filtered through the mind-numbing, creativity-sapping lenses of corporate PR and legal departments. It reads sort of like a GM Fastlane blog for the general public; if the folks in charge can answer real questions with straight answers, and not dumb them down to meaninglessness in order to appease every possible visitor, we applaud GM's move. If they make it another "We value your opinion. Here are 12 sentences of vaguely related marketingspeak that are mainly bullshit but somehow made it through legal," then it could do more harm than good. Either way, we'll be watching closely.
The Volt Is Vaporware There are dozens of companies around the world promising a practical electric vehicle in the near future. While we can’t comment on the efforts of others, we can assure you, the Volt is for real. On June 3, GM announced that production funding for the Volt had been approved, and that GM’s Detroit Hamtramck plant has been selected as the assembly plant, pending government approvals. Meanwhile, development of both the car and its lithium-ion batteries continues apace. For the latest information, please see our Volt website. The Chevy Volt is a revolutionary product, and as such, it demands maximum effort from everyone involved. But we are on target to start production toward the end of 2010, and excited about the potential for the Volt. GM Can't Compete GM competes head to head with the best global carmakers in every major market except Japan, which is effectively closed to non-Japanese companies. And we do quite well, thank you. We are on track to sell more than 9 million vehicles globally for the fourth year running, and we are setting sales records in our three regions outside of North America. In North America, our new vehicles have been consistent award winners, and they continue to win over customers in a very tough market. GM is one of a handful of companies with the resources to truly reinvent the automobile. Whether it is advanced internal combustion engines, biofuels, hybrids, fuel cells, or electrically driven vehicles like the Chevy Volt, GM is committed to being a global leader in advanced propulsion, which will reshape the auto industry during its second century.
[gmfactsandfiction.com via Detroit News; Photo Credit: TTAC]