Sandy Hits East Coast Car Sales, Lowers October’s SAAR By Nearly a Million Units

Not that there’s ever a “good” timing for a natural disaster, but for East Coast new car dealers, especially those in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, traditionally very big markets for light vehicles, hurricane Sandy had a devastating effect as far as sales are concerned.

That’s because, apart from any damages dealers suffered, they also had to shut down their showrooms at the end of October, when their daily sales are at their peak.

Moreover, deliveries scheduled for early November are likely to be affected, though dealers are expected to make at least part of that up by buyers seeking replacements for their totaled cars.

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Marchionne Refutes Bloomberg Report on Fiat, Peugeot and Opel Tie-up

On Tuesday, we ran a story based on a report by Bloomberg News that Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne has been talking to PSA Peugeot Citroen and Opel executives about the three carmakers merging into a single entity. Today, however, Marchionne refuted the report describing it to Automotive Europe as “bizarre”.

The Fiat-Chrysler CEO admitted that he had been talking with GM and PSA CEOs Dan Akerson and Philippe Varin, respectively, but he stressed that the discussions were misinterpreted by the report.

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Once More: Marchionne Wants to Merge with Peugeot and Opel, Outgun VW in Europe

All mainstream European carmakers are, to a higher or lower degree, facing problems due to the debt crisis that’s storming the continent.

Ford has started closing down plants, Opel and Peugeot are burning cash each day for the past eight months while they try to figure out how to work on their partnership and, as for Fiat… well, thank God that Chrysler is profitable.

The sole survivor in this mess seems to be the VW Group that’s still very profitable, much to the annoyance of its rivals and especially Marchionne who accused Wolfsburg of not playing by the book. However, even the mighty VW has been forced to trim its estimates, as the crisis begins to knock on Germany’s door.

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New 2013 Chevrolet Camaro Hot Wheels Edition is One Toy You Can Drive Back Home [w/Video]

As they say, men are just boys who haven't grown up, and what man doesn't have fond memories of Hot Wheels cars from his childhood years? With this in mind and after toying around with the idea for a few years, General Motors and Mattel joined forces to build the new 2013 Camaro Hot Wheels Edition, which we first told you about over the weekend.

“Millions of us grew up playing with Hot Wheels,” said Chris Perry, vice president of Chevrolet Marketing. “Offering a special production model of the Camaro Hot Wheels is an opportunity to bring those memories to life, for kids of all ages.”

The production model follows last year's concept and it will make its debut at this week's 2012 SEMA Show in Las Vegas, before it goes on sale in the first quarter of 2013 for a limited production run.

“It’s been nearly 20 years since I started designing cars for Hot Wheels and I have yet to drive one home,” said Felix Holst, vice president of creative for the Mattel Wheels Division. “Personally, I can’t wait to open the doors and see the Hot Wheels Camaro sitting in the garage.”

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There Can Be Only One: Toyota Bounces Back, Leads GM in Global Sales, For Now

After a disastrous 2011, which saw it drop to third place behind General Motors and the VW Group due to production shortage caused by the March earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Toyota has bounced back and is currently the world’s number one car manufacturer.

On Friday, October 26, the company announced that in the first nine months of the year, it has sold 7.4 million vehicles globally. That’s a 28 percent increase compared to last year and almost half a million units, 450,000 to be precise, than GM whose sales increased by 2.5 percent to 6.95 million.

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GM to Launch Real Life Hot Wheels Edition of 2013 Chevrolet Camaro at SEMA Show

It's no secret that the idea of turning a Hot Wheels toy car into a real life production model had been brewing in the heads of officials from General Motors and Mattel for quite some time, with the two companies even presenting a real-life Camaro Hot Wheels concept study at the 2011 SEMA show.

GM and Mattel have now finally materialized their dream and will be presenting a limited production run model at the 2012 edition of the annual aftermarket extravaganza in Las Vegas that opens on Tuesday, October 30.

