LORDSTOWN – Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland joined General Motors North America President Mark Reuss and other state and regional leaders today to announce the creation of 1,200 jobs through the addition of a third shift at GM’s Lordstown plant to support the production of the new 2011 Chevrolet Cruze.

“I’m proud to celebrate the creation of 1,200 new Ohio jobs and the resilience of the working men and women of the Mahoning Valley. The chips were down but we never gave up,” Strickland said. “That grit and steely determination is why I love this valley and why I believe in Ohio.

“The economic impact of GM’s investment will benefit the people of this region and communities throughout Ohio: GM’s Defiance Foundry will build engine blocks for the Cruze. GM’s Parma Metal Center will stamp dozens of components for the Cruze. GM’s Toledo Powertrain Center will produce transmissions and numerous suppliers in the Mahoning Valley and across the state will contribute parts for the Cruze,” Strickland said.

“Born in Ohio, built by Ohioans, the Cruze will become synonymous with Ohio. And that’s fitting because it reflects the innovation and resilience of the people of Ohio.

“It’s a great day in Ohio. Because GM is making a little automotive history in Ohio today. And Ohioans are going to be making a new kind of car for years and years to come,” Strickland said. “We look forward to continuing our strong partnership with GM and the Lordstown community to keep auto manufacturing strong in Ohio.”

U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan also released the following statement:

“President Obama and Congress made the unpopular but necessary decision to take partial ownership of General Motors and guide it through bankruptcy. This bold step may have saved manufacturing in the United States from being wiped out,” Ryan said. “As a result of that leadership, not only were the Mahoning Valley and Northeast Ohio community spared an economic catastrophe, we now stand to reap the benefits of those tough decisions. I commend the workers at the GM Lordstown plant for their leadership and maturity. Without their skills, talents and positive attitude, this day would have never come.

“I would like to thank Governor Strickland for his constant attention to the Mahoning Valley and the 17th Congressional District. His input and guidance have been instrumental in not only this project, but in every one of our economic successes over the past few weeks.

“I would also like to commend Senator Sherrod Brown for his powerful voice on behalf of our domestic manufacturing base. The American auto-industry has no better friend in the Senate.

“It’s clear that our local economic development strategy is working: another 1,100 high-paying jobs in Lordstown, corporate investment of $650 million and 350 permanent jobs at V&M Star, 500 more jobs expected at VXI in downtown Youngstown, a San Francisco technology company bringing up to 100 jobs to the Youngstown Business Incubator in the next two years, and Severstal Steel returning to work in Warren. I believe that this is the beginning of the Miracle on the Mahoning,” Ryan said.

Ohio and GM are continuing to move forward on important investments for our state. Last week Governor Strickland joined GM officials at the Powertrain Plant in Defiance to announce a $59 million investment that will support the production of the next generation fuel efficient Ecotec engine while creating about 80 new jobs.

And, on Feb. 8, the governor announced that the Defiance plant was awarded a $518,232 industry efficiency grant through Ohio’s State Energy Program, funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The award will help fund new equipment that will save energy, reduce raw material consumption, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and allow the facility to be more competitive by reducing its overall annual costs by $515,013.

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Tags: 2011 Chevrolet Cruze, GM, Lordstown, strickland
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You’re driving along listening to your favorite radio station and a commercial playing contains a website address you want to check out. But you can’t – or shouldn’t – be writing while driving. Wouldn’t it be great to just hit a pause button on the radio?

Now you can.

Pause and play radio is a built-in feature of the High Navigation Radio in the Chevrolet Equinox, Buick LaCrosse, GMC Terrain and Cadillac SRX as well as the Cadillac CTS Jukebox and Navigation radio, on which it debuted in 2008. Pause and play is coming soon to the new Buick Regal and Chevrolet Cruze.

Just like digital video recording at home that lets you capture live broadcasts and take a break while watching, pause and play radio lets you stop a live broadcast, record up to 20 minutes, and play it back later. It’s as simple as pushing the radio reverse button.

But say you’re listening to a football game on XM Satellite Radio, and your gas gauge is running down with the game clock. Do you risk running out of fuel to catch the end of the game?

No worries.

Before shutting off the vehicle, the driver can press the radio pause button, shut off their vehicle, get out and fill up, get back in the vehicle and start it, push the radio play button and resume listening to the game it stopped.

