Following tornadoes tearing through Oklahoma, Chrysler, General Motors and Ford are contributing aid to the storm victims.

Ford contributed a Transit Connect van to the American Red Cross and Chevrolet donated a Silverado pickup truck to Forgotten Harvest, an organization that collects food and donates it to emergency food providers.

Aside from the vehicles, Ford pledged $400,000 between the company and its dealer network. Ford Motor Company will donate $250,000 while Oklahoma Ford dealers pledged $150,000 to the United Way. The brand also said it would match donations from its employees up to $250,000.

General Motors is contributing $50,000, which will also go to Forgotten Harvest, which is currently collecting non-perishable foods, hygiene and medical supplies to donate to the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma.

Also of note, the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) is offering aid to affected dealership employees. The foundation’s Emergency Relief Fund has contributes over $5.4 million to dealership employees in need since being established in 1992.

Chrysler also announced today that it will contribute $100,000 to the First Response Team of America, a nonprofit disaster relief organization that assists local first responders with rescue efforts and post-disaster cleanup. In addition to its cash donation, Ram will donate three heavy-duty trucks.

Volkswagen also said today that it will donate a total of $250,000 to the American Red Cross and Habitat for Humanity.

Correction: Dodge donated the three heavy-duty trucks referred to in this story last year.

General Motors announced today that it will begin selling a small cargo van based on heavily on Nissan’s NV200.

The van will be called the Chevrolet City Express and will be available in fall, 2014 as a 2015 model year.

“Our fleet customers have asked us for an entry in the commercial small van segment, so this addition to the Chevrolet portfolio will strengthen our position with fleets and our commercial customers,” said Ed Peper, U.S. vice president of GM Fleet and Commercial Sales.

The move marks further proliferation within in the U.S. market for Nissan’s cargo van. Soon, it will begin appearing in yellow en masse as New York City’s official taxi cab.

GM said pricing will be announced later.

As the U.S. Treasury Department looks to sell off its remaining shares of General Motors stock, its April report to Congress stated that it has sold 58.4-million shares so far this year, earning net proceeds of $1.6 billion.

At the end of last month, the Treasury had recovered around $30.7 billion of the $49.5 billion used to bailout the American automaker. The Treasury Department still plans to selling all remaining shares of GM stock by early next year.

SEE ALSO: US Treasury to Sell Remaining Stakes in General Motors

For the government to recoup its total costs in the GM bailout, it would have to sell the remaining 241.7-million shares at about $78 per share. That looks to be unlikely, considering GM shares closed at $31.42 on Friday.

GM began trading publicly again in 2010 and were sold at $33.

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General Motors is hiring roughly 100 retired engineers to watch its supplier base as the American automaker launches its new full-size pickup trucks.

GM is launching two if its most important pick-up trucks onto the market in the coming months: the 2014 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra. To help ensure those new full-size pickups arrive showrooms without any major headaches, the retired engineers will work primarily with Tier 1 suppliers to help check out components such as steering gears and chassis controls.

SEE ALSO: Ford Rethinks Product Launches After Quality Concerns

Since suppliers typically deliver pre-assembled units straight to the factories, a fault with a component in the steering column for example, would be made ahead of the assembly process. According to GM North America president Mark Reuss, the retired engineers were used to help “bring all of the knowledge and lessons learned of their experience over their careers.”

[Source: Automotive News]

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Last December, the U.S. Department of Treasury announced that it would sell of its remaining shares of General Motors within the next 12 to 15 months.

The Treasury Department announced today that it would begin another round of sales of GM stock, of which it still has 241.7-million shares of, or nearly 18 percent. General Motors is looking forward to closing the chapter on the bailout; the American automaker believes it has had an adverse effect on its sales due to customers disagreeing with the bailout.

After GM’s IPO last November, the Treasury’s share of the automaker’s common stock fell to 32 percent of its value. Last week, GM came within 56 cents of its IPO price of $33.

By the end of March 2013, the U.S. government had received $30.4 billion of the $49.5 billion used to bailout GM.

