GM Brands Reach Historic High In Quality Dependability Ranking

General Motors News Release

DETROIT – For the first time, Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac all rank in the top 10 among brands in the J.D. Power Vehicle Dependability Study.

"GM’s customer-driven approach to quality and dependability is breaking through," said Grace Lieblein, vice president, Global Quality. "Dependability is a top purchase consideration and key to customer loyalty. These awards reflect our commitment to provide customers with the best overall experience in the industry."

The 2015 study tracks 2012 model year vehicles in their third year of ownership.

Buick ranks second among all brands, Cadillac ranks fourth with Chevrolet and GMC ranking 10th (in a tie.)

Chevrolet ranks higher than before in this study, led by Malibu as the segment leader in the highly competitive Midsize Car segment. For the third year in a row, the Chevrolet Camaro ranks highest in the Midsize Sporty Car segment.

The GMC Sierra LD and Chevrolet Silverado LD rank first and second in the Large Light Duty Pickup segment. The Chevrolet Silverado HD and GMC Sierra HD rank first and second in the Large Heavy Duty Pickup segment.

GMC Yukon, Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban all rank in the top three of the Large SUV segment. These models also filled the top three positions in the Large SUV segment in the 2014 JD Power Initial Quality Study, in which the 2014 Chevrolet Suburban and 2014 GMC Yukon ranked highest in a tie, along with the 2014 Chevrolet Tahoe.

Model Highlights by Brand

Chevrolet

Malibu – Segment Award, Midsize Car

Camaro – Segment Award, Midsize Sporty Car (third consecutive year)

Silverado HD – Segment Award, Large Heavy Duty Pickup

Tahoe – Ranks Second, Large SUV

Suburban – Ranks Third, Large SUV

Silverado LD – Ranks Second, Large Light Duty Pickup

Buick

LaCrosse – Segment Award, Large Car

Enclave – Ranks Second, Midsize SUV

GMC

Sierra LD – Segment Award, Large Light Duty Pickup (second consecutive year)

Yukon – Segment Award, Large SUV (second consecutive year)

Terrain – Segment Award, Compact SUV

Sierra HD – Ranks Second, Large Heavy Duty Pickup

Cadillac

SRX – Ranks Third, Midsize Premium SUV

From Hot-Selling Equinox To Best-Value Buicks, Hendrick Durham Auto Mall Has Deals For All

A beautiful Valentine's Day-President's Day weekend in Durham, during which the sun is expected to beam long and strong, will present a beautiful opportunity to buy an affordable, low-maintenance vehicle.

The Hendrick Durham Auto Mall offers many of them.

Among the top-sellers is the Chevrolet Equinox - the second-best selling vehicle in the Chevy lineup behind the Silverado full-size pickup.

The Equinox has enjoyed five consecutive years of record sales. Annual sales in the U.S. increased to 242,242 last year, accounting for more than nine (9) percent of the rapidly growing compact SUV market. Compact SUVs eclipsed midsize cars in 2014 for the first time to become the auto industry’s largest segment.

Chevrolet introduced its updated 2016 Equinox on Thursday at the Chicago Auto Show. No need to wait for that version, however, as plenty of the award-winning 2015 models remain at the Hendrick Durham Auto Mall.

Three of the other best vehicles around, all produced by Buick, also can be had for a bargain at the Hendrick Durham Auto Mall.

For the second consecutive year, the Buick Verano, the Buick Encore, and the Buick Enclave were among the winners in Kelley Blue Book's 2015 5-Year-Cost-To-Own awards.

KBB's data for new cars for the initial five-year ownership period is the basis for the awards. Categories include lowest projected depreciation, expected fuel costs, finance and insurance fees, maintenance and repair costs, and state registration fees. The KBB data suggests substantial potential in cost-of-ownership savings for these three vehicles.

All these vehicles are available for lease or purchase at the Hendrick Durham Auto Mall, which has been offering unprecedented discounts as part of its "Moving Sale" ahead of its exciting and long-awaited move into a new state-of-the-art facility in the Southpoint area of Durham.

Come and get them while you can, as a special Valentine's gift for that special someone, or because you have the opportunity of a Monday off for President's Day.

