1986 Chevrolet C-10 on 2040-cars

Auto blog

GM recalling 250,000 SUVs over door electronics

After a door-fire investigation that dates back to February, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has officially announced a recall today that affects around 250,000 General Motors SUVs for a faulty driver's door module. The recall applies to the Buick Rainier, Chevrolet Trailblazer, GMC Envoy, Isuzu Ascender and Saab 9-7X from the 2006 and 2007 model years, as well as the 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer EXT and GMC Envoy XL for vehicles sold and/or registered in the Snow Belt.
Road salt use in these midwestern and northern states can lead to corrosion of the driver's door module on these GMT360 and GMT370 vehicles, which allows water to come in contact with the circuit board. If shorted out, the vehicle's power door locks and power windows will not work, and could possibly lead to overheating and, in some circumstances, a fire. No official word on how many total vehicles caught on fire, but back in June, 28 fires had been reported to the government agency. A fix for the problem is still being worked out, but all affected vehicle owners will be notified by GM.
Scroll down for the official NHTSA statement.

Chevy Spark EV could be coming to Midwest later this year

Ohio is not known as a hotbed of EV sales – if anything, the state is a bit anti-EV, thanks to a legislative fight against Tesla's direct sales model – but it might be on Chevrolet's short list to expand the market for the Spark EV in the near future. The latest official GM press release on the battery-powered Spark still says the car is "available exclusively in California and Oregon," but Hybrid Cars found four Ohio dealerships that list a Spark EV on their websites, with hints the the car will be coming to the Midwest state by the end of the summer. See, for example, here, here, here and here. But that's probably not going to happen, according to Randy Fox, GM communication's manager for passenger cars. Fox told AutoblogGreen that, "At this point in time, we don't have any official plans to expand the Spark EV beyond California and Oregon." The reason is that California and Oregon have the infrastructure to support EVs, Fox said, and GM wants to be able to support its EV customers. "We are continuing to look at other options," he said. "The selling point for electric cars today is not advertising, it's eyeballs, it's peer exposure" – John O'Dell John O'Dell, a senior editor at Edmunds.com, told AutoblogGreen that, "It makes sense for [GM] to expand sales and it makes sense to do it in a quiet manner, to get these vehicles on the road. The selling point for electric cars today is not advertising, it's eyeballs, it's peer exposure. If someone in my neighborhood has one and he likes it, then maybe I can trust him. So it's important to get these vehicles on the road." Chevy sold 182 Spark EVs last month, a significant increase over the 98 sold in April. That's still small potatoes compared to the 3,000+ Nissan Leaf EVs sold last month, but making the electric Spark available in Ohio, say, or GM's home state of Michigan could boost those numbers. AutoblogGreen called a few dealerships in Michigan to see what they had heard. One salesman said he didn't think GM had started production yet but the inventory manager for another dealership said the Spark EV is scheduled to arrive in the Midwest in "roughly the fourth quarter." What would GM's incentive be to offer the car in markets outside of California where it can gain ZEV credits with each sale?

MotorWeek's 80's GM muscle coupe roundup includes Regal GN and Monte Carlo SS

Even with just four brands in the family, General Motors still represents a performance powerhouse. Between the Chevrolet Corvette Z06, Camaro Z/28, Cadillac CTS-V and ATS-V, The General can still deliver plenty of thrills. The 1980s, though, saw the brand go even crazier with performance. While the Camaro and Corvette were still around back in the day, GM had a number of other interesting performance offerings. The Bowtie was complemented by the long-deceased Monte Carlo SS, while the now-defunct Pontiac and Oldsmobile offered the Grand Prix and thumping 442, respectively. And Buick, which isn't short on performance with its Regal GS and Verano Turbo, offered a much more serious vehicle, in the form of the Grand National (not to mention the Darth Vader-spec GNX). MotorWeek, in its hugely entertaining retro flashbacks, looks back on these three long-lost GM performance icons, and it's just as good as you might expect. News Source: MotorWeek via YouTube Buick Chevrolet GM Pontiac Coupe Performance Classics Videos buick grand national chevy monte carlo oldsmobile 442