GM Rolls Out New Electric Mini-Car

By Dee-Ann Durbin – An all-electric version of the mini-car will debut this week at the Los Angeles Auto Show. It goes on sale this summer in California, Oregon, Canada and South Korea, where it’s made. Other markets will follow.

The Spark EV will also be cheaper than most of its electric rivals, GM says. Exact pricing hasn’t been revealed, but the car will start for less than $25,000 in the U.S. when a $7,500 federal tax credit is factored in. The electric Nissan Leaf starts at $27,700 with the tax credit. Like all electrics, though, the Spark is much pricier than its gasoline-powered equivalent. The gas-operated Spark starts at $12,245. more> http://tinyurl.com/btal9jq

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U.S. companies take aim at pension risk with lump-sum offers

By Jilian Mincer – Corporate America is finally ready to deal with a monkey on its back: massive pension obligations.

AT&T Inc on Friday (Oct 19) said it plans to contribute a $9.5 billion stake in its wireless business to its underfunded pension plan. Earlier this week, Verizon Communications Inc moved to unload $7.5 billion in pension obligations to insurer Prudential Financial Inc.

But by far the most common trend in corporate America is to offer lump-sum payouts to thousands of retirees now – these voluntary buyouts could cost companies millions of dollars upfront, but they eliminate the risk of obligations soaring out of control in the future. more> http://tinyurl.com/9dy7gbs

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Chevy Volt: It’s Not Time to Panic

By Charles Murray – Another bad-news story about the Chevy Volt has left a lot of consumers scratching their heads. Even on mainstream radio and television stations, callers and reporters are asking, “Could GM really be losing $49,000 per vehicle?”

The short answer is that we don’t know. In truth, there are probably just a select few executives at GM who know the realities behind the Volt’s losses.

The bigger question is whether we should care. more> http://tinyurl.com/9awt2lz

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Fibbing With GM Job Creation Statistics, Bill Clinton Edition

By Paul Roderick Gregory – Bill Clinton attributes the 250,000 new jobs created to domestic and foreign auto manufacturers, parts suppliers, and dealers located in the United States to the Obama-directed bankruptcy of General Motors. Without the President’s bold and decisive action, these quarter million new jobs would not exist, and U.S. manufacturing would not have been “saved.”

Sorry, President Clinton. There is no way you can you attribute the 236,600 job gain to the General Motors bailout. According to the carmaker’s annual report, GM North America employed 70,000 in the United States in June of 2009 (the rest were in Canada and Mexico) and 74,500 today, for a net gain of 4,500 jobs. Of the auto manufacturing job increases, GM accounts for only two percent. more> http://tinyurl.com/8t3rcgq

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NASA technology (3)

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Man and Machine
NASA – While Robonaut 2 has been busy testing its technology in microgravity aboard the International Space Station, NASA and General Motors have been working together on the ground to find new ways those technologies can be used.

The two groups began working together in 2007 on Robonaut 2, or R2, which in 2011 became the first humanoid robot in space. NASA and GM now are developing a robotic glove that auto workers and astronauts can wear to perform their respective jobs, while reducing the risk of repetitive stress injuries. Officially, it’s called the Human Grasp Assist device, but generally it’s called the K-Glove or Robo-Glove.

In this image, Robonaut and a spacesuit-gloved hand are extended toward each other to demonstrate the collaboration between robots and humans in space.