We look forward to seeing you soon.

Thank You, Mr. Michelin, For Adding Value To GM, Hendrick Durham Auto Mall Inventory

Thank you, Mr. Michelin - and happy birthday.

On this date 162 years ago - Jan. 16, 1853 - Andre Michelin was born in Paris, France. In 1888, at age 35, he founded with his brother the Michelin Tire Company, which invented the pneumatic tire found today on many vehicles at the Hendrick Durham Auto Mall.

Michelin is one of the three largest tire manufacturers in the world, along with Bridgestone and Goodyear. In addition to the Michelin brand, the company also owns the BF Goodrich tire brand.

Hendrick Durham Auto Mall sells a complete General Motors product line that includes Buick, GMC, Cadillac and Chevrolet vehicles. Adding to the value of those brands - all of which enjoyed historic success in 2014 - is the fact that they can be equipped with Michelin tires, considered the premier tire brand in America.

Buick vehicles are known for their luxury, which includes available Michelin tires.

The Michelin company announced two months ago - November of 2014 - that it had plans to open a plant in North America dedicated to the manufacture of airless tires called "Tweels."

A punctured tire can cause a bad, not to mention expensive, day for many vehicle owners and drivers. Michelin's proposed $50 million plant will be used to make the Michelin X Tweel Airless Radial Tire and others for commercial and agricultural applications - a move toward eliminating the possibility of tires that puncture.

Happy Birthday, American Motors Corporation

Say what you want about General Motors vehicles. You cannot say they are unattractive.

Since the days of Bill Mitchell - perhaps America's most famous automobile designer - GM has placed extraordinary emphasis on the design and styling of its product line. You can see that for yourself when you examine and drive the latest and greatest inventory at the Hendrick Durham Auto Mall.

Mitchell was responsible for creating or influencing the design of more than 72.5 million automobiles produced by GM, including such landmark vehicles as the 1938 Cadillac Sixty Special, the 1949 Cadillac Coupe DeVille, the 1955-57 Chevrolet Bel Air, the 1963-65 and 1966-67 Buick Riviera, the 1961-76 Corvette Stingray, the 1975-79 Cadillac Seville and the 1970-81 Chevrolet Camaro

Since then, GM's vehicles have continued to get more and more beautiful. Recent redesigns of the Cadillac SRX and Chevrolet Equinox, Malibu and Impala are testament to that, as well as the creation of elegant new products like the GMC Terrain and Buick Encore.

The appealing pricepoints and low-maintenance qualities of GM vehicles have been well-documented reasons that many consumers choose GM vehicles for their purchases and other transportation needs. But the aesthetic qualilty of all the vehicles across all the GM brands has been moving to the top of the appeal meter.

Anyone who believes any GM vehicle is unattractive needs to just remember back to the days of the now-defunct American Motors Corporation.

It is appropriate that we go back there today because it was on this day in history - Jan. 14, 1954 - that the American Motors Corporation was founded. The company was formed by the merger of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and Hudson Motor Car Company, which at the time was the largest corporate merger in U.S. history.

AMC was known for producing such beauties as the Pacer and the Gremlin. Remember those? The nmuber of people who drove those vehicles with pride has got to be small.

If you Google "Ugliest Cars In America," pages and pages of artlcles and lists appear. Prominently featured on most of those lists are the AMC Pacer and AMC Gremlin. Those cars were ugly.

The Pacer has been described as a fishbowl. It was the widest car on the road, with room in the backseat for four people to sit side by side, but also was terribly heavy and slow. It was in production for just five years - between 1975 and 1979 - and its unconventional styling was commonly cited in its lack of success.

The AMC Gremlin, meanwhile, is ranked on many lists of the 50 worst cars of all time by several measures. But you will be hard-pressed to find an uglier vehicle. It was manufactured for just eight years, from 1970-1978, at the same Kenosha, Wisconsin, plant that rolled out the Pacer.

Unlike the Pacer, the Gremlin today has a following among old car hobbyists and collectors of historic vehicles. In some cases, the Gremlin enjoys a cult-like following in today's collectible car market.

