A higher level of ingenuity at General Motors has contributed to a higher level of sales of GM vehicles, perhaps setting the stage for a record-seting 2015 for America's top automaker and the Hendrick Durham Auto Mall.
General Motors and its dealerships nationwide, which includes the Hendrick Durham Auto Mall, enjoyed their best December for sales in seven years last month.
An item commonly found on an infant’s changing table contributed to that result.
The baby diaper helped GM engineers simulate snow year-round, ensuring that heating systems in cars like the 2015 Chevrolet Cruze can warm their interiors quickly and efficiently.
Packed snow can prevent air from entering the inlet panel at the bottom of the windshield, obstructing the flow of air into the heating system and reducing the amount of air it can push out. This can lead to less-efficient warming of the car’s interior and windshield defrosting.
"The last thing anyone wants to do when it’s freezing cold out is scrape their windshield," said Nicholas Jahn, GM Vehicle Thermal Systems engineer. "The testing we perform on the Chevrolet Cruze with the diaper material allows us to maximize the car's heating capabilities."
According to a news release from General Motors, Jahn stumbled upon his diaper-based testing method in the middle of summer, during a swim with his daughter. He noticed that when her diaper came into contact with water, it multiplied in size.
Turns out that sodium polyacrylate – the absorbent material found in diapers – starts as a powder but turns into a snow-like substance when saturated.
In Jahn’s test, according to the GM news release, he sprinkled the reusable snow onto the air inlet vents along the bottom of the Cruze's windshield, then started the car and let it idle. After a few minutes, he removed the inlet panel and inspected how much "snow" was sucked into the system and how much of the intake vents remained blocked.
Before discovering the material, Jahn had to rely on Mother Nature to provide snow, or find a schedule opening at one of GM’s state-of-the-art climatic wind tunnels. Just submerging a diaper in water solved that dilemma.
A more efficient heating system is particularly important and beneficial for those who use the OnStar Remote Key Fob services, which allow drivers to remotely start their car from anywhere with a cellular connection. As part of the OnStar Basic Plan, Remote Key Fob services - remote start, lock, unlock and activate horn and lights – is free for five years on all new, properly equipped GM vehicles.
The benefits of Onstar as well as sales of the heat-efficient Cruze helped GM dealers nationwide record retail sales figures last month that were up 23 percent compared to December of 2013.
The Cruze was among seven GM vehicles - along with the Chevy Equinox, Sonic and Spark, the GMC Terrain, and the Buick Enclave and Encore – that posted their best annual sales total in 2014.
GM’s unique three-pickup strategy – with new models spanning the light-duty, heavy-duty and mid-size segments – drove combined deliveries to a 43-percent increase over December of 2013. It marked the best December for the Silverado since 2005.
Five GM vehicles – the Chevrolet Corvette and Spark, the Buick Enclave and Encore, and the GMC Sierra – had their highest December sales in history.
Chevrolet, Buick and GMC retail deliveries were up 25 percent, 28 percent and 29 percent, respectively, compared with a 10 percent increase for the industry as a whole.
Chevrolet had its best December retail sales since 2005. Buick and GMC, meanwhile had their best December retail sales result since 2004.
Every Buick car and crossover posted a sales increase, with the largest gains posted by the Enclave, up 53 percent, for its best month in history.
All that leads to 2015, in which General Motors and the Hendrick Durham Auto Mall expect to continue to upward trend of sales.
In Durham, a brand-new, state-of-the art facility in a new location across the street from the Streets of Southpoint - among the busiest retail shopping malls in the Southeast - continued ingenuity and product development by GM engineers, improved inventory and a favorable economy all combine to present much excitement and expectation for the new year.
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