General Motors Vehicles Held Hostage by Allied Systems ltd.

General Motors is taking legal action against Allied Systems, Ltd. over a payment dispute that's turned ugly. Somewhere along the way $47 million worth of GM product was "lost", being kept off the dealer lots and out of consumers' hands. The vehicles are currently in limbo, otherwise known as Dearborn, Michigan and Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Here's the chain of events: 1) Teamsters union wouldn't accept Allied's wage concessions, 2) Allied tries to resolve money issue by charging GM 15% more for services, 3) GM "declines to pay", 4) Allied declines to deliver vehicles.

Dan Flores, a spokesman for the General, said, "Last Thursday Allied Systems ceased providing transportation services to GM. As a result GM took immediate steps to resource the work previously performed by Allied. Allied was in possession of 1,700 vehicles."

As you can imagine, 1,700+ undelivered vehicles could be significantly detrimental to a company that is still trying to re-establish a sturdy foothold and respected image in the market. The end result of all this? BAM, lawsuit; one that Allied apparently can't afford.

According to GM attorney Daniel Linna, "The calculable damages resulting from Allied's refusal to meet its obligations to return the vehicles to GM will be substantial and...likely beyond the financial ability of Allied to satisfy, further rendering GM without an adequate legal remedy."

GM wants the vehicles returned and to have all costs and damages paid for. In the meantime, the General is working with new shipping partners to assist in vehicle delivery.

By Phil Alex

Source: Detnews , Photos: GM Archive

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VIDEO: Corvette ZR1 ALMS Ad Belittles BMW, Ferrari and Porsche, but Ends up Losing to M3s in Sebring…

Just before the season opener of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) at the Sebring International Raceway in Florida this past weekend, GM aired an aggressive commercial touting its 638-horsepower-strong Corvette ZR1. The ad claims that the firm’s engineers had to reduce the stock ZR1’s LS9 engine output by 168HP in order to compete in the race and “just to be fair against Porsche, Ferrari and BMW”.

For one, the Corvette ALMS racers are actually powered by a V8 loosely based on the Z06’s LS7 engine (see the second video after the jump). Perhaps most importantly, the Corvettes finished third and fourth in the GT class in Sebring behind two BMW M3 GTs… Videos follow after the break.

VIDEOS

Cadillac Marks its Return to Racing with a Series of Short Films on the CTS-V Coupe

"Refueled: The Return of the CTS-V" is the name of Cadillac’s new series of short films that were created to give us a behind-the-scenes look at the development of its all-new CTS-V Coupe racing car, with which the company marks it return to competition after a four year hiatus. The newly released footage documents the genesis of the CTS-V Coupe racecars as well as their connection to the production version of the sports coupe.

The Cadillac CTS-V will make its competition debut at the season-opening race of the Sports Car Club of America World Challenge GT series in St. Petersburg, Florida on March 25-27. The GT series’ schedule for 2011 includes eight races in the U.S. and Canada from March to October. Click through to the jump for the videos.

VIDEOS

GM Renames Camaro to 'Ke Mai Luo' in China, Priced from $76,400!

At next month’s Auto Shanghai in China, General Motors will launch the local market version of its flamboyant pony car, the latest generation of the Chevrolet Camaro - but with a twist; it will carry a different name in China. “The Camaro will have a sonorous Chinese name — 科迈罗 (Ke Mai Luo),” said GM in a statement today without giving any further explanations. And yes, just for the fun of it, we tried Google translate but nothing interesting came other than this (if you separate the words): ‘Section Main Luo.’

The Chevy Ke Mai Luo will be launched in China with the 3.6-liter direct-injection V6 engine at a base price of around RMB 500,000, equal to about US$76,400 or roughly three times the price of the Camaro V6 in the States ($22,680).

The Detroit automaker said than in recent years, China's luxury sports car segment is booming and that the market for cars priced between RMB 400,000 and 800,000 grew 141% in 2010.

“At present, this segment is dominated by cars with European design. The Camaro, with its “masculine” styling, will be a welcome addition” GM stated.

U.S.-SPEC 2011 CHEVROLET CAMARO

Holden Unveils its Own Version of the Cruze Hatchback

Even though it was Chevrolet that came out first with both a thinly disguised concept in 2010 and this year’s production version of the Cruze hatchback at the Geneva Show, the five-door model was actually penned by GM’s Holden division at the Port Melbourne studio in Australia. Now, it’s finally time for Holden to reap the benefits of its work with the release of the first official photos of the compact hatchback with the Australian brand’s lion logo.

“In designing the new five-door hatch we wanted to retain the sporty ‘Cruze’ proportions and bring the same Holden appearance to the hatch that we developed for the new locally-built Series II Cruze sedan,” said Holden Design Director, Tony Stolfo.

It’s worth noting that the Holden Design Studio is one of only GM three facilities in the world with the capability to design and build prototype concept vehicles for exhibitions and international auto shows. According to Mr. Stolfo, the Australian studio is currently working on several new secret projects.

“The Holden design team works on a range of global design projects from small hatchbacks like the new Cruze to large wheel drive performance vehicles and also a number of exciting vehicles yet to be revealed,” Mr Stolfo added.

Like the recently revealed Cruze Sedan Series II, the Australian-market version of the hatchback model will be manufactured locally at the Elizabeth plant with series production set to start in the second half of the year. Holden did not announce details on the hatchback model’s engine range but Australian buyers should expect the same gasoline and diesel options as the sedan.

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New Chevrolet Colorado Show Truck Unveiled Ahead of Bangkok Premiere

General Motors has lifted the wraps off the pre-production version of its next generation Chevrolet Colorado pickup truck in advance of the Bangkok International Auto Show on March 25, where it is making its global public debut. The Colorado Show truck will lead to a toned down production model that will be revealed within the next few months and first go on sale in Thailand later this year. The Detroit automaker is keeping mum about whether or not the Colorado will come to the States.

“Although this is a show vehicle, the basic proportions and form convey the vision for the next-generation Colorado that we will bring to market,” said Brad Merkel, GM's global vehicle line executive.

“It reflects a stylized version of the new truck, one that takes into account rugged dependable truck capabilities for commercial use as well as sophisticated refinement for personal-use needs.”

The Bangkok show truck features an extended-cab body atop a high-stance AWD chassis and rides on large, 20-inch wheels and off-road tires size 285/50R20. Certain details such as the large alloy wheels, futuristic exterior mirrors and LED lamps will most likely be absent from the production model.

The interior styling of the Colorado is inspired from the latest Chevy models including the Aveo/Sonic as well as the Camaro. Chevy says soft-touch materials have been used throughout the cabin, which also features number of storage compartments including a covered center bin and a large, dual glovebox.

Power for the Colorado show truck comes via 2.8-liter turbo-diesel engine.

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