Happy Birthday, General Motors 9/16/2008

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The Buick Motor Company was started in 1903 by David Dunbar Buick in Detroit. The company was taken over by James Whiting later that year, and moved to Flint, MI. In 1904 William Crapo (Billy) Durant, a successful manufacturer of horse-drawn vehicles, joined Buick, and became General Manager by 1908. (wikipedia) He formed General Motors either with only Buick or as a holding company then put Buick into it.  Although Billy Durant was a high school drop out, he was an entrepreneur of the first order.

Billy Durant

Billy Durant

The gmnext.com history wiki notes:

Under the guidance and persistence of Billy Durant, a company called General Motors was established on September 16. Its initial holdings included only Durant’s Buick Motor Company and went un-noticed in the news media, with the major business news story that day being the announcement by the White Star Line shipping company that it would begin construction of the world’s largest ocean liner, to be called the Titanic.

Late that year he also bought Oldsmobile. The next year he added Cadillac, Elmore, Oakland, and several other makes. But General Motors marks their birth as 1908. So on Tuesday, 2008 they will officially be 100 years old.

GM is marking the celebration in an appropriate 2008-era way by conducting activities on the internet.
Please check in at GM Next http://www.gmnext.com to participate in the planned celebration, discussion, interaction, and broadcast.

Commemorate the day with a series of forward-looking activities right here on GMnext.com. Join in the first day of GM’s next 100 years. Here’s what we have planned:

* Global Broadcast 8:30 a.m. EDT
* Virtual Chats beginning at 10:30 a.m. EDT
* Future of Transportation Roundtable 1:30 p.m. EDT

Happy 100th Birthday General Motors

Happy 100th Birthday General Motors

The Auto Writer also has coverage of the event. (wave)

Alpha Cadillac to lead the pack of Entry-level Luxury Cars

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Motor Trend has a short update with a Motortrend? graphic artist depiction of what the upcoming, smaller-than-a-CTS Alpha architecture Cadillac might looks like.  The depiction looks great:

Will the new smaller Cadillac look like this?

Will the new smaller Cadillac look like this?

The alpha platform is a larger variant of the kappa RWD architecture used in the Pontiac Solstice, Saturn Sky, and Opel GT. The new car will slot below the CTS in price and size. The new car has not been name officially yet. BTS would match as the B-sized Touring Sedan, but we’ll see what Cadillac’s Marketing folks think will suit. I like “Cadillac Alpha”, with maybe the Greek letter for Alpha shown on the car.   I think there is a lot of marketing mileage in that if it is available.  But the platform names are almost never used as vehicle names.

Cadillac has recently debated in the press whether the world is ready for a 4-cylinder Cadillac again. Powerplants under consideration for the new small Cadillac are the 3.6L V6, the newly-on-the-way 3L V6, perhaps the 2.8L V6 or V6 Turbo, and the 2L I4 Turbo from the kappa cars apparently. A diesel variant using the VM Motori sourced 2.9L Turbo diesel may also come along.

Motor Trend notes we may see a coupe or hardtop convertible of the new car. I say WOOT!!

Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon speeding closer

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GM Europe has a highlight article on the new 2009 CTS Sport Wagon up.

GM Europe’s article has an intro write-up, then rather more coverage on the Cadillac BLS, which is of course currently available in Europe.

CTS Sport Wagon: Cadillacs Renaissance takes a new form

Click on the ‘more’ button and you get more info on the CTS Sport Wagon:

The CTS Sport Wagon, due in showrooms from summer 2009, rides on the same 2,880mm wheelbase as the CTS Sedan, but offers a generous cargo area of 720 liters behind the rear seats. Further design highlights include new 19-inch wheels and the option of a large panoramic rear sunroof.

2010 Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon rear

2010 Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon rear


I am confused as to whether the Sport Wagon will arrive in time to be a 2009 model or not.  All good either way.  I did not pick up on the switch to 19″ wheels, which may be very popular.