1967 Buick Skylark Base Convertible 2-door 4.9l on 2040-cars

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Despite strong profits, GM still fighting flat market share

Looking at the progress General Motors has made since it entered bankruptcy, it's easy to forget that the company still has a long way to go before it's the juggernaut it once was. A recent report from Reuters points out that, while GM is making money, it isn't making any gains in terms of US market share. Quite the opposite, really. Consider this factoid: In 1963, nearly half of the cars sold in the United States were from Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick, GMC or Pontiac. Now, the company's US market share is stagnant at 17.9 percent. That same number is half of just Chevy's 1963 market share. This is all despite GM going on a binge replacing or updating its models. "Market share increases are not instantaneous," Mark Reuss told Reuters at the 2014 Detroit Auto Show. "We've got a lot of baggage. Don't underestimate what people though of us, or these brands, through these hardships and 30 years." The reasons for the stagnant market share are numerous. Reuters points out that retooling of factories and a focus on limiting incentives are both good things for profit, but not necessarily for market share. There's also the troubling turnover of the brand's marketing department. These issues don't change the fact that Chevrolet has lost 1.4 percent of its market share in two years, and that Cadillac - arguably GM's most improved brand overall - has lost 1.2 percent in the same period. Part of that can be blamed on GM's avoidance of fleet sales in favor of more profitable customer sales. "Our focus has really been on retail and that's where we've got the growth," said Alan Batey, GM's interim global marketing boss. "We want to grow GM and that means growing market share and profits, but it's not at all costs," Reuss said. News Source: ReutersImage Credit: paul bica - Flickr CC 2.0 Earnings/Financials Buick Cadillac GM GMC sales profits

Junkyard Gem: 1983 Buick LeSabre Estate Station Wagon, Rocky Mountain High Edition

If you live in Colorado and want an affordable chariot to haul you and your snowboarding droogs to the slopes, you could get one of the obvious cheapskate choices, e.g., a Tercel 4WD, a Corolla All-Trac, or an 80s 4WD Subaru wagon. However, if you want to channel the spiritual forefathers of early-1980s punk rock (and you do), you'll need a big, battered, Detroit bomb. This '83 LeSabre, spotted in a Denver self-service wrecking yard, is such a car. As you can see in 1984's Suburbia, you're pretty much halfway to being a member of The Vandals when you drive a couple of tons of once-luxurious Detroit Iron. 1983 was the final year of the Malaise Era, and so you didn't get much power from the V8s back then. The standard engine for the LeSabre that year was an Olds 307 generating a mere 140 horsepower. The only way to get a burnout out of this setup was to pour a case of Lucky Lager over the right rear tire, then neutral-drop the transmission while floating the valves. Chrysler and Nissan dominated the Whorehouse Red car interiors during the 1980s, but GM made a respectable showing with this scratchy, velour-influenced stuff. When you know you're a car's last owner, nothing holds you back from decorating it to suit your tastes. Ron Paul, the Snowboarders + Skiers For Christ, and many other icons of Buick-driving snow enthusiasts are represented upon the ample flanks of this wagon. How many miles are on it? With a five-digit odometer, there's no telling. The Colorado sun is rough on interiors, but this car may have spent its first couple of decades parking in a garage, or maybe it came from cloudy Oregon. Advertising for this generation of LeSabre emphasized fuel economy, which may have been a less-than-convincing approach. Related Video:

GM cars and SUVs recalled for leaking transmission fluid

General Motors is recalling more than 194,000 vehicles from 2018 to 2020 due to transmission fluid leaks. The leaks stem from an auto stop-start component that may have been installed with loose or missing bolts. The leaking fluid can affect the transmission's performance, and if it leaks onto a hot exhaust component, could potentially cause a fire. GM says that to date, it knows of no accidents or injuries related to the defect. The issue affects models from all four GM divisions. From Chevrolet, the affected vehicles are: 2018 Malibu, 2018–2019 Cruze, 2018–2020 Equinox, 2018–2020 Traverse, 2019–2020 Blazer At Buick, the following models are included: 2018–2019 LaCrosse, 2019–2020 Encore, 2019–2020 Enclave, At GMC, the recall includes: 2018–2020 Terrain, 2019–2020 Acadia Cadillac has two affected vehicles: 2019–2020 XT4 and 2020 XT6 The recall is scheduled to begin in mid-December. Owners of the affected vehicles will be contacted. Dealers will inspect the transmission accumulator, and replace those with loose or missing bolts.