Rides : Deal brokered to get Saab warranty service honored at GM dealers

When Pontiac, Hummer and Saturn were killed off, at least current owners never had to question where they would have to take their vehicle in case it needed to be serviced. The same couldn't be said for Saab owners... until now. General Motors and Saab Automobile Parts North America (the remaining entity of the bankrupted automaker) have signed an agreement that provides 179 service centers to current Saab owners to receive factory-trained technicians and official Saab replacement parts.

These warranty service providers will have all the tools, training and parts to maintain and repair Saab vehicles, and they will also have access to a technical assistance center for the technicians. Next year, SPNA will also set up a customer assistance center, which will likely be most useful in helping current owners find repair shows, as well as a program called Saab Secure to give added service support to owners of late model (2010 and 2011 model year) Saab vehicles. Finally, to make sure customers have a sufficient parts supply to keep their cars on the road, SPNA operates out of a 153,000 square foot warehouse in Michigan that has the ability to ship more than 3,000 parts orders per day.

 

Press Release

Saab Automobile Parts North America and General Motors Company Enter Warranty Services Agreement

• Covered owners can now take their Saab vehicles to any of the 179 SPNA Warranty Service Providers to have warranty work performed
• Agreement commenced December 17, 2012
• Technical and Customer Assistance support will be offered to ensure Saab expertise is available in North America

DETROIT, Dec. 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Saab Automobile Parts North America (SPNA), the exclusive provider of Saab Genuine Parts and Accessories to the U.S. and Canadian markets, and General Motors Company (GM) have entered into a Warranty Services Agreement that authorizes SPNA to provide warranty administration and related services through Saab's network of Warranty Service Providers for model year 2009 and prior Saab vehicles still covered under the GM limited warranty. The agreement permits Saab owners the opportunity to have their vehicles repaired by Saab factory trained technicians using Saab Genuine Parts by a nationwide network of Warranty Service Providers.

Tim Colbeck, President and CEO of Saab Automobile Parts North America, said: "Our agreement with General Motors is an important step in supporting Saab owners in North America and ensuring they have access to Saab Genuine Parts, service programs and technical support for years to come."

The transition of warranty administration services from GM to SPNA commenced on December 17, 2012. Geographically, the agreement covers all of the United States and Canada. It will not affect GM's original manufacturer limited warranty coverage. All scheduled maintenance, roadside assistance, loaner vehicle allowances and Certified Pre-Owned coverage remain in effect.

Saab Warranty Service Providers will have a Saab dedicated claims processing team and access to technical experts to assist with the timely completion of necessary maintenance and repairs. To ensure Saab expertise is available in North America, the agreement calls for a Technical Assistance Center (TAC) to be established. The TAC line will be available to all Warranty Service Providers requiring technical support from the SPNA team of experts. The Saab Warranty Services Agreement provides for the best overall customer ownership experience.

The agreement also calls for the establishment of a North America Customer Assistance Center (CAC). All Saab owners will benefit from the CAC which will be available for customer facing interactions early next year.

In addition, SPNA will be launching their Saab Secure program in early 2013, providing limited service support to model year '10 and '11 owners.

Saab Automobile Parts North America commenced operations in June 2012. The company is headquartered in Michigan and is responsible for the warehousing, distribution and sale of Saab Genuine Parts and Accessories for all Saab vehicles in the United States and Canada. The company distributes parts and accessories from its 153,000 sq. / ft. warehouse through its nationwide network of Official Service Centers and Warranty Service Providers. With over 50,000 part numbers and over 70,000 parts, the company can ship over 3,000 order lines each day.

 

Credit : Autoblog

Rides : General Motors is the world leader in car manufacturing

The North American based automaker General Motors is the 2011 world leader in car manufacturing after a three-year break.

General Motors has taken advantage of Toyota’s problems due to the natural disaster that hit the Eastern coast of Japan in March 2011 and managed to sell 9.025.942 cars in 2011, which is actually 7.6 percent more compared to the previous year. The Volkswagen Group’s sales also increased compared to 2010, and the Germans managed to sell 8.160.000 cars in 2011, 14.3 percent more compared to the previous period. The “podium” was closed by none others than the Japanese from Toyota, who, despite the hard time, managed to sell 7.900.000 cars world wide in 2011, 6.2 percent less compared to 2010.
The unexpected “growth” of the Chevrolet brand was one of the main reasons for GM’s record sales, and more than half of the cars sold by the automotive giant worldwide in 2011 were wearing the Chevrolet badge on them. Chevy had sold 4.71 million units last year, 11 percent more compared to 2010, and the best markets for the sub-brand were the United States (1.77m cars, +13%), Brazil (632.000) and China (595.000). The Chevrolet best-seller in 2011 is the Cruze, with the compact car selling in 670.000 units worldwide.
General Motors sold most of its cars in China, 2.55 million units, 8.3 percent more than in 2010, and the second market for GM was the US, with 2.5 million units, 11 percent more. Europe has “bought” 1.73 million GM cars in 2011, 4.4 percent more than in 2010, where Opel was the leader, with 1.21 million cars sold in 2011, compared to 1.18 million in 2010.