The Hot Wheels-badged 2013 Chevy Camaro will be available as both a coupe and a convertible with either a 3.6-liter V6 or a 6.2-liter V8 engine, complete with a bespoke exclusive kinetic blue metallic exterior paint accented by red Hot Wheels flame logos inside and out, and special Hot Wheels-style rims.

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GM to Build an All-New Global Chevrolet Vehicle in Argentina

Whereas in Europe, American carmakers are either shutting down factories or looking for ways to reduce capacity, in other parts of the world, they're making plans to expand their existing operations.

In Argentina, General Motors announced that it will invest $450 million (€348 million) between 2013 and 2015 to expand its Rosario Automotive Complex to build an all-new global Chevrolet vehicle, details of which were not disclosed.

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Chevrolet's 2012 SEMA Show Sonic Dust will Enter Production

General Motors is increasing its efforts to offer more diverse personalization options in the small car segments with the introduction of the new Sonic Dusk at next week's 2012 SEMA aftermarket show in Las Vegas.

The Sonic Dusk was first displayed in concept guise at last year's SEMA as a "more subtle and sophisticated" alternative to tuning, and now, the automaker has made the decision to offer the package on the production model.

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Meet the 2014 Corvette's All-New 6.2L Small Block V8, Makes 450Hp and Returns +26mpg HWY

The all-new, seventh generation Corvette is one of the most talked-about sports cars of the year, but strangely enough, also one of the few that has managed to keep most of its secrets under wraps.

Starting with the new Vette logo and a not-too-revealing (to say the least) video, we thought that General Motors would embark on a long journey of teasing us about the next iteration of the iconic supercar without telling us much about it until its debut on January's Detroit Motor Show.

Well, a substantial part of that "journey" was covered toady by the official unveiling of the LT1 V8 which will power the Corvette C7 when it hits the market in late 2013.

Boasting a capacity of 6.2 liters, the first of the new Gen 5 family of Small Block engines has an output of 450HP and peak torque of 450 lb-ft (610 Nm) that help accelerate the 2014 Corvette from a standstill to 60 mph (96 km/h) in less than four seconds.

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GM to Upgrade Software on 4,000 Chevrolet Volts to Fix Stalling Electric Motor Problem

When Chevrolet Volt owner and gm-volt.com forum member "1RiverMan1" came home on October 19, he heard a phone message from his Volt advisor (sic) informing him about a potential problem with some of GM’s 2013 MY extended-range hybrids.

The issue was that on some cars, the electric motor for no apparent reason at all, stopped working while on the move. The advisor said that the steering and brakes of the Volt still worked, but added that if it were to occur, the driver must coast to a stop, power the car off, wait for 2-5 minutes and then power it up again.

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Chevy to Lift the Wraps Off New 2014 Silverado this December Ahead its Detroit Motor Show Debut

What you see pictured above is the first camouflage-free detail of the all-new 2014 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 full-size pickup truck.

GM released the cropped image of the new truck's headlamp and front grille assembly today to inform us that it will reveal the next Silverado during a special event in the Detroit area on December 13, 2012.

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Confirmed: New 2013 Chevrolet SS in Race Car Form to be Unveiled in Late November

Earlier today, we read a report on Speed TV saying that Chevrolet is planning to show its upcoming SS sedan in NASCAR Sprint Cup racecar trim on Thursday, November 29 at the Wynn Las Vegas hotel and casino.

We put the question to Chevrolet spokesman Michael Albano, who confirmed the news and told CarScoop the following:

"We will show the race car in Vegas. This will be an exciting moment for Chevrolet as we begin a new era in racing. No other details about the car or production sibling have been released yet."

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Wall Street Miffed Over GM's Confusing Global Strategy, Wants it to “Chop More Wood”

General Motors was the world’s number one automaker in 2011 and this year, its share value has increased by more than 25 percent to around US$25.50. The good news is that this figure outperforms the Standard & Poor’s 500 index 16 percent rise; the bad news is that it falls below its 2010 public offering of US$33 per share.

Its cash-burning European operations and the alliance with PSA Peugeot Citroen, which has still not crystallized, along with worries over China’s new car market rate of growth slowing down are, according to Reuters, making Wall Street nervous.

