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GM veteran Bryan Nesbitt tapped to head Buick design

General Motors styling veteran Bryan Nesbitt (pictured above) took over a new role on Monday as executive director of global Buick design and global architectures. Andrew Smith, who previously did that job and also coordinated the look for Cadillac, has remained in charge of the pen at Caddy with this shift. Nesbitt rose to prominence when he designed the Chrysler PT Cruiser, according to Automotive News. He joined GM in 2001 and has been there ever since in multiple high-level roles. In 2007, he was appointed vice president of design for North America and was later briefly general manager of Cadillac in 2009-2010. Nesbitt took over as the vice president of GM's international operations design in China in 2011. This shuffle also moves Ken Parkinson, currently styling boss for Chevrolet trucks, to China as design vice president there. In addition, John Cafaro becomes the person in charge of the look for Chevy globally, rather than previously splitting that role between cars and trucks with Parkinson. GM Global Design Leadership Changes – effective June 1, 2015. Bryan Nesbitt, Design Vice President, GM China will repatriate to North America and assume the position of Executive Director, Global Buick and Global Architectures. He will be located in Warren, MI. Bryan will be the design Champion for Buick in the US and China. Ken Parkinson, Executive Director, Global Chevrolet Trucks and Global Architecture will assume the position of Design Vice President, GM China. He will be based in Shanghai, China. Andrew Smith, Executive Director, Global Cadillac and Buick Design will assume the position of Executive Director, Global Cadillac. He will continue to be the design Champion for the Cadillac brand. In addition, he will continue to lead the Global Color & Trim team. He will be based in Warren, Michigan. John Cafaro, Executive Director, Global Chevrolet Cars will assume the position of Executive Director, Global Chevrolet. He will be the design Champion for Chevrolet. In addition, John will lead the exterior components and accessories team. He will continue to be based in Warren, MI. The roles and responsibilities of Helen Emsley, Mark Adams, Carlos Barba, Clay Dean, Michael Simcoe, and Teckla Rhoades remain the same. Related Video: The video meant to be presented here is no longer available. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Expensive Cadillac ELR at least comes with free Level 2 home charger

"But wait, there's more!" Anyone who's watched late-night television is familiar with the telltale phrase of a spokesman looking to reel in a potential customer who may otherwise be disinterested in what's being advertised. Now, General Motors, faced with selling the first Cadillac extended-range plug-in vehicle to a public that may find it rather expensive, is throwing in a bonus. In this case, GM will give away a 240-volt home fast charger to "early" buyers of the Cadillac ELR, including professional installation. How early? Well, we're not finding that information in the press release below, so it may be a moving target. Earlier this month, GM said it would offer the ELR for a 39-month lease for $699 a month for qualified lessees. The deal requires $5,999 down and GM originally said it would only be good until the end of the month (though we assume that could change). It's also an "ultra-low-mileage" lease that allows for only 10,000 miles of driving each year, before per-mile surcharges of 25 cents kick in. Last fall, GM set the base price for the ELR at $75,000, before government incentives get factored in. Like its Chevy Volt sibling, the ELR can go about 340 miles using both the electricity in the battery and the gas-powered on-board generator. Check out our ELR First Drive here. Cadillac Enhances ELR Buying Experience Early adopters to receive complimentary home charger and installation DETROIT – Cadillac is offering a complimentary 240-volt home charging station and installation to early buyers of the all-new 2014 ELR electrified luxury coupe. "The ELR's blend of leading technology with provocative design and fun-to-drive performance is set to bring new buyers to Cadillac and to electrification itself," said Uwe Ellinghaus, chief marketing officer, Global Cadillac. "Professional installation of the fastest home-charging unit is a natural way to mark the introduction of ELR to the luxury market." Cadillac is offering the ELR on an ultra-low-mileage, 39-month lease for qualified lessees at $699 per month with $5,999 due at signing after all offers. The Cadillac ELR offers a convergence of luxury, electrification and sporty driving in a premium coupe with dynamic design and an award-winning range-extended electric powertrain capable of 340 miles of total range.

GM Recalling Another 2.7 Million Vehicles In Five Separate Campaigns

The recalls keep rolling in from General Motors, evidently keen to avoid repeating the mistakes of the ignition-switch debacle and clean house. This time they're all coming at once, with five separate recalls announced together covering approximately 2.7 million vehicles. The largest of the five actions involves over 2.4 million units of the previous-generation Chevrolet Malibu and Malibu Maxx, Pontiac G6 and Saturn Aura in order to fix brake light wiring harness, which have been found to be susceptible to corrosion. The recall is separate from the 56k Aura sedans which GM recently recalled over faulty shift cables, not to mention the previous massive recall of 1.3 million vehicles – some of them the same models – but appears to have resulted from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigation that started with the G6 almost a year ago. The second-largest campaign involves the 2014 Chevy Malibu, specifically those fitted with GM's 2.5-liter engine and stop/start system, approximately 140,000 examples of which has been found to have problematic brakes. The issue does not appear to be connected to the recall of 8k Malibu and Buick LaCrosse sedans (also involving brake woes) which we reported upon last week. Four crashes have been reported in such models, but GM admits it's not yet clear if the problem was a contributing factor in the accidents. A further 112k Corvette models from the 2005-2007 model years are being called in for problems with their low-beam headlamps resulting from a flexing relay control circuit wire that's not meant to bend. GM says it is "aware of several hundred complaints" about this issue, but notes that there have been no reports of related accidents. In addition, over 19k examples of Cadillac CTS from the 2013 and 2014 model years are being recalled over windshield wipers that might not work after a jump start. Finally, GM is also bringing in 477 examples of its 2014 Chevy Silverado, Tahoe and GMC Sierra (though not the Yukon) to fix a problem with a tie rod in its steering rack. As ever, all recall repairs will be performed free of charge, and GM is now estimating that recall-related actions this quarter will result in an estimated $200-million charge against its second-quarter earnings. Read the full announcement from GM below for further details.