Showing posts with label Cruze. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cruze. Show all posts

Thursday, April 12, 2012

NHTSA investigating fires in Cruze, Wrangler

DETROIT — The government said Sunday it is investigating reports of engine fires in the Chevrolet Cruze small car and Jeep Wrangler SUV.


The fires haven't caused any injuries but have destroyed at least six vehicles. NHTSA is investigating the 2011 model year Cruze and the 2010 model year Wrangler.


The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received two reports of fires in the 2011 Cruze. In both cases, owners reported that the fires began while the cars were moving, and in both cases the cars were destroyed.


According to complaints filed on NHTSA's Web site, a driver with a 2011 Cruze Eco was 30 miles into a 43-mile trip last month when smoke started coming out from under the hood. As soon as the driver stopped, flames began shooting out from the car.


"The car was totally engulfed within five minutes of stopping, and it was only after the first sign of fire was visible that the warning light on the dashboard illuminated," the driver told NHTSA. NHTSA doesn't post drivers' identifications on its site.


General Motors Co. spokesman Alan Adler says the company knows of no deaths or injuries related to the issue. GM is cooperating with the investigation. The company sold approximately 177,000 Chevrolet Cruzes from the 2011 model year.


NHTSA also has received eight reports of fires in 2010 model year Wranglers. Most began when the vehicles were moving, and four owners reported that their vehicles were destroyed.


The owner of a 2010 Wrangler told NHTSA that the vehicle was parked and running when it suddenly turned off. The owner was attempting to restart the vehicle when someone outside the vehicle began yelling that it was on fire.


"Once out of the Jeep I looked under it and saw and unknown liquid burning down to the ground from the engine area. I attempted to extinguish the fire with water but I was unsuccessful. Within minutes it was a total loss," the owner said, according to NHTSA's documents.


Chrysler Group spokesman Nick Cappa says the company is aware of the incidents but knows of no accidents or injuries related to the issue. Chrysler is cooperating with the investigation. The company sold 131,000 Wranglers from the 2010 model year.


Cappa said that vehicle fires are complex and can happen for various reasons, including some that have nothing to do with the vehicle itself. Poor maintenance, improper vehicle use or the installation of aftermarket equipment can all cause fires, he said.


"The 2010 Jeep Wrangler meets or exceeds all applicable federal safety standards and has an excellent safety record," Chrysler said in a statement.


NHTSA investigations can lead to vehicle recalls.


Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Saturday, November 26, 2011

General Motors to cut Chevy Cruze production

DETROIT — General Motors Co. will shut down the plant that makes the Chevrolet Cruze compact car for a week because sales have slowed and Japanese competitors now have ample supplies of competing small cars.


The factory in Lordstown, Ohio, had been running around the clock with overtime shifts on Saturdays to keep up with strong Cruze sales during the summer. Sales of the compact rose with two of its main competitors, the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla, in short supply because of parts shortages from the March earthquake in Japan.


GM spokesman Chris Lee said in an email that the Lordstown plant, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of Cleveland, will be shut down the week of Nov. 28. It will return to around-the-clock operations the following week.


The Cruze was the top-selling small car in the U.S. from May through September, with sales in most of those months topping 20,000, according to Autodata Corp. But sales dropped to just more than 14,000 in October, and the Cruze was passed by the Civic and Corolla as production and dealer inventories started to return to normal.


GM said it had about 39,000 Cruzes at its dealers at the end of October. At the current selling rate, it would take about 70 days to sell all of them. A 60-day supply is considered optimal.


Small-car sales typically drop in the final quarter of the year. Gas prices also have fallen from around $4 per gallon ($1.05 a liter) earlier in the year.


Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Friday, July 15, 2011

Chevy's new Cruze cruises to top spot

A U.S. based automaker has topped the passenger-car sales charts for the first time in the year.

Chevrolet new compact Cruze was the best-selling car in the United States in June, new sales data show, crossing over perennial chart toppers such as the Toyota Camry and Honda Civic.


Chevy's small car increase reflects parent General vehicles-motor rising tone the small, fuel efficient. But the Cruze benefits also from a persistent lack of important Japanese models including the 2012 update of the civic.

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GM - like the other domestic automakers--now unsold pickups and other trucks in the past few months, a development, the problems is a sharp build up in the inventory forward, could produce, especially if increase in fuel prices has seen again.


"Vehicles with continued strong consumer demand for GM fuel-efficient, June was a more solid month for us", said Don Johnson, the Vice President for sale US activities carmaker. "The month caps of a successful first half of 2011 are for us in the US market - our sales and we have gained share profitably."


The Chevrolet Cruze compact variant GM introduced last year not only the best-selling car in which it was United States in June, the third best seller overall coming in behind the Ford F-series and Chevrolet Silverado pickup trucks.


Turnover amounted to 24,896, about 1,100 more than the larger Chevy Malibu and far beyond the Toyota Camry. Usually, one of the best-selling cars in the country, the Camry in eighth place for the month of June, with a turnover of 21,375, squeaked though still leads the Toyota sedan, that is one of the cars for the year.