The content is stored on an embedded hard drive within the radio. Listeners can fast-forward and reverse playback as desired.

Tags: Cruze, GM, pause and play
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Not much has been reported on the Wagon variant of the Chevrolet Cruze which is engineered to
serve customers in Europe and America. The Chevrolet Cruze Estate is expected with a 2.0-liter VCDi engine and 1.8-liter petrol engine. Both automatic and manual transmission will be offered. GM is rumored to be developing hybrid technology for the Cruze for a later date.

We expect the Chevrolet Cruze station wagon to have A-Z of equipment. Work on the Cruze platform is well underway in different parts of the globe.

In Australia, Holden Special Vehicles is assessing the possibility of a sporty hatchback with track car credentials. In Korea, GM is working on a budget hatchback that will sit above the Spark in the next one year in emerging markets. We can only assume in Europe or America, GM is elongating the chassis and making cuts and adding sheet metal to the sedan to make a beautiful station wagon.

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Tags: cruze wagon, rendering, station wagon
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Just as the name says, the Chevrolet Cruze turn the heads of many as it moved down the racetrack at the World Touring Car Championship 2009 in Macau, cruising its pole position right to the end and proved why it is named.

To be able to sit among the crowd witnessing WTCC live at Guia Circuit located around the streets of Macau was a memorable and interesting experience for winners of the Chevrolet Grand Draw who thanked their lucky stars for being picked among hundreds to win the trip to the race.

One of the excited winners said it was truly an experience having to stand there listening to the roaring and screeching of the racing street machines and seeing them driving past in split of seconds and the sense of pride of a Chevy owner was even more than seeing the Chevrolet Team leading straight to checked flag.

From someone with zero interest in car racing, the trip built his interest in this particular challenging sport.

The trip, he added, had also given him the confidence of driving the Chevrolet as the race had given solid proof that the Chevrolet engine is definitely the best among the best, though initially purchasing his Chevy Captiva was totally due to the attractive promotion offered by Chevrolet Brunei dealer.

The trip had indeed changed his standpoint about the Chevrolet, yet, at the same time he noted that he had made the right choice of car as the Captiva provides him a comfortable and smooth ride, just as how it has been claimed.

Overall it was a well-organised trip for him and he gave the thumbs up to the management and officials participating in the trip comprising General Manager Jake Goh, Sales Manager Tony Leung, tops sales executives and GHK motors officials Hal and Nazree.

From the welcoming dinner that saw Chevrolet dealers from various countries to the race day and the many visits to the places of interests, it was all well taken care of and made him feel at ease being a first time visitor to Macau.

At the welcoming dinner that took place at one of the prestigious hotels, L’Arc Macau, the group also had the opportunity to get up close with the WTCC drivers and the night also saw touring car star and Chevrolet WTCC driver Nicola Larini bidding his farewell to WTCC.

The 45-year old Italian driver commented that having spent 20 seasons at the highest level in touring car racing, he intends to devote more time to his personal life and other interests, yet, he will not quit racing, his lifelong passion. He wishes not to be involved anymore in professional projects as demanding as WTCC.

Starting his career with single-seaters, spending 10 years in Formula 1 and fulfilling the dream of any Italian racer to be a Grand Prix driver for Ferrari, he has indeed become a touring car legend where he clinched the DTM (1993) and ISC (1992) titles and in major international touring car series, he had won no less than 48 race wins.

Nicola said after so many years of his life in motorsports, it is timely for him to take a different approach to racing and to give back to his family as well as to develop his other interests.

“I say goodbye to the WTCC today in Macau, but I will not quit racing altogether.

“I will continue racing, but want to be involved in projects not taking such a heavy toll on my personal life. Chevrolet and RML have been my WTCC home for the last five years, a spell of my career nearly as long as the ones I spent with Ferrari and Alfa Romeo. It has been a fantastic time that I will cherish forever in my memory. I wish to thank Chevrolet and RML for all the support received during these five years and wish them well for the future,” he said.

Well, this summed up our WTCC trip to Macau and as for me, the most memorable experience was being able to stand among the limited peoples at the grid walk and get up close with the cars and drivers.

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Tags: Chevrolet Cruze, Cruze, Nicola Larini, WTCC
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