1985 Buick Riviera Luxury Coupe 2-door 5.0l on 2040-cars

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GM issues 4 new recalls for 90k vehicles, Chevy, Buick, GMC affected

One day after releasing an internal report that found a pattern of "incompetence and neglect" within the company, General Motors announced four more recalls that affect 89,126 vehicles. One of the recalls affects 31,520 vehicles that may contain a defect that could prevent airbags from deploying in a car accident. GM said it was aware of at least one crash in which a vehicle occupant sustained an injury because the airbags didn't deploy when they should have. The company said it was aware of other crashes that were similar in nature, but it is not yet known whether they're related to the condition, in which the shorting bar inside the driver's airbag may occasionally contact the airbag terminals. If the car and terminals are touching each other in a crash, the bags will not deploy. Vehicles from the 2012 model year are affected by the problem, and they include the Buick Verano, Chevrolet Camaro, Cruze and Sonic. GM has conducted two previous recalls for this condition involving 7,116 cars. GM is also recalling 57,512 models of the 2014 Chevrolet Silverado 1500, 2014 GMC Sierra 1500 and 2015 Silverado HD, Tahoe and Surburan, as well as the 2015 GMC Sierra HD, Yukon and Yukon XL models because their radio control modules may not work, and thus prevent certain audible safety warnings. Certain models of the 2013-2014 Chevrolet Spark and 2013 Buick Encore are being recalled for a different airbag problem, which could prevent airbags from deploying properly during a crash. And 33 2014 Chevrolet Corvettes are being recalled for yet another airbag problem, in which an internal short circuit could disable the airbags. So far in 2014, General Motors has issued 34 separate recalls that affect approximately 15.9 million vehicles – more than the company has sold in the past five years combined. GM Announces Four Recalls DETROIT – General Motors today announced three safety recalls and one non-compliance recall, all of which were reported to the NHTSA on Thursday, June 5, 2014. In all cases, customers will receive letters from GM letting them know when they can bring their vehicles into a dealership, where all repairs will be performed free of charge and courtesy transportation would be provided as needed.

5 reasons why GM is cutting jobs, closing plants in a healthy economy

DETROIT — Even though unemployment is low, the economy is growing and U.S. auto sales are near historic highs, General Motors is cutting thousands of jobs in a major restructuring aimed at generating cash to spend on innovation. It's the new reality for automakers that are faced with the present cost of designing gas-powered cars and trucks that appeal to buyers now while at the same time preparing for a future world of electric and autonomous vehicles. GM announced Monday that it will cut as many as 14,000 workers in North America and put five plants up for possible closure as it abandons many of its car models and restructures to focus more on autonomous and electric vehicles. The reductions could amount to as much as 8 percent of GM's global workforce of 180,000 employees. The cuts mark GM's first major downsizing since shedding thousands of jobs in the Great Recession. The company also said it will stop operating two additional factories outside North America by the end of next year. The move to make GM get leaner before the next downturn likely will be followed by Ford Motor Co., which also has struggled to keep one foot in the present and another in an ambiguous future of new mobility. Ford has been slower to react, but says it will lay off an unspecified number of white-collar workers as it exits much of the car market in favor of trucks and SUVs, some of them powered by batteries. Here's a rundown of the reasons behind the cuts: Coding, not combustion CEO Mary Barra said as cars and trucks become more complex, GM will need more computer coders but fewer engineers who work on internal combustion engines. "The vehicle has become much more software-oriented" with millions of lines of code, she said. "We still need many technical resources in the company." Shedding sedans The restructuring also reflects changing North American auto markets as manufacturers continue to shift away from cars toward SUVs and trucks. In October, almost 65 percent of new vehicles sold in the U.S. were trucks or SUVs. That figure was about 50 percent cars just five years ago. GM is shedding cars largely because it doesn't make money on them, Citi analyst Itay Michaeli wrote in a note to investors. "We estimate sedans operate at a significant loss, hence the need for classic restructuring," he wrote. The reduction includes about 8,000 white-collar employees, or 15 percent of GM's North American white-collar workforce. Some will take buyouts while others will be laid off.

Buick asks design students 'What could a Buick sedan look like in 2030?'

When you think of daring concept cars or emotional design-student projects, Buick probably isn't the first brand that comes to mind. It's not for lack of concepts; when General Motors ran down 11 concept-car highlights from Buick's 110-year history, three of them are from the past 15 years, with other experiments in that same timeframe like the Black Hawk, Centieme and Cielo left unmentioned.
But the company still thinks about them even if we don't. It ran a contest for students at Detroit's College for Creative Studies to create a Buick for the year 2030 that would incorporate future materials and transportation needs, and nanotechnology.
Best exterior design went to Sam Kenny for his Neo Classical Buick, Justin Salmon took honors for innovative material use, like having exposed algae on the bodyshell to generate energy, and Namsuk Lee nabbed best overall concept and best interior for his Buick Vision Sedan. You can read more about the design challenge and winners in the press release, and hear students talk about what went into the work in the video below.