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GM to Hire 3,000 Employees from Hewlett-Packard for its New IT Operations

After making the decision to shift its information technology-operations (IT) from outside to a more in-sourced business services model, General Motors is now moving on to the next phase by hiring people.

On Thursday, the Detroit carmaker said that it will absorb around 3,000 employees from Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP), who are already working on GM’s IT business and place them on its pay roll at no additional cost to the company.

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Recalled 2010 Camaro Burns Down, Owner Asks GM to Help Him Finance a New ZL1

Back in May of 2009, General Motors issued the first ever recall for its then new, fifth generation Camaro that was sold as a 2010 model, only a few weeks after launch.

The recall affected 1,243 Camaro SS coupes equipped with a V8 engine because of a short-circuit risk that could lead to a fire. The culprit was a positive battery cable that could rub against the starter motor housing causing wear on the cable insulation.

In all recall cases, the automaker directly or through one of its dealers, contacts owners of the affected models to inform them about the problem and how and when it will be fixed (which is stated in GM's Recall Bulletin that you can find below).

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Chevrolet Releases 2014 Corvette C7 Logo and Dedicated Website, will Debut at Detroit Show

We hope you're ready for a long list of teasers because GM has plans to build up a lot of hype leading to the official world premiere of the seventh generation of the Chevrolet Corvette at the 2013 Detroit Motor Show on Sunday evening, January 13.

Today, much like the Chrysler Group did with its SRT Viper earlier this year, General Motors released the new Crossed Flags logo for the 2014 Corvette C7 and with it, a dedicated website at www.one13thirteen.com, where it will be posting information and video content over the coming weeks.

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GM and PSA Peugeot Citroen Reportedly Considering European Merger

With GM’s European Opel/Vauxhall brands and PSA Peugeot Citroen losing money as well as market share fast, the two groups are looking for ways to make the best out of the alliance they formed on February 29.

Under the initial agreement, GM paid US$423 million (€326 million) for a 7 percent stake in its French partner, which made it its second-largest shareholder. The Detroit carmaker had stated, however, that despite the massive gains for both companies, it might be forced to write down its investment.

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German Union Wants Opel to Rule Out Redundancies, Sign New Deal by October 26

Opel has been bleeding money for the past 12 years and analysts predict that it will post a total of US$1billion operating losses annually until 2021. General Motors wants to restructure the ailing carmaker and turn it around. This, however, involves not only collaborating with PSA Peugeot Citroen, but some serious cost cutting as well.

Industriegewerkschaft Metall, the Industrial Union of Metalworkers that is (thankfully…) more commonly known as simply IG Metall, is the most prominent union in Germany and has some really serious clout with both manufacturers and the government.

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Japanese Automakers May Slash China Production in Half as Sales Plunge Amid Islands Row

Tumbling sales can be attributed to many factors. Japanese carmakers, though, just can’t seem to get a break as since last year, they have seen their production hurt by an earthquake and a tsunami, a nuclear reactor malfunction and now, a political crisis.

As we have already reported, the dispute between the two countries over the ownership of a group of East China Sea islands has resulted in escalating protests, boycotts and even violence against anything Japanese, from restaurants to automobiles in China.

Following these events, Toyota and Nissan announced that last month they recorded their biggest sales drop in China since 2008. In September, Toyota, Nissan and Honda sales fell by 49, 35 and 41 percent respectively, to 44,100, 76,066 and 33,931 units.

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Small Cars Sales on the Rise in the U.S., Could Account for 20 Percent of the Market this Year

Big may be beautiful, but when reality bites, small can prove to be a choice that makes more sense. High fuel prices, along with the fact that subcompact and compact cars are better than ever have resulted in the small car segment being on track to achieve its best-ever market share since 1993 when it held 20.5 percent of the market.

Last month, sales of small cars exploded by 50 percent compared to the same month in 2011 according to Autodata Corp. As a result, the segment accounted for 20.2 percent of September deliveries, the most since July and August 2009, and 19.3 percent of the market year to date.

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