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GM is the latest automaker accused of diesel emissions cheating

Volkswagen and Ram need to make room on the diesel-emissions bench for General Motors. America's largest automaker was accused in a lawsuit on Thursday of rigging hundreds of thousands of diesel trucks with at least three so-called defeat devices to ensure that the trucks would meet federal and state emission standards, even if they generated more pollution in real-world driving. According to the complaint, on-road emissions testing conducted for the plaintiffs found that Duramax-equipped trucks produced NOx pollutants, comprised of nitrogen and oxygen atoms, two to five times higher than legally permitted, and "many times" higher than their gasoline counterparts. The proposed class-action lawsuit was filed in federal court in Detroit on behalf of people who own or lease more than 705,000 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks fitted with "Duramax" engines from 2011 to 2016 model years. The lawsuit seeks remedies including possible refunds or restitution for lost vehicle value, plus punitive damages. It adds to legal problems for Detroit-based GM, which has already paid about $2.5 billion in penalties and settlements over faulty ignition switches linked to 124 deaths. GM joins at least five automakers whose diesel emissions have been scrutinized by regulators or consumers. They include VW, which has admitted to cheating; Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler; Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Peugeot and Renault. GM spokesman Dan Flores called the claims "baseless," and said the trucks comply with US Environmental Protection Agency emissions standards and California's own tough standards. Shares of GM were down 69 cents, or 2.1 percent, at $32.50 in afternoon trading, after earlier falling to $31.93. The GM lawsuit was filed by several law firms, including Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro, which helped reach multibillion-dollar settlements with VW on behalf of drivers and dealers. The case is Fenner et al v General Motors LLC et al, US District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, No. 17-11661. The named plaintiffs are Andrei Fenner of Mountain View, California and Joshua Herman of Sulphur, Louisiana. They said they would not have bought their respective 2011 Sierra and 2016 Silverado trucks, or would have paid less for them, had they known about the alleged rigging. Joseph Spak, an RBC Capital Markets analyst, in a research report said "negative publicity" from the lawsuit could drive buyers to trucks from Ford or even Fiat Chrysler's Ram.

Nissan Leaf has 2nd-best sales month ever, Chevy Volt does a 2013 repeat [UPDATE]

UPDATE: The official press release says that "Volt [sales were] up 7 percent," but Randy Fox let AutoblogGreen know that this is simply due to a change in the fleet/retail mix between March 2013 and 2014. The actual number sold was exactly the same in the two months. A month ago, Nissan's director of EV sales and marketing, Toby Perry, said he expected to see the Leaf's sales momentum continue into March. It wasn't a big leap, since January and February were slow sales months in 2013 (around 640 each) before a big climb to 2,200 in March. In 2014, the first two months of the year were better (around 1,300 each) but Nissan can still be happy that the Leaf just had the best March ever and its second-highest sales month ever, with 2,507 sold. That's a 12.1 percent increase from 2013 and Perry said in a statement to AutoblogGreen that one reason is all of the buyers who are becoming evangelists for the vehicle. "We've also seen an increase in showroom traffic as we enhanced our marketing presence in March," he said. Nissan pointed to cities like Washington, DC, Raleigh-Durham, NC and urban areas in Texas as strong Leaf markets last month. On the Chevy Volt front, January and February were also slow months in 2014, down roughly half from the 2,000-ish the plug-in hybrid was selling at the end of 2013. For 2014, sales were up slightly from the first two months of the year and Chevy spokesman Randy Fox told AutoblogGreen that the March number was "pretty flat, year-over-year." Even with that warning, we were surprised to see the total come in at 1,478. Why's that? Because the total for March 2013 was ... 1,478. So, yeah, that's pretty steady even if there were 26 selling days in March period this year compared to 27 last year. As always, our more complete report of last month's green car sales will be coming soon. News Source: General Motors, Nissan Green Chevrolet GM Nissan Electric Hybrid PHEV ev sales

How Chevy used popular Instagram user to promote 2016 Volt

A picture is worth a thousand words. When it comes to Chevrolet and its Volt extended-range plug-in, the automaker is hoping pictures can be turned into a few more buyers. The company extended a little love to one popular social-media practitioner to see if the trick works. Former biochemical engineer Kevin Lu started his Instagram account a couple of years ago during a road trip, and the quality of his shots has attracted about 181,000 followers. With that popularity in mind, Chevy brought Lu up to Detroit to check out the unveiling of the next-generation Volt at the Detroit Auto Show last month. Lu also got to see the Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly factory where the Volt is built, Automotive News reports. As for the next-gen Volt, Chevy says a more efficient powertrain and lighter battery help give the car an all-electric range of up to 50 miles and a total driving distance of more than 400 miles. Chevy also touts the model's streamlined grille and (tight) seating for three in the rear. General Motors hopes a combination of those improvements and exposure from sources such as Lu and his Instagram account (and some sleepy ads, apparently) revitalize sales of the model. Last year, Volt sales fell 19 percent to 18,805 units. Related Videos: News Source: Automotive News-sub.req. via GM AuthorityImage Credit: Kevin Lu/Instagram Green Detroit Auto Show Chevrolet Detroit extended-range plug-in instagram