News From the Auto Industry

The payoffs of e-learning, beyond a more competitive workforce, are savings in travel costs and harder-to-quantify employee time. Plus, Ramelli adds, “at the end of the day, we have people with naturally better e-skills because this is the way they’ve been learning and working.”

gm.com

GM created General Motors University in 1997 to tackle continuing education; it administers 1,300 courses for the company’s 88,000 managers and professionals. A growing number are taught via satellite video broadcasts and Web-based e-learning. This spring GM inked a deal with online educator UNext, through which GM staffers can take classes at UNext’s innovative Internet business school, Cardean University, even earning e-MBAs.

“We have very deep engineering talent here, so I can always pick up the phone and get technical help,” Ronchi says. “We have guys who shoot bullets with bullets. I think they can help us solve some of our portal problems.”

Like GM, Raytheon gets courses from outside vendors and develops its own. “If it’s something that doesn’t exist, or that’s proprietary to us, we’ll make it,” says Don Ronchi, head of the Raytheon Learning Institute. Raytheon partners with e-learning providers Skillsoft and FirstClass for management topics. But to teach specific engineering topics or how to use the company’s SAP financial software, Raytheon builds its own courses.

“There are no disagreements when it comes to GM acquiring the Kunsan and Changwon plants,” the newspaper said. “It was learned that the price tag is slightly less than one trillion won,” the newspaper reported. This figure represents about $781.8 million. “GM has made a new request for the government to guarantee as much as $400 million in Daewoo Motor’s debt,” it added.

“There’s a desire to take budgets and costs down, yet there’s also a much higher expectation of how quickly people need to learn new things,” says Donnee Ramelli, president of General Motors University. With people’s free time dwindling as companies get leaner, he adds, e-learning is a good way to build skills without spending a lot of money.

The payoffs of e-learning, beyond a more competitive workforce, are savings in travel costs and harder-to-quantify employee time. Plus, Ramelli adds, “at the end of the day, we have people with naturally better e-skills because this is the way they’ve been learning and working.”

gm.com

GM created General Motors University in 1997 to tackle continuing education; it administers 1,300 courses for the company’s 88,000 managers and professionals. A growing number are taught via satellite video broadcasts and Web-based e-learning. This spring GM inked a deal with online educator UNext, through which GM staffers can take classes at UNext’s innovative Internet business school, Cardean University, even earning e-MBAs.

“We have very deep engineering talent here, so I can always pick up the phone and get technical help,” Ronchi says. “We have guys who shoot bullets with bullets. I think they can help us solve some of our portal problems.”

The new business is expected to generate annual sales of approximately $40 million, the company said. “This new business strengthens Stackpole’s position as the leading supplier of automotive engine and transmission oil pumps in North America”, said Robert Lander, President and Chief Executive Officer of Stackpole. “Over the next two years, Stackpole’s oil pump business will increase production on new booked programs with annual sales exceeding $75 million. In addition, we continue to work with several automotive customers on oil pump development programs that offer potential for significant further growth for 2004 and beyond.”

“We’re delighted that General Motors, the nation’s largest automaker, will expand XM’s service throughout its car and truck line,” said XM President and CEO Hugh Panero. “GM, as an auto technology leader, is making a powerful statement about consumer demand for our service as we prepare to launch Sept. 12.”

A senior Finance Ministry official, interviewed by Reuters said that GM had made a final offer for Daewoo that excluded its largest and most antiquated plant of Pupyong, which employs almost half the Korean firm’s workforce and is highly sensitive politically.

The payoffs of e-learning, beyond a more competitive workforce, are savings in travel costs and harder-to-quantify employee time. Plus, Ramelli adds, “at the end of the day, we have people with naturally better e-skills because this is the way they’ve been learning and working.”

gm.com

GM created General Motors University in 1997 to tackle continuing education; it administers 1,300 courses for the company’s 88,000 managers and professionals. A growing number are taught via satellite video broadcasts and Web-based e-learning. This spring GM inked a deal with online educator UNext, through which GM staffers can take classes at UNext’s innovative Internet business school, Cardean University, even earning e-MBAs.

“We have very deep engineering talent here, so I can always pick up the phone and get technical help,” Ronchi says. “We have guys who shoot bullets with bullets. I think they can help us solve some of our portal problems.”

Like GM, Raytheon gets courses from outside vendors and develops its own. “If it’s something that doesn’t exist, or that’s proprietary to us, we’ll make it,” says Don Ronchi, head of the Raytheon Learning Institute. Raytheon partners with e-learning providers Skillsoft and FirstClass for management topics. But to teach specific engineering topics or how to use the company’s SAP financial software, Raytheon builds its own courses.

“There are no disagreements when it comes to GM acquiring the Kunsan and Changwon plants,” the newspaper said. “It was learned that the price tag is slightly less than one trillion won,” the newspaper reported. This figure represents about $781.8 million. “GM has made a new request for the government to guarantee as much as $400 million in Daewoo Motor’s debt,” it added.

All class enrollments at GMU—about 70,000 a year—are done online. It’s the same at Raytheon, which offers more than 350 classes through the Internet. Employees can take online self-tests that help determine what they know in a given subject—and where their gaps are. The software guides them to appropriate courses and lets them devise learning plans and register for classes.

New BMW 6 Series
No major changes for the 6 series coupé and convertible, except for under the bonnet with a new diesel engine.

New Audi A5 and S5

Pictures of the brand new Audi A5 along with basic information on prices and engine capacities.

Author: 007random
Keywords: Audi A5 S5 New Brand Price 2007 Pictures Images Image Picture Exterior Interior
Added: August 14, 2007

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 10:49:39 -0700
Driver ejected from vehicle on Highway 111 rollover
The driver of a BMW convertible was ejected from his car Saturday afternoon as the vehicle rolled over while heading into Palm Springs…

Sun, 12 Aug 2007 04:47:00 GMT
Nissan Honors Hayes Lemmerz
NORTHVILLE Mich. Aug. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ Hayes Lemmerz International Inc. (Nasdaq: HAYZ) announced that it has been recognized by Nissan North America Inc.

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EST

The fuel cell can transform natural gas, methane or gasoline into hydrogen. Burns: “In addition to being an exciting business opportunity, it would accelerate our learning with respect to increasing consumers’ familiarity with fuel cell technology, and understanding its durability and manufacturability.” GM has been contacted by several companies about the possibility of working together to commercialize stationary units like this.

“We’re delighted that General Motors, the nation’s largest automaker, will expand XM’s service throughout its car and truck line,” said XM President and CEO Hugh Panero. “GM, as an auto technology leader, is making a powerful statement about consumer demand for our service as we prepare to launch Sept. 12.”

Greer Nissan is a family affair (The Greenville News)
As Syed Madni opened his Greer Nissan dealership last week on Wade Hampton Boulevard, his wife, Robin, and daughters, Brittany and Sabrina, were pitching in to help.

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 06:02:52 GMT
Is VW leaving for East Coast?
Detroit News - Would fear of that reaction deter a company now controlled by Supervisory Board Chairman Ferdinand Piëch, stepping steadily toward total control (through his family’s Porsche holdings) of VW? No way. Look, it was Porsche, VW’s controlling shareholder …

14 Aug 07 06:54:00 UTC

“We’re delighted that General Motors, the nation’s largest automaker, will expand XM’s service throughout its car and truck line,” said XM President and CEO Hugh Panero. “GM, as an auto technology leader, is making a powerful statement about consumer demand for our service as we prepare to launch Sept. 12.”