2004 Chevrolet Monte Carlo Ss Coupe 2-door 3.8l Dale Earnhardt Jr Signature Edt on 2040-cars

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Chevy Bolt EV with 200-mile range to debut at CES

The production version of the Chevrolet Bolt will debut at the Consumer Electronics Show in early January, according to The Verge. General Motors global product development boss Mark Reuss made the big announcement during the Los Angeles Auto Show. The Bolt made a huge splash at the 2015 Detroit Auto Show when Chevy unveiled the hatchback as a concept with the promise of a 200-mile electric range and price of roughly $30,000 – at least after possible incentives. The idea of an affordable EV from a major automaker to challenge the Nissan Leaf was certainly intriguing. The Bowtie saw the opportunity and fast-tracked the model's development. The company announced shortly after the debut at it would build the Bolt at the Orion Assembly Plant in Michigan. Camouflaged test mules suggest the production version looks very similar to the concept. The Bolt reportedly arrives at dealers in 2017, but Chevy hasn't made an official announcement yet. However, the company already has a marketing plan, and it's committed to selling the EV in all 50 states. In addition to the launch of the production Bolt, GM will have another major presence at CES because CEO Mary Barra will give the event's keynote speech. She'll reportedly discuss the automaker's new focus on personal mobility and possible cooperation with tech companies. Related Video:

GM global sales off slightly this year

General Motors saw a slight dip in global sales through the first nine months of the year. In that time, the automaker moved 7.2 million vehicles – down 1.3 percent from 2014. For the third quarter alone, the numbers were down 3.1 percent with a worldwide volume of 2.3 million. The automaker had a better performance in North America, as Chevrolet is showing strength with some of its best crossover sales ever, and pickup trucks were up 16 percent for the year. Volume on the continent advanced 4.9 percent through September to nearly 2.7 million vehicles. The third quarter improved that figure even further with a 5.2-percent jump and deliveries of about 931,000. Elsewhere in the world, things were more mixed in the third quarter. European deliveries jumped 1.1 percent, but the company was still down 6.3 percent there for the year so far. Volume in China also fell 4.2 percent, but the country showed 1.6-percent growth through the first nine months. South America took the biggest, hit with Q3 numbers dropping 30.8 percent. While GM is seeing a small sales drop globally, the company could still climb up the ranking of the world's largest automakers by the end of the year. Volkswagen had the top spot in the first half of 2015, but since then, the German company has been rocked by an international emissions scandal. GM Sold 7.2 Million Vehicles in the First Nine Months of 2015 DETROIT – General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) sold 7.2 million vehicles globally in the first nine months of 2015. The company posted sales increases in four of its five largest markets, with record sales in China and strong retail sales gains in the United States. Total sales were down 1 percent, due primarily to the company's previously announced decisions to strategically reduce its presence in certain markets, as well as difficult market conditions in South America. "Our unwavering focus on the customer is paying off in our largest and most important markets as we execute one successful launch after another in the right segments," said GM President Dan Ammann. "At the same time, we have reacted quickly to challenging macroeconomic environments in other markets and have shown the discipline to exit situations where we see no long-term path to acceptable returns." Examples of GM's recent success include: GM truck sales in North America were up 16 percent in the first nine months of 2015, driven by a 17 percent increase in Chevrolet truck deliveries in the United States.

Would you pay $17 a month to give your older Ford connectivity?

When it was first introduced in 2007, there was nothing like the original Ford Sync system, since it allowed car owners to connect and use a portable device better than anything that came before it. And because it was a brought-in/tethered and software-based system, Sync leveraged a device's connectivity and was easily updated. It took competitors awhile to catch up: Toyota Entune wasn't available until 2011, and Chevy MyLink didn't roll out until 2012. But now Ford is the one playing catchup since it stuck with the brought-in strategy while most other automakers were quicker to add connectivity via an embedded cellular modem. Ford initially installed 2G/3G modems in its small fleet of electric and plug-in electric vehicles starting in 2012 so that owners could keep tabs on charging. Embedded connectivity came to Lincoln in 2014, and Ford began adding onboard 4G LTE via Sync Connect to select cars starting with the Escape in 2015. To get more cars connected more quickly, last week the automaker rolled out its FordPass SmartLink solution that plugs into the OBD port of 2010 to 2017 model year vehicles. This lets owners retroactively get onboard Wi-Fi, set up a "geo-fence" to keep tabs on a car's location, receive vehicle health reports and allows remote engine starting and door locking/unlocking using a smartphone app, among other features. But to connect older Ford vehicles will cost owners $16.99 a month for two years, not including installation. Ford throws in 1 GB of data or a 30-day trial, whichever comes first, after which owners have to add the vehicle to their Verizon shared data plan, which supplies connectivity for SmartLink, or establish a new account. (Disclosure: Autoblog is owned by Verizon.) By comparison, GM's 4G LTE data plans start at $10 a month for 200 MB and goes up to $30 for 3 GB, and owners can also add a car to an AT&T shared-data plan. But OnStar doesn't have a separate monthly subscription for the embedded modem or an installation charge, and standard features via the RemoteLink Mobile App are free for the first five years of ownership. FCA's Uconnect Access service also uses an embedded modem to provide similar telematics features for $20 per month following a free one-year trial, while a la carte in-car Wi-Fi is offered for $10 per day, $20 per week or $35 per month.