General Motors’ European divisions are keeping mum on the details, but Opel and Vauxhall are preparing to unveil some sort of new concept car next month at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

All GM is saying at this point is that the experimental prototype will be driver-focused. Which sounds good, but we’ll reserve any sort of judgement until we know a little more. Or really, until we know anything.

The secretive show car will join the Astra GTC three-door hatch and Zafira Tourer minivan, which also make their production debuts, on the twin companies’ show stand. Joining them as well will be the Ampera – the European cousin of the Chevy Volt – that is nearing its market debut, and seven vehicles equipped with the EcoFLEX family of frugal engines.

Follow the jump for the full press release, and watch this space for more info on what form that concept car might take as the show approaches.

Continue reading Opel/Vauxhall coming to Frankfurt with secret concept plus two production debuts

Opel/Vauxhall coming to Frankfurt with secret concept plus two production debuts originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 18 Aug 2011 07:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Can His Arsenal Survive New Management?

When Bob Lutz ran General Motors‘ product development efforts, he did something that no other car company has done in the history of making cars. He hired four automotive journalists to assess all of GM’s new vehicles before they were OK’d for production. And their word was law. Everything had to be developed to their satisfaction.

That didn’t go down well with GM’s traditional engineering staff, at least not at first. They didn’t like the fact that four outsiders, four media critics with no product development experience, could force them to make changes on a new-car program. But because the journos reported to Lutz, they had all the protection they needed.

Lutz hired them as full-time employees because he wanted an independent, third party voice to evaluate GM’s cars as they went through their development stages. “These are four guys who made a living out of critiquing cars,” Lutz says, “and they made a pretty good living at it.” Since the four didn’t hold any allegiance to the design, engineering or manufacturing staffs at GM, they could feel free to critique any car just as they would when they were full-time journalists.

Lutz tells me they were his secret weapons. He credits them with the reason why GM’s cars are now tuned to world-class standards. These guys didn’t design, engineer or develop any vehicles. That was done by GM’s long-standing employees. But the journos brought an enthusiast magazine mind-set to the evaluation process to make sure there would be very little for the press to pick apart.

I’ve known about Lutz’s secret weapons for several years. But he personally asked me not to write anything about them. That’s how much of a competitive advantage he felt they brought to GM. He didn’t want to see any other car company copying this approach. Since these guys are friends and colleagues whom I’ve known for years, I also didn’t want to jeopardize their jobs. So I didn’t write about them. Until now. And now I think it’s important that I do.

Continue reading…

John McElroy is host of the TV program “Autoline Detroit” and daily web video “Autoline Daily”. Every week he brings his unique insights as a Detroit insider to Autoblog readers.

Continue reading How Bob Lutz made four auto journalists his “Secret Weapons” at GM

How Bob Lutz made four auto journalists his “Secret Weapons” at GM originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 25 Jan 2011 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There are plenty of wealthy car collectors with fantastic and exotic collections of all things on four wheels, but the National Museum of American History has something just a bit more dramatic. It’s a 112-year-old collection of 217 vehicles and 73 automobiles between the years of 1894 and 1997 that symbolize great leaps in the history of mobility.

Roger White, who looks over the collection, says the vehicles are stored deep down within the Smithsonian as “a kind of doom’s day thinking” in case there is a 40 day flood or some other sort of Mad Max scenario. That’s a bit depressing, but the good news is that some of the vehicles will soon see the light of day. Over 24,000 voted online to determine which vehicles should be brought to the surface, and the rear-engine 1948 Tucker and a supercharged 1929 Miller race car (shown above) took the top prize. The Associated Press captured video of the Noah’s Ark of car collections, and you can watch at your leisure by hitting the jump. Thanks for the tips, all.

[Source: Associated Press via Yahoo!]

Continue reading Video: Inside the Smithsonian’s secret “Noah’s Ark” of automotive history

Video: Inside the Smithsonian’s secret “Noah’s Ark” of automotive history originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 21 Jan 2011 12:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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