GM

Cross country road trips in the US have been upgraded to Business Class with the announcement of a collaboration between General Motors, WarnerMedia and telecommunications provider AT&T. The service, called WarnerMedia Ride, allows owners of GM-brand vehicles (Chevrolet, GMC, Buick and Cadillac) to stream on-demand entertainment via the car’s WiFi hotspot and an unlimited-data AT&T 4G plan.

General Motors Design has released renders of potential future pickup truck concept designs online. While the vehicles are meant to be over-the-top – and are not intended for production – it's interesting to see how far they can push the limits of design when not having to worry about transforming a vehicle into a production or showroom reality.

The majority of Holden dealers have finally signed compensation packages – worth a combined value of close to $150 million – with US car giant General Motors. It follows a protracted legal battle that spilled onto the political field and caught the attention of Australia’s peak consumer and business watchdog. In the end, General Motors did not increase its initial offer by $1. Dealers who are yet to sign say they have not given up the fight with Detroit.

Car companies in the US and UK are offering up their manufacturing plants for the production of ventilators, in a bid to assist with growing shortages imposed by the coronavirus crisis. The movement started when UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson called on local manufacturers to mobilise in order to increase output of the units, which are an essential for critical coronavirus patients who require breathing assistance.

COMMENT Former Holden boss Mark Reuss, now the global head of General Motors product development, is too humble to admit it, but he saved Holden – and gave the company an opportunity to pull itself out of a nosedive – on at least four significant occasions in the past 12 years. When he was the boss of Holden from 2008 to 2009, he brokered the deal between Detroit and the Australian Federal Government to install the Cruze small car on the production line alongside the locally-made Commodore.