AS GENERAL MOTORS moves ahead with its revitalisation plan and works to get itself out of bankruptcy, the automaking conglomerate is reportedly considering a change of its corporate colours.

Company insiders report that the background colour of GM’s logo may end up turning from blue to green - a gesture that GM hopes will tell consumers [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

First Porsche wanted to acquire a 75 percent stake in Volkswagen, then, after increased opposition frustrated its plans,  it scrapped that idea and instead pursued a merger between the two companies.

Now that scheme is in the bin too, with Volkswagen stating that Porsche is not ready to merge with the automaking giant.

Under the proposed merger, [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

Mazda has announced that Laurens van den Acker, the man responsible for the automaker’s Nagare design language, will be departing the company to “pursue other interests”.

Van den Acker ushered in a bold new look for the Japanese manufacturer when he took over Mazda’s design division in 2006. The Nagare, Taiki and Furai concepts all bore [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

Failure is often a dirty word, particularly in the carmaking biz. To Honda, however, failure is a catalyst for improvement and something it embraces in its corporate philosophy.

Whether it’s an engine that eats itself at 15,000rpm, a lapse of judgement that costs the company money or a colour palette  that doesn’t sell, failures are seen [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

Rick Wagoner’s chair has barely cooled, but General Motors has already named current GM president and Chief Operating Officer Frederick “Fritz” Henderson as its new CEO.

Henderson will take over the helm of the troubled company from March 31 onward, with the 50 year-old GM veteran the first of a number of new executive appointments.

Kent Kresa [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

After posting a loss of €343 million last year and issuing a similarly grim sales forecast for this year, PSA Peugeot Citroen has announced that it has fired chief executive Christian Streiff.

Streiff’s dismissal came as no surprise to many industry commentators, as the former CEO has been accused of being unnecessarily abrasive in his dealings [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

It appears that Saab will become the first of GM’s European subsidiaries to divorce itself from its beleagured parent. The Swedish automaker has filed for bankruptcy and is initiating procedures to re-establish itself as an independent company.

The announcement comes shortly after GM’s last-ditch failed bid to secure aid from the Swedish Government to prop up [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

GM US’s restructuring plan, posted on the US Treasury website, will make unpalatable reading for the US Administration and long-suffering US tax-payers (those still in jobs and paying tax that is).

In it, GM outlines plans to cut costs and to reduce its global workforce by 47,000, including yet more cuts to its US workforce with [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More