Chevy offers 60-day money-back guarantee

Chevrolet says buyers who don't love their new cars or trucks this summer can return them for a refund within 60 days.

The high-profile new offer, which also includes price discounts, is an effort by General Motors to distinguish Chevrolet — and get more shoppers to give Chevy a try — during the summer season, when automakers typically have promotions to clear out the current-year models. Chevy is GM's mainstay, accounting for 73% of its sales this year.

"We know people have been hesitant to return to Chevrolet because they had a bad experience or haven't seen how we've revamped the lineup. This is the way to get them in the door," says Chevy spokeswoman Afaf Farah.

Deals from other makers, too, are likely as they move the 2012 models off dealer lots ahead of the 2013s. Not likely to join in are makers already selling many 2013 models. Thus, look for little action from Hyundai, Kia, some European brands and perhaps Ford Motor, unless the No. 2 automaker is pressured by its dealers to match what GM is offering.

The Chevrolet Confidence return offer, which began Tuesday and runs through Sept. 4, also applies to 2013 models already out, though the price discounts do not.

The promotion reprises a similar GM-wide offer in 2009 when the company was trying to lure back shoppers made wary by GM's bankruptcy reorganization. GM's former Saturn brand also offered money-back guarantees over the years.

Chevy buyers can return their new cars or trucks for a refund of the purchase price plus sales tax. But they do not get back so-called dealer processing fees, other taxes and registration or licensing fees. If they waive the right to return the vehicle, however, they get an extra $500 discount.

"This is just a clever way to package Chevy's model-year-end incentives," says Jeremy Acevedo, analyst at auto-shopping site Edmunds.com. " 'Guaranteed customer satisfaction' might resonate with some shoppers. There are echoes of Hyundai's Assurance program, which proved to be a success in difficult economic times."

Hyundai in 2009 let buyers who lost their jobs return recently bought Hyundais, with no cash due and no credit-rating penalty. The results show the risk for Chevy is likely low. Hyundai spokesman Jim Trainor says just 300 cars were returned, of about 435,000 sold that year.

Chevrolet Corvette turns 60

The North American based automotive giant, General Motors, has recently announced that the popular Chevrolet Corvette is celebrating its 60th anniversary.

The Chevrolet Corvette is being celebrated over-seas these days and the popular sports car is turning 60. The car manufacturer has chosen a unique way to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Chevrolet Corvette, and that is a video which is giving us a look back at the vehicle’s history.

“No matter what your station in life, when you’re behind the wheel of a Corvette, you’re an Olympic athlete - able to go faster, stop quicker, and turn better than everyone else. Very few cars can match that experience. And no other car has delivered that experience as well, or to more people, than the Corvette”, as Tadge Juechter, the vehicle chief engineer for Corvette said in the official press release.

The Chevrolet Corvette has been originally unveiled as the XP-122 concept during the GM Motorama back in 1953 and the model has been well received so the green light for production has been given by the company. Chevrolet planned to make around 150 units of the Corvette but the demand pushed the automaker to make 300 models in 1953. In order to satisfy the high demand, General Motors has moved the Corvette production in St. Lous, Missouri, which was better equipped so 3,640 units were made for the 1954 model year. Over the 60 years, Chevrolet has managed to sell more than 1.5 million units of the Corvette.

GM cites audience, impact in deal between Chevrolet, Manchester United

General Motors Chief Marketing Officer Joel Ewanick said today that soccer – the kind played with a round ball – has a much larger global fan base than American football and a new five-year marketing deal with global soccer powerhouse Manchester United will boost Chevrolet’s global sales.

The NFL has about 400 million fans, Ewanick said, compared with about 3.5 billion fans of soccer. Of those, about 669 million people are fans of Manchester United, which is part of the England's globally followed Premier League.

“As we look around the world and …we found a really great partner in Manchester United,” Ewanick said today at GM's global headquarters in Detroit. “Manchester United is one of the most popular sport franchisees in the world.”

Chevrolet's sponsorship deal with the team includes advertising in Manchester United's stadium, specially designed seats for the players on the sidelines with the Chevrolet logo and numerous global marketing opportunities with the team’s players.

The agreement also includes the creation of the Chevrolet China Cup as part of the Manchester United 2012 Tour. The Chevrolet China Cup, scheduled for July, will feature matches in Shanghai and another Chinese city.

Globally, Chevrolet sold 4.77 million vehicles in 2011 and expects to sell more than 5 million this year. To grow Chevrolet needs to boost its advertising in markets like China and Brazil, Ewanick said.