[Source: Automotive News]

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Cadillac is beefing up its certified pre-owned program in anticipation of a surge in available off-lease vehicles.

The American luxury maker announced today that cars sold under its certified pre-owned program will be covered for six years and 70,000 miles — whichever comes first. According to Cadillac communications manager David Caldwell, the upgraded service will equalize its pre-owned service program with the brand’s new car care.

Most owners with vehicles from the 2011 and later model years will also be able to buy the brand’s Premium Care Maintenance program, although certain vehicles not restricted by nameplate will be excluded.

The program offers services including 24-hour roadside assistance, courtesy transportation and a three-month complimentary subscription to OnStar and Satellite Radio.

“Enhancing the certified pre-owned program adds valuable benefits for customers and the entire Cadillac brand,” said Chase Hawkins, vice president of Cadillac U.S. sales and service. “Improving Certified Pre-Owned supports the ongoing long-term increase in resale value, and is another tool that will enable us to attract new customers.”

That’s good news for the used car market, which saw rising prices on short supplies when demand for leases fell during the recession. While Caldwell couldn’t offer specific figures, he said Cadillac lease rates fell below 10 percent of sales three years ago, but that it has since returned to 40 percent.

SEE ALSO: Cadillac Counts 11 Months of Sales Gains

Cadillac’s sales are still far from pre-recession levels, and over the past three years sales haven’t really improved much. At the worst point, the brand dipped to 109,000 units in 2009 and has since recovered to roughly 150,000 in 2012. That’s still far from the 214,000 units Cadillac reported in 2007, which is part of the reason why building a loyal customer base is so important if the brand hopes to keep building sales.

A reinvigorated product line will be central to that plan with the ATS compact sedan, XTS full-size and SRX crossover currently accounting for almost all the brand’s sales.

More products are on the way, and Cadillac’s rapid-fire approach could work if customers take the bait. Up next, there will be an all-new version of the now-larger CTS luxury sedan followed by a new Escalade.

Later down the line, GM is expected to offer a diesel version of the ATS. More immediately, the ELR will also serve as a luxury alternative to green car enthusiasts with tastes too discerning for Volt ownership.

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General Motors is still eyeing the Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ with envy, and that’s a good thing.

North America president Mark Reuss told Automotive News last week that he wants a car that can appeal to younger drivers.

“A really nice, light, rear-drive car that’s inexpensive — we know that rings a bell,” he said ”That’d be a huge win for us if we had that.”

SEE ALSO: Chevy Code 130R Concept Brings Muscle Cars to the Modern Era 

Reuss, who isn’t shy about his passion for performance vehicles, said such a car isn’t being developed yet. Regardless, GM hinted that the project is more than a passing fantasy by unveiling its 130R concept during the 2012 Detroit Auto Show.

Should something similar be built, it would be exactly the sort of car Reuss is talking about targeting the Japanese sports car twins with. But it won’t look like the 130R if the brand decides to run with a low-cost, lightweight sports car.

Reuss says the design is already dated. In fact, it wouldn’t even run on the Alpha platform underpinning the Cadillac ATS. Instead, he said it would be built built on a platform that is “really scalable and efficient.”

[Source: Automotive News]

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General Motors plans to buy “Factory One,” a 133-year-old building in Flint, Mich. that officials says was the maker’s birthplace.

GM North America president Mark Reuss signed papers on Wednesday to buy the facility, although the details haven’t been finalized for what the maker will do with the building. One option being discussed is to build a museum with the original board room according to CBS.

Apart from taking the building over, GM will also act as the curator for the Durant-Dort office building across the street. The Flint Historical Foundation currently fills that role, but maintenance costs are too high, and Reuss said GM will now saddle the expense.

The purchase price of the properties wasn’t disclosed.

[Source: CBS]

General Motors announced today that it was the first automaker to sign a climate declaration acknowledging that responding to climate change is “good business.”

“We want to be a change agent in the auto industry,” said Mike Robinson, GM vice president of Sustainability and Global Regulatory Affairs.

