GM Expands Tennessee Factory

General Motors plans to spend $167 million in production capacity upgrades for its Nashville, Tenn. factory, the Associated Press reported.

The investment is in addition to a previously announced $183 million worth of upgrades planned for the facility, which was idled amid the economic downturn in 2009, AP said. The plant was reopened following a 2011 contract agreement with the United Auto Workers that included salary concessions for entry-level workers.

The new spending is expected to create or keep 1,800 jobs, but GM did not comment on how many new workers would be hired, AP said.

While the company also wouldn't identify the new vehicles that would be built there, the facility currently produces the Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain crossover SUVs. These vehicles were last updated in 2009, AP said.

The plant produced more than 3.7 million Saturn cars between 1990 and 2007. Most of the facility's workers were then furloughed while the plant underwent a $600 million overhaul to build the build the Chevrolet Traverse crossover.

At its peak, the facility employed nearly 8,000 workers. By 2009, that number was down to about 630. The plant, which also makes four-cylinder engines, currently employs 2,000 people, AP said.

By Light & Medium Truck

For enclosed auto transport & car delivery services for such vehicles, call N-Motion Auto Transport today!

1-855-407-4160

Montoya seeking 'winning car'

Juan Pablo Montoya isn’t sure what lies ahead for him in racing.

But his first requirement for any potential suitor, whether it’s in NASCAR, IndyCar or Grand-Am would be to give him the opportunity to drive “a winning car.”

“I don’t know what I’m going to do but I want to be in a winning car,” Montoya said. “It was a fun seven years with the Target car and (team co-owner) Chip (Ganassi) and everything. We worked really hard, we had our ups, our downs but at the end of the day, I want to win races. He wants to win races. And we wanted to try something different.

“It could be with Chip. It could be with somebody else. With Chip, something we said is ‘number one, we want to keep our friendship.' We are really good friends. We have a good relationship and that was it. It’s not that bad.”

While Montoya was disappointed by the company’s decision not to renew his contract to drive in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series beyond this season, he didn’t appear to be surprised. Certainly, over the last seven years Montoya’s equipment at Earnhardt Ganassi Racing has been hit or miss. The driver has revolved through five crew chiefs and six teammates in that time period and, over the last year, endured a complete overhaul of management and his race team. It stands to reason that part of the lack of stability can be traced to the transient nature of the No. 42 team.

Still, it’s curious why a driver with Montoya’s immense talent in open-wheel racing — seven wins and 30 podium finishes in Formula One, an Indy 500 win, a Champ Car title and three Rolex 24 victories in seven starts — never fully acclimated to stock cars. His strength was on the road courses.

On Friday, five-time Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson said that it took him roughly five years to acclimate to the different NASCAR tracks and procedures that accompany the season. Montoya didn’t seem to think that was part of the problem.

“A lot of it was learning (how to drive the cars) at the beginning,” Montoya said. “But I picked it up pretty well. I ran pretty well. I made the Chase (for the Sprint Cup) in my third year. One of the hardest things is the amount of changes. There was never ever consistency and that was one of the hardest things. They weren’t doing it on purpose. They were just trying new things to make things better. The problem is every time you make changes, it makes it harder.”

Certainly, there would be opportunities for Montoya in open wheel if he pursued that path — perhaps even with current team owner Ganassi. When asked whether Montoya has spoken to prospective employers in NASCAR, he replied, “ages ago."

“I’ve been looking at my options for a while,” Montoya said. “I wanted to make sure we had the door open to stay at Ganassi if the opportunity was here.

“I have talked to a lot of people, put it that way. I don’t want to be specific about anybody. I know some people are interested and I just want to make sure whatever I do, as I told you, I have an opportunity to win races. I grew up winning and I’ve won at everything. I won some races here, but I miss dominating.”

Montoya will attempt to take the high road for the remainder of the season. He’s not changing his philosophy regarding life — or racing. Montoya just wants to have fun — and win.

“Right now, it’s actually fun," he said. "I’m really good friends with everybody on this team. They mean the world to me. We still have a lot of racing to go. Number one thing is keep enjoying racing and go hard at it every week.”