Only about one-third of GM’s global marketing budget, estimated at about $4.5 billion, is spent in the U.S., Ewanick said.

The announcement of the deal with Manchester United comes on the heels of news earlier this month that General Motors has decided not to advertise in the Super Bowl this year and will stop advertising on Facebook.

Ewanick said both decisions were driven by a careful evaluation of where General Motors can most effectively allocate its advertising dollars.

One week after the Super Bowl, Ewanick said he attended a soccer game in Liverpool, England, that drew a television audience twice the size of that for the Super Bowl.

“And that was just a league match,” Ewanick said.

Observers have said GM’s decision about the Super Bowl seems very early, and could be a negotiating tactic. Today, Ewanick said that is not the case.

“We’re done. We really are reapplying those dollars and they know that,” Ewanick said of CBS, which has the broadcast rights for the 2013 Super Bowl. “We could always change our mind. But right now, the door is shut.”

Ewanick said the television audience for the Super Bowl isn’t growing, but GM was being asked to pay significantly more for air time.

That doesn’t mean GM is pulling back on its relationship with the NFL in general. Ewanick said he believes that GM is the largest advertiser during NFL games and plans to increase its presence during this year’s playoff games.

“We are not spending less here,” Ewanick said.

When it comes to Facebook, Ewanick said he views the social media giant as an effective way to talk to customers, employees and car enthusiasts on the company’s brand pages.

However, he said research shows that people find advertisements on Facebook to be an annoying interruption.

“What we hear from customers, they say it is a little bit distracting,” Ewanick said.

GM also said today it has entered a three-year partnership with the One World Futbol Project, creators of the One World Futbol.

The organization manufactures soccer balls that it distributes to children in impoverished countries around the world. Many of those children play soccer with improvised soccer balls made of plastic bags, rubber, leaves or other material bound together by twine.

This ball is designed to survive games played on rough fields and is able to reinflate when it is crushed.

GM’s sponsorship will result in 1.5 million virtually indestructible footballs being donated to youth in war-stricken zones, refugee camps, disaster areas and other disadvantaged communities around the world.

“Today is more than just about sponsorship or partnership. It is about passion, it is about responsibility, it is about heroic potential,” said Lisa Tarver, cofounder and COO of One World Futbol. “Without a ball, there is no game.”

Volt Owners Saved 2.1 Million Gallons of Gas

Makers of alternative-fuel cars and the government love to create colorful images for how much gasoline the vehicles save and General Motors has come up with one: It says Chevy Volt owners collectively have saved a supertanker's worth of gas since the extended-range plug-in went on sale. That would be about 2.1 million gallons of gas, based on Volt owners driving more than 40 million miles on electricity alone (GM should know, since it monitors the operation of all Volts through its OnStar connection). The Volt can go about 35 miles on the plug-in charge before the gas engine kicks in. Based on the OnStar monitoring, Chevy says Volts are being driven about 60% of their miles electric-only, so they've also gone about 27 million miles using gasoline. "With each click of the odometer, Chevrolet Volt owners are measuring their contribution to reducing America's dependence on foreign oil and to preserving the environment," Cristi Landy, Volt marketing director, said in a statement, adding that they saved about $8 million at the pump, minus the cost of the electricity. And therein lie both the virtues of the car -- and the rub, at least for folks of average means. The $8 million will offset the about $535 million owners collectively spent to buy the 13,374 of the $40,000 Volts GM sold from roll-out through April this year (plus the cost of chargers in their garages). But those buyers could have spent half that total if they had bought the comparable about-$20,000-to-start Chevy Cruze Eco. Even after tax subsidies for the Volt, they would still be money ahead for years, even with the Volt's lower fuel cost, since the Eco is no gas hog at 28 m.p.g. city, 42 highway, 33 combined.

