At the Paris Motor Show (Oct. 4 – 19), Opel arrives fully equipped with two world premieres - its dynamic new Insignia Sports Tourer with two new engines and the sleek Insignia ecoFLEX model that combines driving fun with fuel efficiency.

Opel’s new station wagon wraps leading technologies in a sporty, premium body at an affordable price. The Insignia Sports Tourer boasts the same athletic, powerful and elegant design as its sedan counterpart. Yet, as Mark Adams, Vice-President of GM Europe Design points up, “this vehicle has is own very unique personality, while still remaining consistent to the new design language that we have developed for Opel.” Sales of the Sports Tourer start in spring 2009.

D3 Research & Design, one of the country’s only dedicated Cadillac tuners, has released its latest add-on rear roof and decklid spoilers for 2008 and newer CTS sedans, which require no drilling or cutting to the sedan’s already striking profile.
D3 CTS Spoilers

Cook County Illinios residents have until September 30th to take advantage of GM’s Employee Discount program. Bill Sullivan Pontiac recently launched a new website giving Illinois residents the capability to preview and shop for cars online.

Bill Sullivan Pontiac, the number one Pontiac retailer in Illinois for the past 13 years just expanded their dealership to include all makes and models of Buick and GMC cars. With the expanded selection of cars came the need for a new website to offer Illinois car shoppers the best online shopping experience.

General Motors Corp expects to give potential buyers financial information about Hummer in the next few weeks while also looking at other asset sales, Chief Operating Officer Fritz Henderson said on Monday.

GM, which in June hired Citigroup to consider all strategic options for Hummer, has not yet officially put the iconic gas-guzzling brand on the market.

Friday, Delphi Corp. (DPHIQ.PK: News ) announced that it reached an agreement with GM on amended settlement and restructuring agreements. Per the agreements, Delphi will receive support from GM that Delphi estimates to be valued at approximately $10.6 billion for its transformation, increased from about $6.0 billion in the January
2008 settlement. The agreement would modify the mechanics and expand the amount of Delphi’s net hourly pension liability transfer to GM pursuant to section 414(l) of the Internal Revenue Code from $1.5 billion under the original GSA to about $3.4 billion.

General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and their suppliers may get $25 billion in government loans to speed development of fuel-efficient vehicles this year and have to wait until next year for another $25 billion, analysts said.

The auto companies probably will be able to win support for $3.75 billion that must be appropriated to cover the costs of issuing the first $25 billion, Clint Currie, a Washington-based transportation analyst at Stanford Group, said in a report today. The odds against funding additional loans for the industry this year are 3-to-1, he said.

Web site The Car Connection on Tuesday managed to get its digital hands on photos of the what is said to be the production version of the Chevy Volt, the much-ballyhooed plug-in hybrid from General Motors.
Production version of the Chevy Volt from General Motors

The photos were made available on GM’s media Web site unintentionally, a company representative told The Detroit News. They were quickly taken down from GM’s site after The Car Connection posted them.

It’s back to the assembly line for workers at the H2 plant.

But their return comes at a time when AM General announced the plant has laid off 80 employees, and scaled back production from 52 vehicles per day to 25.

Before the day started for employees, many sat down for a morning meeting with AM General leaders who announced the cutbacks and changes at the plant.

General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, and some U.S. auto-parts makers want $50 billion in government-backed loans to build fuel-efficient cars, according to Bloomberg news. They also want fewer restrictions on how they can spend the money.

Before government officials agree to this, they should examine how some of the people running our nation’s car companies have been spending money that makes it into company coffers.

Vandals who mess with other people’s cars are scum — bottom-feeders who are beneath contempt. It doesn’t matter what the vehicle being damaged is. Cars are a major purchase, there’s often an emotional connection to them, and most importantly, they generally represent the owner’s primary source of mobility — getting him or her to work, to the store, to pick up the kids, and so on.