GM Slashes Price of XM Satellite Radio
August 16th, 2006
General Motors announced that it is slashing the price of XM Satellite Radio to $199 for the 2007 model year, down 38.8 percent over last year’s price of $325.
The new price goes into effect immediately, and consumers still get the first three months of service included, with subsequent months costing $12.95 per month.
HUMMER won’t be participating in the price cut, according to GM, but offering up XM is something of a lucrative activity for the General, apparently the automaker gets a cut of subscription fees, as well as some extra cash each time its OnStar employees handle XM-related service calls.
Chrysler and GM Going Yellow for E85
August 11th, 2006
Eric Ridenour, the Chrysler Group’s COO, announced today that his company would be joining General Motor’s “Live Green, Go Yellow” campaign by including yellow-colored gas caps on all of the Chrysler Group’s E85-capable vehicles.
Chrysler’s E85 lineup includes ten vehicles at the moment: the Dodge Grand Caravan, Caravan, Dakota, Ram half-ton and Durango; the Chrysler Sebring sedan, Town and Country, and Aspen; and the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Commander. The yellow gas caps are designed to allow consumers to know at a glance whether or not their vehicle is E85 capable. Chrysler will be volume purchasing the caps from the same supplier with GM.
GM Offers More Delphi Buyouts
June 13th, 2006
General Motors on Friday agreed to offer buyouts to additional Delphi Corp. hourly workers to try to prevent a strike by Delphi’s unions over demanded wage and head-count cuts.
GM is offering a $140,000 buyout to all hourly employees with more than 10 years of seniority and less than 26 years and a $70,000 buyout to employees with less than 10 years of seniority. For the buyout, the employees must be willing to forgo retirement health care insurance.
Delphi and the UAW announced the agreement separately. The expanded buyout offers are subject to U.S. Bankruptcy Court approval.
