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GM invests $24 million to build more crew cab trucks in Fort Wayne

The full-size pickup truck arms race continues unabated here in the United States as Ford, General Motors and Fiat Chrysler battle back and forth for sales supremacy. The Ford F-Series of trucks continues to lead the field in sales (214,611 units sold through the first quarter of 2019), but the race for second place has been a lot more interesting to watch. That's because Ram, long a distant third in truck sales, eked its way past Chevrolet late in 2018 and has managed to hold the position so far in 2019. Don't take this to mean that sales of GM's trucks have been poor across the board. In fact, the automaker reports that sales of its four-door crew cab pickups are up 20 percent in 2019 over the same period a year ago. And that's what makes GM's announcement today so interesting. The automaker is investing $24 million into its assembly plant in Fort Wayne, Indiana to build more Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks, and the focus will continue to be on crew cab models. "We are building Chevrolet and GMC crew cab pickups at record volume and mix levels to meet customer demand and the $24 million investment will allow us to build even more," said GM chief Mary Barra in a statement. "Crew cab sales have been very strong, and we are expanding customer choice with new models, more cab choices and innovative new powertrains." It's worth noting that, if crew cab sales are up 20% this year, but overall sales are down (over 15% for Silverado and around 2% for GMC), that means it's the cheaper regular cab and double cab models that are lagging. At the same time, sales of the midsize Chevy Colorado have surged 16%. And finally, if you combine sales of the Silverado and Sierra into one bucket, GM still has a comfortable lead over Ram overall. If there's a takeaway here, it's that trucks of all shapes and sizes have been, currently are and will surely remain hot in America, and automakers will continue to invest money into making sure they are able to satiate consumer demand.

GM's European Opel division may eventually go all-electric

General Motors' Opel division in Europe may transform itself into an all-electric vehicle maker by 2030. Granted, a lot can happen between now and then, including a potential buyout by French automaker PSA Group. Regardless, Opel appears to view its electric future beyond the Ampera-e, which is the sister vehicle to the Chevrolet Bolt, and more like Tesla. Opel CEO Karl-Thomas Neumann indicated that focusing on electric drivetrains would be a superior strategy to expanding its EV technology while pushing forward with conventional drivetrains, says Automotive News Europe, citing comments Neumann made to German publication Manager Magazin. General Motors could make the decision to move towards an all-electric vehicle line for Opel as soon as May. Of course, that depends on whether Opel is bought out by PSA, the parent country to Peugeot and Citroen. PSA is in talks to buy General Motors' Opel and Vauxhall divisions, though government and labor representatives in Germany have expressed concerns over potential job losses from the proposed buyout, Reuters says. Regardless, GM has hinted at expanding its electric-vehicle line far beyond the Bolt, which has a 238-mile single-charge range and debuted late last year. Mary Barra, in an interview with CNET, said the Bolt's all-electric platform could be applied to a "huge range of vehicles," though wasn't specific about additional EV models. Opel first showed off its Ampera-e at the Paris Motor Show last fall. The name of the model raised some eyebrows because the Ampera badge had been previously used by Opel for the sister version of the Chevrolet Volt extended-range plug-in. Either way, Opel is looking to take on Renault for electric-vehicle sales supremacy across the Pond. Related Video:

2023 Detroit Auto Show Mega Photo Gallery: All the new reveals and first looks

The 2023 Detroit Auto Show didn’t play host to a lot of reveals, but on top of the new cars that were revealed there, automakers brought a whole bunch of cars we havenÂ’t seen in person yet. In a show of home strength, all the big reveals came from the hometown Big Three, with Ford, GM and Stellantis playing host to the most important unveilings. We took Huntington Place by storm to capture all of the new cars and sights to see in Detroit, and you can see everything we did in the series of galleries below. Interesting special editions like the 2024 Ford F-150 Lightning Platinum Black Edition and the 2024 Chevrolet Camaro CollectorÂ’s Edition found some floor space alongside bigger debuts like the refreshed gasoline-powered F-150 and 2024 Jeep Gladiator with its new interior. If you wanted to see it all yourself, make sure you check out our guide on how to attend the public show days. Scroll on down to see all of the galleries for all of the big Detroit debuts.   2024 Ford F-150 2024 Ford F-150 Tremor View 22 Photos   2024 GMC Acadia 2024 GMC Acadia AT4 View 17 Photos   2025 Cadillac CT5 2025 Cadillac CT5 View 15 Photos   2024 Jeep Gladiator 2024 Jeep Gladiator Live View 10 Photos   2025 Ford Mustang GTD Mustang GTD View 9 Photos   2024 Ford Mustang Mach-E Rally 2024 Ford Mustang Mach-E Rally View 10 Photos   Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 AEV Bison Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 AEV Bison View 6 Photos   2024 Ford F-150 Lightning Platinum Black 2024 Ford F-150 Lightning Platinum Black View 11 Photos   2024 Chevrolet Camaro CollectorÂ’s Edition ZL1 1LE 2024 Chevrolet Camaro Collector's Edition ZL1 1LE View 8 Photos   2024 GMC Sierra EV Denali 2024 GMC Sierra EV Denali View 8 Photos   Related video: Design/Style Green Detroit Auto Show Cadillac Chevrolet Ford GM GMC Jeep Technology Truck Coupe Crossover SUV Electric Hybrid Luxury Off-Road Vehicles Performance Sedan