GM Promotes Buckling Up For Safety

DETROIT – General Motors is partnering with the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning through its “Click It or Ticket” campaign to encourage safety belt use in vehicles. The awareness program, which runs through June 3, strives to increase safety belt use rates through publicized enforcement zones. Following Michigan’s record-high safety belt use rate of 97.9 percent in 2009, it dropped to 94.5 percent in 2011. That year, nearly 200 people who died in traffic crashes were not using safety belts. “Every 1 percent increase in safety belt usage means 10 fewer traffic deaths and 130 fewer injuries,” said Gay Kent, GM executive director of vehicle safety. “The numbers indicate the importance of buckling up – it saves lives.” GM has long record of safety firsts in the U.S. including active head restraints, frontal air bags, side-impact air bags that reduce the risk of injury to children and rear seat 3-point safety belts. Starting with the 2004 model year, the company began implementing enhanced belt reminder systems in its vehicles. These reminders were rolled out to all GM vehicles by the 2008 model year. “When worn properly, the risk of being killed in an automobile crash is reduced by 45 percent,” said Kent. “Beginning with our employees, we strive to set an example for others by wearing our safety belts at all times, refraining from texting while driving, and, in general, exhibiting safe driving habits.” Additionally, during the Click It or Ticket campaign OnStar Advisors will remind drivers who press the blue OnStar button to fasten their safety belt. Michigan law requires all drivers and passengers 15 and younger in any seating position to be buckled up. Children must be in a car seat or booster seat until they are eight years old or 4 feet 9 inches tall. A list of planned safety belt enforcement zones is available at www.michigan.gov/ohsp. General Motors Co. (NYSE:GM, TSX: GMM) and its partners produce vehicles in 30 countries, and the company has leadership positions in the world's largest and fastest-growing automotive markets.  GM’s brands include Chevrolet and Cadillac, as well as Baojun, Buick, GMC, Holden, Isuzu, Jiefang, Opel, Vauxhall and Wuling. More information on the company and its subsidiaries, including OnStar, a global leader in vehicle safety, security and information services, can be found at http://www.gm.com.

DETROIT – The 2012 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 is officially in the “11-second” club, as engineers recently turned an 11.93-second/116-mph quarter-mile elapsed time run in a showroom-stock Camaro ZL1 automatic. A Camaro ZL1 manual ran an 11.96-second ET at 117 mph.

Only a few other production vehicles can run the quarter-mile as quickly as the ZL1. Fewer yet can also run 0-60 in 4 seconds, reach a top speed of 184 mph and lap the famous Nürburgring in 7:41.27 – all with the street-legal, factory-issued components and no time-consuming equipment adjustments at the racetrack.

“The ZL1 is great at everything and we’re very proud of that,” said Tony Roma, Camaro ZL1 program engineering manager. “You can take it to the drag strip and run 11-second quarter-miles all day long. You can also take it to a road course, where it’s balanced, handles well, and does exactly what you want – including lapping Virginia International Raceway’s Grand Course in under three minutes – and yet the ZL1 is sophisticated enough to use as a daily driver. It’s a supercar you can drive every day.”

For perspective, the Camaro ZL1 is so quick that some drivers who experiment with “drag radial” tires or full racing slicks may find themselves going too quick for most NHRA-sanctioned racetracks, where a five-point roll bar is required for vehicles running 11.49 or quicker. The 11.93-second ET in a stock ZL1 tested by the engineers wore the factory-issued Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar G:2  tires developed specifically for it, putting the car only a scant 0.44-second away from that additional racing safety requirement.
Tuned for the drag strip

The original, special-order 1969 Camaro ZL1s are still revered for their legendary performance on the drag strip and Chevrolet was keenly aware that customers for the new, 21st century edition would undoubtedly test its straight-line mettle in quarter-mile increments.

The Camaro team re-engineered 30 percent of a Camaro 2SS to make the ZL1, including special modifications just for the drag strip.

“We know many of customers will take their ZL1 to the drag strip,” said Gordon Rojewski, driveline development engineer – and who is also an experienced drag racer and owner of a turbocharged, 920-horsepower street car. “Some may just go once, to experience the full potential of the 580-horsepower LSA engine. Others may be more serious, going every other weekend with a set of slicks in the trunk. As such, we set out to make sure the ZL1 would perform for them – on the first pass and on the 100th.”
For example, to withstand the heavy loads of repeated hard launches, the ZL1 features a stout 9.9-inch rear differential mounted in a robust cast iron center section. It also features a standard differential cooler that can lower the temperature by 100 degrees F for improved performance and longevity.

The ZL1 also features asymmetrical half-shafts: a 60mm hollow shaft on the right and a 33mm solid shaft on the left. The different torsional stiffness rates of the shafts work in conjunction with the limited-slip differential to minimize the chance of wheel hop at launch. Engineers modified the rear suspension, as well, to accommodate an 18-inch wheel, for owners who want to fit a set of drag-radials with taller sidewalls to improve their ETs.

