I suggested the #GMTech hash tag to a friend, and it snowballed.

As the upfitted GMC TopKick blogger-hauler crossed through fortified gates into the forbidden General Motors Tech Center, I felt like a spy. A time traveler. A trusted friend, but a careful messenger. I was one of 100 “social media influencers” invited to the most holy automotive land to preview the General’s powertrain research and future design direction. My camera was taken, my cell phone was blinded by a serialized PicPatch, and photography was further prohibited by smiling security guards posted in every presentation room. However, at no point were my microblogging colleagues told not to reveal our observations through text.

Most program attendees’ passions lay in non-automotive areas. Therefore, most didn’t realize the deeper magnitude of many minuscule details revealed. @RaymondKing and I were an exception. One overexposing tweet could destroy my career. Thankfully, years of practice crafting oblique automotive prose helped to preserve my integrity while capturing followers’ interest. Until Automotive News and Autoblog pieced together most of what I was nervous about reporting, that is. Now that GM’s secrets have been told with varying degrees of accuracy, I’ve got a few blanks to fill in — while preserving a little mystery. And my career, of course.

Continue reading Behind Domed Doors: At GM, R&D means “Research and Design”.

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The sleepless nights are over. Today, we’ll be able to tell whether the most important domestic manufacturing pillar will be afforded a lifeline — and whether millions of jobs will be saved. To soften the seriousness of the Congressional proceedings, I’ll be employing Northern California’s finest, cheapest Cabernet Sauvignon in a drinking game that only Speed:Sport:Life has the dignity to broadcast live.

 Here are the rules:

- One sip of wine for each incorrect quality jab lobbed at the manufacturers.
- Two sips of wine for each unfair fuel economy jab lobbed at the manufacturers.
- Finish the glass if Congress mentions travel to the hearings via Hybrid rather than Jet. (Thanks Doug!)
- One shot every time a Congressman hailing from a state that’s given billions in incentives to foreign manufacturers broadly opposes the loan.
- Shotgun a stolen Shiner Bock if: Daimler is blamed for Chrysler’s woes; Chrysler’s choice of hybrid is criticized; any CEO blames the UAW outright for its role in this crisis.

09:08 CDT: Here we go.

Continue reading It’s My Country, I’ll Liveblog if I Want To: Serious Business

Story by Adam Barrera

Last week, in front of Congress and C-SPAN, Detroit forgot to bring their collective homework to class. As if a governmental grounding wasn’t enough, socially clairvoyant Saturday Night Live filled in Detroit’s blanks with a parodic infinite timeline of exorbitant quarterly bailouts. Today, the Detroit Three’s real roadmaps robbed the SNL skit of truth. Ford isn’t even asking for cash up front, just access to a loan in case the downturn worsens. Chrysler needs $7 billion by the 31st to stay in business — and isn’t speculating beyond that figure. Unlike SNL’s parody, the General asks for just two tiers of assistance in the most detailed — and realistic — outlook offered by the industry.

Continue reading GM Contingency Plea: Prelude to a Drinking Game