Perhaps we can credit the founding of the American Motors Corporation 61 years ago today for influencing and adding to the beauty of today's vehicle designs and styles. Certainly GM engineers have taken note and used the many years since to tweak and add to the beauty of Cadillacs, Buicks, GMCs and Chevrolets.

We should all be thankful for that.

Ingenuity Helps Improved Sales Numbers For GM, Hendrick Durham Auto Mall

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.

New Years Eve May Be Best Day To Buy Vehicle

(CBS) – Today is New Year’s Eve. But before popping the bubbly, you may consider buying a car.

Experts tell CBS that today is the best day of the year to get a deal.

As the hours of 2014 dwindle down to a precious few, car dealers are scrambling to meet year-end sales quotas and sell off inventories to save on taxes.

As they are about to close the door on the old year, they are creating what experts say is the best time of the year to trade up.

"Everything comes together," said John Webb of the Chicago Auto Trade Association. "Manufacturers are aggressive. Dealers are being aggressive. I think the customers have some either Christmas bonus money or what have you flowing through their pocket."

At Hendrick Durham Auto Mall, the deals are really flowing. The sense of urgency is high on the showroom floor as the GM dealer closes in on 200 sales for the month.

The savings can be as much as 25 percent off sticker price on certain vehicles. So, as the closk winds down toward 2015, the Hendrick Durham Auto Mall inventory of Cadillac, Buick, GMC and Chevrolet is dwindling by the minute.

On Birthday Of America's 1st Freeway, HDAM Helps Ease Stress Of Traffic Gridlock

Next time you’re stuck in traffic, excessively burning fuel as you idle on the freeway during your morning commute, you can thank Dwight Eisenhower.

You also can thank General Motors and the Hendrick Durham Auto Mall for manufacturing and selling a multitude of highway-friendly vehicles that can add to your comfort and decrease your fuel expense as you experience the world’s second-longest interstate highway system behind China.

The United States Interstate Highway System runs a total length of 47,714 miles. About one-quarter of all vehicle miles driven in the country are on interstates. The cost of construction for all those miles of roadway has been estimated at upwards of $425 billion.

North Carolina has the largest state maintained highway network in the United States.

Today marks the 74th birthday of America’s first freeway - the Arroyo Seco Parkway, which opened Dec. 30, 1940, in California. At the time, it was considered an engineering marvel, reducing travel time between Los Angeles and Pasadena from 27 to 12 minutes.

The six-lane, six-mile long highway was designed for 27,000 automobiles a day. These days, it carries more than 122,000 cars daily.

Although the concept of an interstate highway system was proposed in Congress in 1939, it wasn't until Eisenhower became President in 1953 that he made the revitalization of national highways a goal for his first term. Having spent time on the Autobahn during his military service in Germany, Eisenhower believed the U.S. also could benefit from an equally effective roadway system.

Well, turns out the creation of the U.S. Interstate Highway System gave way to the creation of a phenomenon known as Gridlock – a traffic jam in which no vehicular movement is possible.

Gridlock, in turn, led to depleted gas tanks as cars and trucks idled their way to empty, a chaion of events that continues to this day.

Fortunately, General Motors and the Hendrick Durham Auto Mall have teamed up to offer some of the most fuel-efficient vehicles in history to help ease the anxiety and expense of traffic jams and Gridlock.

General Motors builds 24 models of vehicle that can achieve an EPA-estimated 30 miles per gallon or better on the highway. All of those vehicles can be purchased at the Hendrick Durham Auto Mall, including the car with the best highway mileage of any gas engine in America - the 42 mpg Chevrolet Cruze Eco.

Furthermore, GM and the Hendrick Durham Auto Mall are offering incentives on the Cruze that can knock 20 percent off the sticker price.

Other vehicles in the GM arsenal against highway congestion and aggravating commutes are the Chevy Volt, an electric car that can achieve the equivalent of 98 miles per gallon, the Buick Lacrosse with eAssist technology, and the Chevy Spark. The eAssist Lacrosse and Spark both can surpass 40 mpg on the highway.

Although exceeding the speed limit is a factor in fuel efficiency, people may not be aware that automobiles can burn more than half a gallon of fuel for every hour spent idling. That is where the GM eAssist technology, which also can be found on the Chevy Malibu, makes such a difference.

