1968 Cadillac Fleetwood 75 Limousine 4-door 7.7l on 2040-cars

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Opel pulls out of Russia, GM to focus on Cadillac, 'iconic' Chevys

General Motors is going to realign its priorities in the struggling Russian marketplace, withdrawing its Opel brand and pulling out mainstream Chevrolet models. Instead, the General will take aim at Russia's well-established oligarchy, pushing Cadillac as well as "iconic" Chevrolet models, like the Corvette, Camaro and Tahoe. "This change in our business model in Russia is part of our global strategy to ensure long-term sustainability in markets where we operate," GM president Dan Ammann said in a statement. "This decision avoids significant investment into a market that has very challenging long-term prospects." Russian customers interested in an Opel or mainstream Chevys like the Spark, Aveo (the US market Sonic), Cobalt (shown above), Cruze, Orlando and the like have until December to snap up a car before the brands are pulled. "We do not have the appropriate localization level for important vehicles built in Russia and the market environment does not justify a major investment to further localize." Opel Group CEO Karl-Thomas Neumann said. GM will continue to offer service to customers in Russia. "We can assure our customers that we will continue to provide warranty, parts and services for their Chevrolet and Opel vehicles," Neumann said. Beyond realigning its brands in Russia, GM also announced that it would also be idling the company's factory in the country's second-largest city, St. Petersburg. This is the second time the St. Petersburg factory has been in the news – GM announced that it'd be idled for roughly two months back in February. Scroll down for the official press release from GM. GM to Change Business Model in Russia 2015-03-18 Focus on Cadillac and iconic Chevrolet vehicles Wind down Opel brand and sale of mainstream Chevrolet cars Idle GM Auto manufacturing facility in St. Petersburg Part of GM's strategy to ensure long-term sustainability in global markets DETROIT – General Motors today announced plans to change its business model in Russia. GM will focus on the premium segment of the Russian market with Cadillac and U.S.-built iconic Chevrolet products such as the Corvette, Camaro and Tahoe. The Chevrolet brand will minimize its presence in Russia and the Opel brand will leave the market by December 2015. "This change in our business model in Russia is part of our global strategy to ensure long-term sustainability in markets where we operate," said GM President Dan Ammann.

GM announces net 220 job increase as Trump visits Michigan

GM announced today that about 900 jobs would be added (or, importantly, retained) ahead of President Trump's arrival in Michigan, where he is expected to discuss his plan to roll back fuel economy standards. The timing of the announcement is almost certainly not coincidental, as appending it to a Trump visit gives it a higher profile and dovetails with the President's jobs agenda. It's less likely the decision itself was made for those reasons, but the free PR boost is a nice bonus. As for those 900 jobs themselves, they aren't all new jobs. The only net gain is approximately 220 jobs at the Romulus Powertrain Plant, which produces the 10-speed automatic transmission that's proliferating through the company's lineup. The 180 jobs at Flint Assembly and 500 jobs at Lansing Delta Township are retained jobs – that is to say, spots the company found for workers who would otherwise have been laid off. By the way, the Flint jobs will help with production of heavy-duty pickups, and the Lansing jobs are to produce the Chevrolet Traverse and Buick Enclave. Finding jobs for manufacturing workers in the auto sector, whether new or retained, is admirable. No matter how GM couches it, the company has created or retained a total of 7,000 jobs this year, and its total reinvestment in US production is around $1 billion. But these decisions are business ones, not political ones – timing the announcements to make them seem inspired by economic policy, or the political situation, is simply smart PR. Related Video: Image Credit: Bill Pugliano/Getty Images Celebrities Government/Legal Buick Cadillac Chevrolet GMC

Hotter Cadillac CT5-V and CT4-V spy photos, video hint at engines

Cadillac has some extra spicy V cars on the way, and this latest batch of spy photos and videos is more revealing than anything we’ve seen yet. We donÂ’t yet know the final name of these Cadillac V cars, but they are supposed to be the true replacements for the CTS-V and ATS-V. The CT4-V and CT5-V we saw previously are only mild performance variants of the regular sedans. Diving into the video seems more important than the photos on this one. Our spy shooters managed to capture great audio that allows us to take some guesses at whatÂ’s under the hood of these cars. The CT5-Vs in black and white camouflage sound like they have some gnarly V8s under their skin. We canÂ’t pick up a supercharger whine or a turbocharger whistling away, but weÂ’re not going to rule out the former. The CTS-V has a 6.2-liter supercharged V8 that makes 640 horsepower, and it wouldnÂ’t be out of the question to see this car rival it in power. We still havenÂ’t heard the CT6-V at full song, but the engine weÂ’re listening to here just doesnÂ’t strike us as the sound of a 4.2-liter twin-turbo V8 in that car. It sounds a lot more guttural, like the LT4 or LT5 V8 engines. Also, none of the CT5-Vs here sounded like they had manual transmissions. CT4-V spied View 40 Photos Moving to the CT4-V in the blue getup, it sounds a lot like a V6 is under the hood. This also makes sense when we consider that the ATS-V had a 3.6-liter twin-turbo V6 itself. Most important of all to note, is the evidence of a manual transmission. In one of the acceleration clips, weÂ’re able to hear the tell-tale sound of a driver pausing in acceleration for a split second to change gears. This is great news, folks. The manual is looking alive and well in the Cadillac sedan to us. Another clip of a CT4-V in black and white camouflage makes it sound like that particular model is equipped with an automatic transmission, indicating that Cadillac may be offering both transmission options on the new car. As for the rest of the photos, go ahead and take in all the close-up details. We got photos of the tires on the CT4-V, showing 255/35/ZR18s up front and 275/35/ZR18s in back. Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S rubber is used, telling us this thing is going to have a ton of grip. There are more vents, wider fenders and more aggressive styling throughout on these cars compared to the lower-performance V cars. Now that weÂ’re looking at them from much closer than before, the package is looking even more comprehensive.