Toyota sold 147,469 Camry in the first six months of the year 2011, what a year-over-year decline of 5 percent and reflects current production plagues many of the big Japanese automakers bottlenecks. The popular Japanese sedan before the diminutive Cruze is with 122,972 models, which sold so far this year.


The Honda Civic, meanwhile fell from the top-list 10 in June, where it is normally close to the Camry. American Honda's top executives, John Mendel, warned recently that production civic 2012 updates not back to normal until "sometime in the autumn."


Japanese makers, collaboration with suppliers hard hit on 11 March earthquake and tsunami, were pressing their roles as quickly as possible assembly lines and now, expect that to secure and faster than earlier projections.


As a result, predicted "we believe that June probably marked the low point" for the Japanese downturn car pool bar, Deutsche Bank analyst. Good news for the industry as a whole, could, that are displayed as deficiency, an important role in the unexpected slowdown in may have played in United States car sales. June's numbers rose, but always still behind the pace of earlier in the year 2011.


With Japanese production closer to normal, pool, added "we expect [seasonally adjusted sales prices] to speed up - may to trend level."


Many arrive with more civics and Toyota Camry and Corollas now expected traders on is waiting for it, which the top-10 list will look like in the coming months. Data from Experian car and other industry sources show that the Detroit automaker relatively few Japanese buyers not to wait "conquered" the defect. (Hyundai a more efficient work on import buyers win done has, analysts say.)


Yet Detroit's "big three" automakers hope further momentum in the small passenger car WINS segments, and there are signs, the latest the domestic automakers offers with the automotive world equivalent of the independent voters are connected.


Ford, who continue to run the June sales charts with the F-series trucks - the nation's best selling car for more than a quarter of a century - saw three other land vehicles in the month top 10, including the small Ford Escape-crossover, one-fifth, the ninth rank fusion midsize sedan and sixth place, the new focus compact.


The date of introduction of Cruze, focus and Chrysler 200 new sedan is critical, automotive industry analyst Aaron Bragman consulting firm IHS, notes, since small cars together the fastest growing segment in the United States vehicle ever.


It's a niche Detroit automakers traditionally can be avoided, due to the relatively low profitability of products like the Cruze and the focus with trucks such as the F-series and Silverado with each other.


Domestic automakers of the business case for such models have improved, through the adoption of global themes and production strategies that "improved economies of scale," explains, Derrick Kuzak Ford's global product development Czar.


It helps also, collective agreements with the United Auto Workers Union have new, lower cost, higher productivity.


In 2006, before the industry collapse, the GM and Chrysler went in Government-controlled bankruptcy, approximately $76 was an hour the all-in labour costs for a typical large three worker. It is now closer to $52, according to various industry estimates. And it is even lower at some plants, such as the Detroit electric train, Chevys to produce new Sonic minicar. Here are many line workers always half standard pay due to a new 2-layer reward program.


U.S. automakers have not quite given up truck. The June sales figures underline a persistent demand. However, are the truck sales what they were before gas prices rose briefly well at close to record levels. And the means, that the inventories to uncomfortable levels since before this 2009 bankruptcy no longer have increased.


End of June was a 122-day supply of Chevrolet Silverados and GMC Sierra. The industry is in General a 60 to 70 - day supply normal, even though GM now insists that it is comfortable with 100 to 110 days of pickups.


GM Johnson and other officials Detroit out, try the production demand and does not attempt to force the market, sop match to overproduction. The problem is that demand decreases further domestic automakers forced dole, which she got in trouble before the industry downturn could kind of budget defense program incentives.


And, that you could more than wipe the profits that the manufacturers on their increasingly popular small cars can eke, out.


© 2011 msnbc.com.  Reprints

Monday, May 9, 2011

GM recalls 2011 Cruze cars, to check Steering

DETROIT - is to check whether the shaft is correctly installed on more than 154,000 its best-selling Chevrolet Cruze cars under Note General Motors co.

These vehicles are more than 120,000 vehicles with automatic transmission and also to ensure, that the transmission shift shortcut was installed correctly GM said on Wednesday.


The cars are built and sold in a factory in Lordstown, Ohio Township in the United States and Canada. The Cruze GM No. 2 vehicle sale was in April and the GM lineup is essential for a diversification in a time of rising fuel prices.


"Very few" of vehicles should have either problem and GM has quality process changes to ensure that no error occurs again, GM Vice President of global quality Terry Woychowski said in a statement.


In April GM reminded 2,100 Cruze cars, to check for an incorrectly connected steering wheel.


The largest U.S. based automaker announced two other smaller callbacks. No crashes or injuries were the from one of the callbacks.


The company said the mother on the windshield wiper motor crank arm on some 2011 Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon pickup trucks, loosely could be affect 6,303 vehicles, including 4,674 truck in the United States.


GM also said that to remember, 8,723 Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana vans for the model year almost identical 2011 possible brake fluid leaks prompted.


Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters.