Good news, everybody! I’m sure everyone knows that the US auto industry was in dire straits back in 2009. The recession was romping in full force, and the economy did not look good. Now, just over two years later, General Motors has posted its highest annual profit ever.

Last week, GM announced that it made over $7.6 billion in profits — a whopping 62% increase over the last year. The announcement caused the stock to jump up 6%, to $26.43 per share. Overall, GM’s revenues were $105 billion. That’s a lot of cars.

GM’s sales went up 7.6% globally, and it re-took the lead from Toyota as the world’s largest automaker. The company is paying out $7,000 profit-sharing checks to its over $43,000 North American workers, and it expects sales to rise even higher in 2012.

Clearly, this is great news for GM, the American economy, and all of us. GM is doing a great job at making cars, and we’d love to help sell them. Check out our specials and promotions on GM automobiles above. Plus, you can surf on over to Carbone GM and see the rest of our General Motors offerings. And, for a limited time you can instantly save $100 just by starting your car buying experience online. So make sure you check out the selection at Carbone GM.

We’ve been busy over at the Carbone Blog! Today, we’re happy to share some of our work with you. We pored over some safety statistics from the Department of Transportation and some other places around the web to create what we think is a cool, useful visualization of the data.

Of course we all sort of know that newer cars are more safe, right? But did you realize just how much safer they are? Your chances of being injured in a car accident have dropped precipitously from the golden age of classic cars. Nowadays, if you’re driving a late model vehicle, you’re chances of being injured are in the low teens. Considering how many accidents there are per day (thousands), any percent drop in the injury rate has ahuge impact in driver safety.

So please check out our infographic. Feel free to share it. You can find the full-sized Newer Cars Save Lives infographic by clicking on this link.

The Head and Neck Support Device (HANS) is the standard in death-prevention technology when it comes to car racing sports. It reduces the likelihood of head and neck injuries and keeps the skull from fracturing in the event of a crash. The system works by tethering the rider’s helmet to shoulder and neck supports that are attached to the seat of the vehicle. By anchoring the driver’s head, neck and shoulders to the frame of the seat, the HANS Device greatly reduces the risk of head and neck injury in the event of a crash.

HANS was designed during the eighties by Dr. Robert Hubbard, after the death of one of his friends in an International Motor Sports Association testing accident. At the time, a major cause of death among racers was violent head movements, due to the nature of the driver’s body being restrained while the head was not.

A recent article from Car and Driver discusses the physics of the HANS Device and exactly how it prevents serious injury and death in automobile races. According to the article, it works like an airbag, but instead of inflating it uses a raised collar and fabric tethers to secure the driver’s head.  Shoulder belts help keep the collar in place, and the harness ensures that the driver’s helmeted head moves with the torso to avoid overloading the stress on the neck and skull bones.

This process reduces neck tension by 81 percent, shear by 72 percent, and the total neck load by 78 percent. The head experiences a total of 62 g, which is tolerable for a human being. The downside to this is that many drivers think that it’s uncomfortable. In order to provide the resistance and rigidity needed to secure the driver’s upper body, the HANS system understandably restricts head movement. In a sport where split-second decisions can mean victory or defeat, drivers want to have optimal use of their visual range.

It wasn’t until the tragic death of racing icon Dale Earnhardt in the Daytona 500 in 2001 that the HANS Device gained notoriety. According to car and driver, previous to this incident, only 250 HANS units were sold world wide. After Earnhardt’s death, 250 HANS Devices were sold in one week. Today over 140,000 units have been sold and HANS is considered the standard in racing sports across the globe.

In the 1980s when the HANS system was developed, thirteen racers were killed in NASCAR. In the 1990s, the number of fatalities was ten. Only eight drivers died in the 2000s after the death of Dale Earnhardt and implementation of HANS became widespread. So far, no drivers have died in this decade, and with new safety features such as SAFER barriers constantly being introduced to the sport we can hopefully keep our drivers healthy so they can continue to entertain us well into the future.

The Chevy Spark has come a long way from conception to prototyping to realization. Based on the Chevy Beat concept car, which was unveiled at the 2007 New York International Auto Show, the Spark was codenamed the M300 and was designed by GM Daewoo in South Korea.  It has several monikers in the International markets, but in the US, we call it the Spark EV.

According to a recent article from MSNBC, the Spark will go on sale (in limited quantities, while supplies last) here and Internationally beginning in 2013. The definite sales point in the United States is California, but there’s a good chance some of those cars will make their way over to New York.  This could mean a really cool and (sporadically, if not readily) available car for drivers with habitual driving routines.

As quoted from Jim Federico, Global Vehicle Chief Engineer for Electric Vehicles at Chevrolet:

The Spark EV offers customers living in urban areas who have predictable driving patterns or short commutes an all-electric option. It compliments Chevrolet’s growing range of electrified vehicles, including the Volt extended-range EV and the 2013 Malibu Eco with eAssist technology.

According to CNBC, GM’s goal for 2011 was to sell 10,000 Chevy Volts, but only managed to sell around 3,900.

GM still believes that hybrid and all-electric cars are still a viable avenue for development in the future – and with good reason. A recent Lundberg survey has reported that gas prices in the United States have increased by twelve cents per gallon over the past three weeks. This would be the first recorded increase since mid-October.

For a short while, it seemed as though the rising gas prices had leveled off for a bit, but it is clear that the increasing demand and dwindling supply of crude oil is a concern that isn’t going to go away. As technology advances and hybrid and all-electric vehicles are produced more often and with greater efficiency, prices will drop and it will become an increasingly viable option for many in the United States. I think most would agree that a future in which you never had to go to a gas pump, could simply plug your car into an outlet at night is much more preferable to the constant increase of cost at the pump.

For many Americans, realization of this dream is many years away, but with companies like GM dedicated to producing hybrid and all-electric vehicles in mass quantities, the day that we can all drive efficient and economic cars while simultaneously decreasing pollution is getting nearer and nearer. 

This post is from Carbone Employee Annie Ruyack, asking the community to come together with the Carbone Auto Group to make a difference

Are you looking for something different to do in the Albany area this February? Do you love Macaroni and Cheese? Do you like helping out a great cause? If you have answered yes to any of these questions then the Third Annual Mac & Cheese Bowl is for you!

The delectable dish that makes childhood and even adult years warm and delicious will be offered by 30 different restaurants in and around the Albany area. Participating restaurants include The Albany Pump Station,The Standard, Central Steak, Pie in the Sky Bakery & Café, The City Beer Hall, Mangia, and Taste, just to name a few. A full list can be found at Albany.com. Also, while you are there taste homemade macaroni and cheese featuring 10 pre-screened recipes, selected just for this tasty event!

All Mac & Cheese Bowl proceeds benefit the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York, a non-profit organization that collects and distributes food to charitable agencies in our capital region. Tickets are $15 for adults, $5 for children from ages 5-12, and free for children under 5 years old. They can be purchased at any Price Chopper in the Albany area.

Come help out the Regional Food Bank, table hop, and vote for your favorite macaroni and cheese. We’ll see you at the Albany Marriot in Colonie, located on Wolf Road, February 18^th from 11am until 2:30pm.