Article by Lee Spencer of FOXSports.com

For enclosed auto transport, exotic car shipping & car delivery services for such vehicles, call N-Motion Auto Transport today!

1-855-407-4160

From Tractors to Supercars, Lamborghini Veneno is the Newest of the Bunch

About 50 years ago, Ferruccio Lamborghini was made famous from his finely built tractors in Italy, but his passion was more for sports cars.  So with this, he turned his sights on building a better, faster car than his rival in Italy, Enzo Ferrari.  He established Automobili Lamborghni in 1963 and it has now grown to be one of the most well-known brands in the automobile world. 

Even long after the death of both Enzo and Ferruccio, their brand names continue to thrive and awe the masses.  The corporate rivalry has increased both companies’ sales and has only helped the two brands become more powerful.  At the recent Geneva Auto Show this year, Lamborghini brought out a beast that no one had ever seen before: the extremely exclusive Lamborghini Veneno. 

What many thought would be the fastest car on the market with such a high price tag, ironically it’s not!  This $3.9 million cost of the Veneno nearly tripled the value of the new hyper-hybrid LaFerrari.  Both super cars exceed 350 km/hr but the Lamborghini took the cake with its massive pre-tax sticker price.

Talk about exclusive!  Only 3 Venenos were built and all three were pre-sold.  This is also considered one of the most extreme Lamborghinis in their showroom due to its over-the-top futuristic styling.  With scissor-style doors, large rear spoiler, air scoop mounted on the roof and “shark fin” stabilizer, the Veneno is far more than just a car….it’s a showpiece!

Many people may like it but there are many naysayers that just think it’s too much for them.  Many would rather have the sleeker LaFerrari because it’s a third of the cost and doesn’t look as outrageous. 

In comparison, the LaFerrari combined a gas engine with an electric motor to conservce fuel and and reduce CO2 emissions while the Veneno and its 6.5 liter V12 knows nothing of the sort (what is green?)

Let’s just compare the two real quick:

	Lamborghini Veneno	Ferrari LaFerrari
Horsepower	750	963
Engine Size	6.5 liter V12	6.3 liter V12
0-60 Mph	2.8 seconds	Less than 3 seconds
Top Speed	221 Mph	230 Mph

For enclosed auto transport, exotic car shipping & car delivery services for such vehicles, call N-Motion Auto Transport today!

1-855-407-4160

www.NMotionAutoTransport.com

Allowing Car Carrying Vessels to Enter Port, Keeping the ports open for car transport

The size of each new generation of car carriers implemented by the international car shipping industry to conduct car delivery services to markets around the world makes it necessary for one very important sector of the world’s port industry, and by association the car shipping industry, to constantly be striving for new ideas and ways of thinking, is the dredging industry. The dredging industry has stayed reasonably strong through the past two years of rough seas for international shipping and the business of delivering cars to market. There has been some consolidation in the dredging industry, as there has been in the business of taking cars to market, but the companies that have emerged appear to be stronger than ever and have begun investing in the future at a rate that could indicate the industry is going to grow in the years ahead.

The vessels used to transport cars to market are probably only going to increase in size in the future, so the job of keeping the waterways leading into the ports of the world is most likely going to be very important in the job of keeping the cars moving in the century of the environment. The increase in size of each generation of new vessels used to transport cars to markets means that the draft of each new generation is often bigger and thus the channels of the ports that service these larger vessels has to constantly be increased in order to allow for passage of large vessels.

Is there a limit to the size that car carrying vessels can be? This is going to be an interesting question, because many companies that ship cars are certainly ordering ships that carry more cars per transit in an effort to reduce costs. Will there be a point when the size of the ships used to transport the cars to market has reached a point that ship designers won’t want to go beyond? This is probably a very likely scenario in the future, for there must be engineering limits to all things. Just what the limits on the size of the vessels used to transport cars is going to be the interesting question? The vessels used today can transport thousands of vehicles at a time and it’s hard to fathom how they’ll be able to transport more cars on a ship, but they’ll think of something.

http://www.worldcargonews.com/htm/nf20100408.772108.htm