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April 20, April 19
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2008-April-19
Experience as a GM ※On the Ground Correspondent§ for Auto China 2008
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Joe Zhou
IT Audit, GMAP
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1. First Expression of GM correspondent
Having been warned that it now takes a much longer time to board the plane from HongQiao airport due to extended security procedures to better prepare the Olympics from potential terrorists attacks, I thought arriving at the airport two hours before the actual take-off was playing it safe. I was proven wrong. The Shanghai-Beijing Express was nowhere close to being ＆express＊. Long queues were everywhere. After sweating myself through the queue full of travelers, holding tickets with a boarding time already in the past, I was finally on the plane just in time, only before we were told that the flight was going to be delayed!
I didn＊t know it would be so difficult＃all I wanted to do is take a picture with Bumblebee, the Chevy Camaro! However, ※The course of true love never did run smooth§ I was trying to comfort myself. Anyway, I will get to see my beauty tonight! |
| 2. GM Premiere Night |
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We stayed in the Great Wall Sheraton Hotel in metropolitan Beijing. The secret was kept so well that nobody seemed to have any idea where the premiere was going to be 每 the only thing we knew was that it was somewhere 45 minutes away from the hotel 每 adding to the mystery of the invincible ＆Invicta＊, which was all I knew about till that moment, was a few sketches.
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The bus taking us to the premiere arrived at the hotel around 6:30pm. Just when we were wondering whether we were lost, since it was getting darker, and we were almost riding on mud roads, we finally arrived at the premise 每 a long canvas-covered wooden long entrance leading into an open area where the mysterious ＆Invicta＊ would be unveiled. Also on display were the Chevy Camaro, the Chevy Volt, the Opel Flextreme, and the Buick Riviera.
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The Entrance, the hall-way leading to an amazing display of the beautiful ※Bumblebee§, On display on both sides of the walls are the scratches and designs of GM vehicles in various stages. The Chevy Camaro is at the end of the hallway. See next picture! What a beauty! The background was playing the movie ※Transformers§.
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The Chevy Volt 每 gasoline range extender E-Flex powered
The Open Flextreme below 每 can be propelled by the E-Flex system for up to 55 km : electric-drive-only!Diesel range extender E-Flex.
The 2007 Buick Riviera
The Boss kicking off the GM Premiere night
Ed Welburn, VP Global Design 每 unveiling the 2008 Buick Invicta - The vehicle that flows like a waterfall.
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All I can say is it was absolutely amazing and I was there to experience it all! |
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2008-April-19
Experience as a GM ※On the Ground Correspondent§ for Auto China 2008
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Spikexi Chen
Purchasing, GM China
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1. First Expression of GM correspondent
Joe and I arrived at the BeijingAirport around noon on Apr 19th.From the beginning, we were treated like VIP guests. Dedicated people met us at the airport and drove us to the hotel. At the hotel, we only needed to show our ID cards to get our room keys, invitation letters to the GM Premiere Night and VIP passes for the Auto Show - - - the real VIP treatment.
Another thing worth mentioning is the presence of the GMnext logo, which can be seen everywhere; such as the GM shuttle buses, GM brochures, etc... Our host, Josephine Xiong from GM China internal communications explained GMnext to us and what it means for GM.
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In case you don＊t know, our company, GM is celebrating 100 years of existence on September 16, 2008. I can＊t wait for the big celebration! And GMnext is looking forward to the future＃our next 100 years!
Well, I can＊t wait to see what GM has planned for us tomorrow, but you can be sure＃we will share it with you!
2. GM Premiere Night
GM Premiere Night is a public party for GM guests and media. At the party, several GM concept vehicles were making their China debuts. The most exciting and coolest one is the Camaro, which many people know as Bumblebee from the ※transformers§ movie. I had a strong motivation to open its door and get inside, but was stopped by the guard. |
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| Riviera, the first Buick concept vehicle developed by Chinese design team, GM＊s PanAsiaTechnicalAutomotiveCenter. |
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The highlight of GM Premiere Night was the speeches made by Mr. Wagoner, GM Chairman and CEO and Mr. Welburn, GM group vice president for global design. From the speeches and the following Invicta＊s worldwide debut, we can clearly understand GM＊s commitment to the design and technology as well as to the sustainable development in the fastest-growing vehicle market.
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During the free time stage, we have chances to get closed to top executives and talk with them. Actually some leaderships are not as commanding and serious as we thought. For example you can feel Kevin E Wale is a very genial and humorous guy from a short talk.
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April 20, April 19
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