Even the ZL1’s exclusive Performance Traction Management (PTM) was tuned for the drag-strip. It integrates third-generation Magnetic Ride Control, launch control, traction control, electronic stability control and electric power steering response to enhance performance. Launch control (manual transmission only) automatically modulates engine torque for the best-possible acceleration without excessive wheel spin. When the driver pushes the throttle to the floor, the system holds a predetermined engine speed until the driver releases the clutch. Then, the system modulates engine torque 1,000 times per second to maximize the available traction.

Mode 5 of launch control is uniquely calibrated for drag strips that use VHT or similar traction-enhancing compounds on the starting line. In addition to validating the system for the stock tires, engineers also tested it with 18- and 20-inch racing-type drag radial tires in anticipation of the specialty tires many drivers will use at the track. Drag radials are very soft and provide nearly the traction of a full racing slick, allowing the car to launch at a higher rpm without wheel spin, which can translate into an even quicker ET.

Proven with 1,000 hard launch tests
To test the chassis and suspension components to ensure they were up to repeated hard-start launches typical at the drag strip, engineers subjected the ZL1 to the grueling “Woodward Avenue Schedule” at the GM Milford Proving Ground.
Named for the famous cruising route that cuts north through Detroit’s suburbs and has been the venue for untold thousands of unofficial launch capability demonstrations since the 1960s, each test cycle is a hard-launch, standing-start drag race up to 100 mph. The ZL1 was subjected to 1,000 test cycles before its driveline was stamped “approved”.
“The Woodward Avenue Schedule was a really brutal test, but it told us the Camaro ZL1 would live up to the way we knew our customers would drive it on the track,” said Rojewski.

The Camaro ZL1 is on sale now with a suggested retail price of $54,995 – including a $900 destination charge. The 6L90 six-speed automatic transmission includes TapShift control and is a $1,185 option. The Camaro ZL1 convertible goes on sale this summer.

Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world's largest car brands, doing business in more than 140 countries and selling more than 4 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature spirited performance, expressive design, and high quality. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at http://www.chevrolet.com/.

2013 Black Diamond Avalanche

From the FastLane Team

In 2002, the Chevrolet Avalanche literally reshaped the pickup segment – offering an adjustable Midgate that allowed for even greater cargo space, or comfortable seating for up to six. A decade (and 580,000 sales) later, Avalanche is ending its successful run with one last reason to celebrate – the 2013 Black Diamond edition.

The Black Diamond Avalanche will feature body-colored bed surrounds, unique badging and refined standard equipment packages on both the LS and LT models, including features such as rear camera, rear park assist, power adjustable pedals, fog lamps and remote start. Despite the enhanced packages, Avalanche base price dropped $2,500 for 2013.

With its unique styling, capability and capacity, Avalanche proved to be one of those rare ideas that change a segment forever – a well-equipped light-duty pickup that could tow, haul and carry the whole gang. By 2011, crew cabs accounted for more than 65 percent of light-duty pickup sales, helping to transform pickups from mere workhorses to true multipurpose family vehicles.

In its final year of production, Avalanche remains one of the industry’s more-flexible utility vehicles. Its exclusive Midgate opens to extend the cargo-area from 5-foot-3-inch-long (1.6 m) length to 8 feet 2 inches (2.5 m), with storage compartments alongside the cargo box providing ample and lockable storage with pluggable drains that can be filled with ice and used as coolers.

On the performance front, Avalanche has also grown more efficient over the years – it’s powered by the E-85-capable Vortec 5.3L V-8 with cylinder-deactivating Active Fuel Management technology, mated to a fuel-saving Hydra-Matic six-speed automatic.

Avalanche Milestones
The Avalanche was introduced at the 2000 North American International Auto Show in Detroit as a concept, described as a no-compromise Chevy Truck with a unique combination of configurable passenger and cargo space
A special Avalanche was equipped to protect and transport the Olympic Flame during the Torch Relay prior to the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City
In addition to receiving Motor Trend’s Truck of the Year for 2002, the Avalanche received the Design and Engineering award from Popular Mechanics
Chevrolet teamed up with outdoor outfitter North Face to offer a special edition Avalanche in 2002 that was used to transport a team of kayakers through the rugged terrain of the Himalayas to the Tsangpo Gorge in Tibet, where they successfully accomplished first descent of the most-feared whitewater on the planet
A 2007 Avalanche was presented to the 2006 Major League Baseball All-Star Game MVP Michael Young of the Texas Rangers