General Motors Corporation, also known as GM, an American multinational corporation, is the world's largest auto company by production volume for the first 9 months of 2007, and by sales volume since 1931. However, it ranks second behind Toyota in net worth, revenue and profit. Founded in 1908, in Flint, Michigan, GM employs approximately 284,000 people around the world. With global headquarters at the Renaissance Center in Detroit, Michigan, USA, GM manufactures its cars and trucks in 33 countries. Their European headquarters are based in Zurich, Switzerland. Their Holden headquarters are in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. In 2006, 9.18 million GM cars and trucks were produced globally under the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Holden, Hummer, Opel, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn and Vauxhall. GM is the majority shareholder in GM Daewoo Auto & Technology Co. of South Korea and has had collaborative ventures in technology and manufacturing with several of the world's automakers. The Sequel is a hydrogen fuel cell-powered concept car and sport utility vehicle from General Motors, employing latest generation HydroGen3 technology developed by Opel. The Sequel uses a drive-by-wire system. It has a range of three hundred miles, and its only emission is water. It debuted at the 2005 North American International Auto Show and is now being shown at the 75th international car show in Geneva, Switzerland. GM chief and chief executive Rick Wagoner suggested it will be over a decade before it goes into production.
GM announced September 11, 2006 that their Sequel all-wheel drive fuel-cell vehicle will be a Chevrolet. The next-generation hydrogen car was unveiled at the Detroit auto show in 2005 and at that time was called the “GM Sequel;” the redesigned version of the crossover was unveiled today by Larry Burns, GM’s vice president in charge of R&D and product planning. This vehicle can accelerate from 0-60 mph in less than ten seconds. Additionally, it provides a high level of control on bumpy terrain, snow, and ice. 42 percent more torque and quicker deceleration when braking are additional benefits of some of the new technologies used in the Sequel. When most dedicated car enthusiasts attempt to combine a car and a jet engine, the result is usually dangerous, hideous-looking or a ridiculously expensive combination of the two. When Jay Leno does it, you get the biodiesel-burning Ecojet concept.
Leno and his chief mechanic, Bernard Juchli, came up with the idea and made it happen in about seven months thanks to plenty of help from General Motors. According to Leno, "We wanted to show younger car enthusiasts that environmentally friendly cars don't have to look like a Prius." Ed Welburn, GM design chief, met with Leno to discuss ideas and then turned the project loose within GM's Advanced Projects studio in North Hollywood, California. Generating 650 horsepower, the Honeywell LT-101 makes as much horsepower as it does noise. It's hooked to a four-speed Corvette transaxle with special gearing designed to make use of the engine's unique power band. A set of specially designed and built wheels from Alcoa get the power to the ground. Shaped like the fins of a turbine engine, they were used to remind onlookers what they couldn't see buried under the rear hatch.
According to Juho Suh, whose design was eventually picked by Leno after a highly competitive "sketch off," there were minimal restraints. "We were told it was going to have a jet engine for power and use a Corvette Z06 chassis; everything else was up to us." Although the turbine power plant recalls some of GM's original Firebird concepts from the '50s, Leno told them to do more than just make a modern-day version of those classic concepts. "I wanted some classic elements, but this wasn't supposed to be Firebird IV; it needed to stand on its own." Once the design was finalized, Leno's crew of mechanics known as the Bad Dog Garage got to work building the aluminum chassis. Its frame rails, suspension and brakes are all taken straight from the Corvette Z06, but numerous modifications were made to support the new body and the jet turbine engine.
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