2004 Pontiac Gto Photo/poster Lot 04 05 06 Ls1 Ls2 Ls6 on 2040-parts.com

General Motors fires back at Volkswagen

General Motors issued a terse response this week to published comments by Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn, who suggested to the German press that Opel could be sold to a Chinese competitor. Detroit-based GM called Winterkorn's comments “regrettable” and accused him of “fanning speculation.” Opel was nearly sold to Magna and Russian investors in the wake of GM's 2009 bankruptcy. But then-CEO Ed Whitacre and the corporate board reversed that decision, igniting controversy from German political and labor leaders who have long chafed under American oversight.

Lexus CT 200h: The emissions

Teh Lexus CT 200h has emissions of just 96g/km We have to go with the flow on this because, although we have no faith in the assertion that man is responsible for climate change, for as long as Governments penalise and promote cars based on the emissions of CO2 from their tailpipe (I know, it’s barking) we have to accept that car makers will respond to that stick and carrot. Which is why we see a raft of car makers churning out ‘Eco’ cars with a 99g/km emissions figure, as sub-100g/km of CO2 emissions is the Holy Grail for maximising tax effiecencies. Of course, Lexus has gone a step further and seem intent on producing only hybrid cars as soon as possible.

GM reportedly set to sign deal on Thursday to sell Opel

General Motors Co. likely will sign a deal on Thursday to sell a majority stake in Opel to a group led by Magna International Inc., German news agencies reported, citing sources close to the negotiations. GM agreed on September 10 to sell 55 percent of Opel to Canadian supplier Magna and its Russian partner Sberbank, but the deal stumbled amid labor union demands for a veto on factory closures and concern in the UK and Spain that 4.5 billion euros ($6.7 billion) in aid pledged by the German government for restructuring Opel favored the carmaker's German factories.