GM offers employee pricing to owners of recalled vehicles

Owners affected by the General Motors ignition switch recall are getting even an better incentive to return to its brands for their next new car. The automaker says that these drivers can now get employee pricing on its models. Previously, GM was only offering them a $500 discount if they bought a new 2013 to 2015 vehicle.

According to GM spokesperson Jim Cain speaking to Autoblog, the company has been offering the incentive to affected owners for about a month. But it purposefully isn't advertising it or disclosing volumes. "We want to give dealers as many tools as they need to satisfy customers," he said. Buyers get employee pricing on 2013 to 2015 models, which is a certain percentage below dealer invoice, and it replaces the previous $500 offer. It will be available throughout the duration of the recall.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the original $500 enticement wasn't enough to bring buyers back to showrooms. Many of the roughly 2.6 million affected vehicles are on their second or third owners, and they might not be able to afford a new car.

GM's recall campaign for the ignition switches began in April. Cain said the effort is going as planned. Delphi is running multiple shifts for replacement parts and may add a second or third production line. The company expects to have a majority of vehicles repaired by October. In the meantime, affected drivers can take advantage of free loaners while their car is serviced.
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2014 Chevy Malibu, Buick LaCrosse recalled over brake mix-up

The recall madness over at General Motors isn't letting up anytime soon, as evidenced by this latest call-back of 8,208 Chevrolet Malibu and Buick LaCrosse sedans. For those keeping track, this is the fifth recall that GM has announced in the past two weeks, not to mention the massive ignition-switch issue from earlier this year.

GM issued a statement saying these sedans are being recalled due to "possible reduced braking performance," according to Automotive News. The problem? Rear brake rotors may have accidentally been installed in the front brake assembly. And since both cars use more robust braking systems up front than out back, braking power could be reduced, increasing the risk of a crash.

Automotive News reports that, of the over 8,000 cars being recalled, about 1,700 are currently in the hands of customers, while the others are still in dealer inventory. GM is unaware of any crashes or injuries related to this problem. All of the affected vehicles are from the 2014 model year.

GM has issued a stop-sale, effective May 1, on the cars still at dealers. After the front braking assemblies have been inspected and repaired (if necessary), dealers will be allowed to sell these vehicles.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has not yet issued a formal announcement about the recall. Head over to Automotive News for the full report.
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GM claims it's first to sell million 30+ mpg vehicles

As we continue to put together all the data for the year-end edition of By The Numbers, General Motors has announced that it sold more than a million vehicles in the US last year that achieved at least 30 miles per gallon on the highway. More impressively, GM managed this feat using multiple strategies including small vehicle size, turbocharged engines and hybrid or plug-in technologies across four brands (Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC) accounting for 13 separate models. This number will grow even more in 2013 thanks to cars like the all-electric Spark, the diesel Cruze, the range-extended Cadillac ELR and the Buick Encore compact CUV.

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Facelifted Buick LaCrosse caught in China

Back in September, General Motors promised nine new or refreshed models for its Buick and GMC brands within 12 months, and while we've already seen what the updated 2014 GMC Sierra will look like, we're now getting our first look at what appears to be the facelifted 2014 Buick LaCrosse. Judging by a set of spy shots posted on Autohome showing a Chinese-market model, the updated sedan is getting a pretty big makeover, including a completely redesigned interior and a refreshed exterior.

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Buick May Get New Logo

Automaker logos, while they may be very important for a company’s tradition and historic value are often changed nowadays, to go along with some sort of ‘refresh’ of the range, or just to keep them looking fresh and modern, while still keeping the essence intact.

After having finished their comprehensive model overhaul of Buick, General Motors may also be changing the logo, as well. The Detroit Free Press says that GM’s North America President, Mark Reuss suggested that the three-shield logo would be altered, yet did not offer any details on how they would go about doing this.

If you take a look at what Peugeot and Citroen have done with their logos, you can kind of get an idea what Buick might do with theirs – it will be rounded off, stylized and just made to look more modern, in order to better match the brand’s newly-polished image.

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