Henderson Writes: Corvette Safe, Buick Turbo is Back, No Chevy G8

DETROIT - Even after bankruptcy and government ownership, General Motors won't abandon the rear-wheel-drive, V-8-powered Corvette. "My wonderful baby is my 2005 Corvette coupe," CEO Fritz Henderson wrote in his first online chat after filing Chapter 11. "We have more in store for the future and this iconic brand will retain its powerful place within the new GM." Of course, online, that was all in lower-case letters.

Henderson also confirmed plans for a turbo-four-powered Buick LaCrosse. The 2010 LaCrosse goes on sale with a standard, 255-horsepower 3.0-liter gas direct-injection V-6 and optional 280-horse 3.6-liter GDI engine.

GM has "plans for a performance four-cylinder Ecotec" LaCrosse some time after the start of production. The LaCrosse's exterior styling is based on the 2006 Shanghai motor show Buick Invicta coupe concept, which was built with a 255-horsepower, 2.0-liter gas direct-injection turbo four. Even its torque is impressive enough for a large midsize like the LaCrosse. At 220 pound-feet, it would be between the 3.0's 211 and the 3.6's 261 pound-feet.

If GM can get a turbo Buick to market quickly, it will trump resurgent Ford Motor Company. Ford's gas direct-injected, turbocharged EcoBoost priority has been on V-6s as V-8 alternatives. GM has no production V-6 turbos ready, but it has the jump on gas direct-injection turbo fours. A 1.4-liter turbo four in the 2011 Chevy Cruze replaces the 2.2-liter naturally aspirated four in the (non-SS) Cobalt, and that engine could become a pillar of GM's fuel economy strategy.

Ford's bright spot these last few dismal months for the industry has been the midsize Fusion, and four-cylinder take-rates on the Fusion and Chevy Malibu have been growing to Camry/Accord levels since last year's $4-per-gallon gas. Can a heart-of-the-market midsize car get compact-car fuel mileage and V-6 performance with a GDI turbo four? Looks like GM will find out before Ford does.

Henderson also gave a one word answer to the question of whether the Pontiac G8 GXP could live on as a Chevy or an entry-level Cadillac. "No." If the question had added Buick, the answer would still be the same.

The GM CEO took questions from the public, employees and journalists, and Henderson promised future chats. An employee identified as Jane asked, "how can we focus on growing the new GM with more job losses hanging over our heads?

"My simple answer is to get the pain behind us as we go through bankruptcy and 363 ... we must spend time on our new products, customers and building brands. It has been my experience that managing problems and restructuring consumes time, actually oversubscribes time."

So get back to work, Jane.

GM has no production V-6 turbos ready...

GM has no production V-6 turbos ready...