On the open road, once they get moving again after the latest round of Gridlock, drivers want to make up for lost time with speed. But, according to the U.S. EPA, every five miles over the 60 mph level is equivalent to paying 20 extra cents per gallon for gas. GM has designed vehicles that help in that circumstance, as well, equipping many of its vehicles with Active Fuel Management that will shut off half the cylinders in the vehicles’ engines once ideal cruising speed is reached.

Because highways and the accompanying Gridlock will not go away, GM has plans to introduce a Cadillac model in two years that can travel on the highway without the driver holding the steering wheel or putting a foot on a pedal. The 2017 Cadillac model will feature "Super Cruise" technology that takes control of steering, acceleration and braking at highway speeds of 70 miles per hour or in stop-and-go congested traffic.

"With Super Cruise, when there’s a congestion alert on roads like California’s Santa Monica Freeway, you can let the car take over and drive hands-free and feet-free through the worst stop-and-go traffic around," GM CEO Mary Barra said in a 2014 speech at the Cobo Center in Detroit. "If the mood strikes you on the high-speed road from Barstow, California, to Las Vegas, you can take a break from the wheel and pedals, and let the car do the work. Having it done for you -- that’s true luxury."

So, as we say "Happy Birthday" today to the Arroyo Seco Parkway and "Thank You" to Dwight Eisenhower for the Interestate Highway System, let us celebrate the evolution of motor-vehicle travel the best way possible – in a vehicle from General Motors and the Hendrick Durham Auto Mall.

Hendrick Durham Auto Mall, General Motors To Carry Momentum Into New Facility, New Year

As the Hendrick Durham Auto Mall prepares to move to its spectacular new facility next to The Streets of Southpoint Mall and General Motors continues to move back into prominence as an automaker, the stage is set for 2015 to be an outstanding year for those two entities locally.

Less than 10 years removed from a record plunge that saw GM stock reach a 20-year-low of $18.33 a share, the manufacturer recently has been mentioned on the list of Forbes' top-10 favorite stocks in 2015. As of Dec. 29, 2014, GM stock prices were up to $34.51 a share.

That's great news for fans and followers of GM and the Hendrick Durham Auto Mall, which sells and services the entire line of GM vehicles, including Cadillac, Buick, GMC and Chevrolet.

Beginning in the first quarter of 2015, the dealership will be conducting business out of its spacious new, state-of-the art location that will feature not one, but two service drives and a regular shuttle service to and from the busy mall across the street. This facility was designed and built with our incredible Hendrick customers in mind, and will be a great benefit to our customers.

The new facility has been in the works for some time, which is a good thing given how brisk business has been in 2014.

The success of the dealership has mirrored the 2014 success of General Motors. Widely publicized recalls have done little to diminish sales or service volume at the dealership's current downtown Durham location. The recalls actually have given us an opportunity to reconnect with many of our customers. We feel like this interaction has built a lot of value with our customers, both in our company, and the GM brands that we represent.

We think that most of our consumers have seen our excellent customer service, and GM’s commitment to them.

An outstanding new product line, a visionary executive branch of leadership, an emphasis on an impeccable business process, reputation management and accountability all have combined to propel the national GM resurgence. Add to that mix unprecedented sales discounts and incentives, as well as strong communication with and resources for its local dealers, the success only can continue.

At the Hendrick Durham Auto Mall, its employees are its greatest asset.

"It's all about the people," said Rick Hendrick, owner of the Durham dealership and its parent Hendrick Automotive Group - a network of nearly 100 dealerships nationwide. "I don't care what you're doing or what your business is; it's all about the people. They have to be able to work together, believe in each other and be able to share information. They have to be motivated to come in and go through it every day."

Mr. Hendrick also requires of the dealership a high-level of transparency, accountability at all levels, and commitments to customer enthusiasm and continuous improvement. In a time of change at General Motors in particular and the automotive industry in general, those Hendrick hallmarks will continue to make both the Durham dealership and its flagship manufacturer standouts in their field.

Furthermore, Mr. Hendrick rarely has a conversation in which he does not stress the importance of our customers. We are here to serve our customers, whether it be from our current location or at the new place.