By signing onto the declaration, GM is calling for policymakers to promote clean energy, boost efficiency and limit carbon emissions, according to a statement by General Motors.

A total of 40 major U.S. companies are signing on to the campaign, which is organized by sustainable business advocacy group Ceres as a part of its “Business for Innovative Climate & Energy Policy” (BICEP) initiative.

“As our world faces issues like congestion and climate change, we are at the forefront in transforming the way we move, from building more efficient vehicles to partnering with car-sharing startup Relay Rides,” he said.

GM has a 20-year history with Ceres. BICEP aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 80 percent below levels in 1990 by 2020.

With four new plants planned for China by 2015, General Motors may look to begin exporting some of those models to sell in America.

Speaking to Autoblog, GM China president Bob Socia commented that, “It could very well happen. You know, I’m not sharing any plans with you, but we try to keep open as to what makes sense. And Tim [Lee – GM's president of international operations] is the right guy to talk about your manufacturing footprint. If it make sense to tool up a vehicle in one location as opposed to two, from an economic perspective, Tim will say that’s what we should be doing.”

Ignoring any potential backlash, Socia continued, commenting that, “There’s no reason why we can’t be exporting to the States, and obviously the States are exporting here.”

Currently GM has not announced any plans to export GM models from China to the US, though with plans to ship as many as 100,000 to 130,000 vehicles outside its borders by 2015, some may make it to America.

[Source: Autoblog]

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General Motors announced today that OnStar’s First Assist service is accredited for emergency medical dispatching (EMD).

The recognition means OnStar First emergency advisors certified by the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch (IAED) will be able to offer emergency medical dispatch services while first responders are en route.

GM said today that its OnStar advisors can already count coaching women through labor, or offering advice on how to stop excessive bleeding among the services they have performed.

“The fact that our emergency advisors are able to offer instructions that meet the rigorous standards set by the IAED is a testament to how seriously we take this responsibility to help our customers and how hard these advisors work,” said GM Global Connected Consumer executive Terry Inch.

SEE ALSO: OnStar Offering Services in Mexico in 2013

This is the first time IAED has recognized a non-emergency service as a “Medical Accredited CEnter of Excellence.” OnStar was also recognized for its high level of compliance with the Medical Priority Dispatch System – the world’s most common standardized medical call-talking and dispatch life support protocol system.

The idea of what OnStar is doing is something I would consider a no-brainer. The first person that has access to the patient can make a big difference,” said MPDS inventor Dr. Jeff Clawson.

Mid-size truck buyers have something to look forward to next year from General Motors, although it’s probably not what they would expect.

GM North America president Mark Reuss said this morning that the brand plans to bring both a GMC and Chevrolet mid-size pickup to the market in 2014.

“Don’t think of them as Canyon and Colorado replacements because they’re not,” Reuss said during the Dawda Mann annual Automotive Industry Breakfast.

His statement stands in contrast to previous expectations that the Colorado would return — likely in 2014 for the 2015 model year. Past speculation following the Colorado’s unveiling during the 2011 Bangkok Motor Show saw some assuming the truck would return in 2013, but that has proven not to be true.

SEE ALSO: New Chevrolet Colorado Two Years Away for North America

Now it sounds like General Motors might be taking steps to further separate its Chevrolet and GMC trucks.

“We’re going to really target different buyers with these two trucks,” he said after his speech. “We’d love to have a truck like a Chevrolet midsize truck go really attack the West Coast with a lifestyle truck that is really beautiful and fun. It’s a different positioning than a semi serious duty cycle truck that we might do with a GMC Canyon.”

Apart from possibly offering greater brand differentiation, Reuss said the truck will offer much greater fuel economy over the currently-available full-size trucks. It also sounds like a diesel powertrain could be under consideration with Reuss saying the company is looking “at all that right now.”

Finally, the brand is weighing new names for the trucks — a move that could prove to be wise. The Colorado and Canyon were poor sellers that weren’t very competitive. Given that, it might not hurt to disassociate the new trucks.

[Source: the Detroit News]

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