DEAD - at least for a while.
http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2...perations.html
GM Shuts Down High Performance Vehicle Operations
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GM Shuts Down High Performance Vehicle Operations
By Colum Wood, Wednesday February 2009 , As: bailout, Cadillac CTS-V, chevy cobalt ss, gm high performance vehicle operations, viability plan, Vince Muniga
As a part of GM’s restructuring plan the company has made the drastic decision to “temporarily” close its High Performance Vehicle Operations department.
“
All high-performance projects are on indefinite hold,” said spokesman Vince Muniga to Auto News “The engineers are moving into different areas of the organization, and they will work on Cadillacs, Buicks, Chevrolets and Pontiacs.”
GM’s High Performance Vehicle Operations Department is responsible for many of the amazing vehicles that have come out of the company in recent years, including the Chevy Cobalt SS and the V-Series Cadillacs.
Generally the department deals with developing all SS models, including the upcoming
Camaro SS. With the exception of that vehicle Muniga said that General Motors has no plans to release high performance versions of any new cars.
I guess we can kiss goodbye any hopes of a V-Series CTS Coupe then…
The decision was made as a part of GM’s viability plan, which strictly states that the company’s focus will be on fuel efficient cars and crossovers. GM has also said it would offer 14 hybrid models by 2012 and 26 hybrid models by 2014.
Muniga did say that the High Performance Vehicle Operations department could be reinstated once GM reaches profitability, however, we’re certain some of the better talent responsible for vehicles as impressive as the new Cadillac CTS-V will be searching for work elsewhere rather than engineering econoboxes. It’s also likely some other manufacturers might be head-hunting those qualified individuals.
[Source: AutoNews]