Rides : GM gets serious about widespread use of carbon fiber

General Motors has announced a partnership with a leading carbon fiber producer in an effort to research the possibility of widespread use of the material in its vehicles. Teijin Limited has pioneered a new manufacturing process for carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic that allows for cycle times of under one minute. Typically, creating carbon fiber parts from molds requires the use of slow-setting resin that simply takes too long to be practical for use on a large scale. As part of the tie-up with GM, Teijin will set up a new technical center in the northern United States to support development.

Carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastics have the benefit of being up to 10 times stronger than conventional steel while offering one quarter of the weight. Of course, carbon fiber can also come with a suitably steep price tag, though Teijin's techniques will likely help curb costs significantly. As manufacturers continue to push for ever more efficient vehicles, ditching the weight will become increasingly important.

 

Press Release

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Advanced Carbon Fiber Nears Broad Automotive Use

GM and Teijin will co-develop technology to reduce vehicle weight, improve fuel economy
Teijin to open U.S. technical center to facilitate collaborative development

DETROIT – General Motors and Teijin Limited., a leader in the carbon fiber and composites industry, will co-develop advanced carbon fiber composite technologies for potential high-volume use globally in GM cars, trucks and crossovers.

The co-development pact signed today involves use of Teijin's innovative carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic (CFRTP) technology, a faster and more efficient way to produce carbon fiber composites that potentially could be introduced on mainstream vehicles. For Teijin, the arrangement could lead to widening its portfolio beyond specialty and high-end automotive carbon fiber applications.

"Our relationship with Teijin provides the opportunity to revolutionize the way carbon fiber is used in the automotive industry," said GM Vice Chairman Steve Girsky. "This technology holds the potential to be an industry game changer and demonstrates GM's long-standing commitment to innovation."

To support the relationship, Teijin will establish the Teijin Composites Application Center, a technical center in the northern part of the United States early next year.

As carbon fiber is 10 times stronger than regular-grade steel yet only one-quarter of the weight, carbon fiber composites used as automobile components are expected to dramatically reduce vehicle weight. Consumers benefit from lighter weight vehicles with better fuel economy and all the safety benefits that come with vehicles of greater mass.

Teijin's proprietary breakthrough is its ability to mass-produce carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic components with cycle times of under a minute. Conventional carbon fiber-reinforced composites use thermosetting resins and require a much longer timeframe for molding. This time factor has limited the use of carbon fiber in high-volume vehicles.

Teijin recently received a 2011 Global Automotive Carbon Composites Technology Innovation Award by Frost & Sullivan. The technology also was selected by ICIS Innovation Awards 2011 as the overall winner and the recipient of the Best Product Innovation award.

Increasingly, strict global environmental standards and fuel economy regulations have intensified the need to reduce vehicle mass by using lightweight materials in place of high-tension steel or aluminum.

The Teijin Group, which has identified automobiles as a key growth market, accelerated the new technology development through collaboration by the Teijin Composites Innovation Center and Toho Tenax Co. Ltd., where the mass-production technology for carbon fiber reinforced plastic components using thermoplastic resin was successfully developed.

"Teijin's innovative CFRTP technology, which promises to realize revolutionarily lighter automotive body structures, will play an important role in GM's initiative to bring carbon fiber components into mainstream vehicles," said Norio Kamei, senior managing director of Teijin. "We believe our visionary relationship with GM will lead the way in increased usage of green composites in the automotive industry."

The launch of any carbon fiber-intensive vehicle applications resulting from the relationship would be announced closer to market readiness. The agreement does not involve an exchange of equity between the companies.

Rides : General Motors and LG to develop electric vehicles

The American auto giant General Motors has signed a partnership with the LG Group that is the first step into designing and developing future electric vehicles. The LG Group has already entered the automotive industry by supplying the battery cells to the Chevrolet Volt and Opel Ampera, and by adding GM’s experience in the field than that can only mean two things: success and money.

“Many solutions for tomorrow’s transportation needs may be available more quickly by building on our partnership strategy. Consumers benefit by getting the latest fuel-saving technology faster if we work with the best suppliers and we save time and money in the development process”, said the General Motors vice chairman, Steve Girsky.

According to the two companies, General Motors and LG will work on the vehicle structures and architectures and the cars will be sold in many countries. The new EVs that will come off the production line from the GM & LG partnership will play a major role into the US Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFÉ) of 54.5 mpg (4.3L/100km) by the end of 2025 model year.