Chrevrolet Cheyene C10-30 (1971) Pickup Truck. Original Condition on 2040-cars

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Both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay slated for Chevrolet lineup

Long awaited, the race among automakers to keep drivers connected to their smartphones has officially entered a new era. Hyundai said Tuesday it would be the first manufacturer to put Google's Android Auto into a production car, the 2015 Hyundai Sonata sedan. Not to be outdone, General Motors said today it'd offer both Android Auto and Apple's CarPlay on several Chevrolet models set to hit dealerships this summer. By giving car buyers the choice between these rival phone-projection systems, Chevrolet hopes to quell concerns from prospective customers worried about the compatibility of their smartphones and vehicles. "It's about providing choice," said Alicia Boler-Davis, GM's senior vice president for global connected car consumer experience. "No two customers are alike, and we cannot expect a single solution that works for every driver in every situation." Across the industry, automakers are rushing to add both to their cars as a growing base of customers seek an array of connected features. Estimates from automotive technology research firm SBD indicate smartphone-integrated content is available in 36 percent of current vehicles, and the company expects that penetration rate will grow to 84 percent by 2025. For Chevrolet, the systems will be available on select 2016 iterations of the Cruze, Camaro, Volt, Spark and Malibu as early as next month, and appear on 14 Chevy models overall for the 2016 model year. They're available on all trim levels, but they only work with the company's MyLink infotainment package installed in the cars, and the first to hit showrooms will only work on the seven-inch touchscreen models. "CarPlay and Android Auto, these are things that are addressable to the broad market, and I think it makes a lot of sense for GM to put it into Chevys first," IHS Automotive senior analyst Mark Boyadjis said. Via physical connections, both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto allow users access to smartphone features like turn-by-turn directions, phone calls, voice-to-text messages and music streaming. Interfaces are similar to the ones found on the respective smartphones, but on the dashboard, they're redesigned for a simpler, in-car experience. Fonts are larger, for example, and easier to press on a touchscreen. CarPlay relies heavily on Siri so that drivers spend more time staring at the road instead of their touchscreen. That sounds good, at least in theory.

GM announces net 220 job increase as Trump visits Michigan

GM announced today that about 900 jobs would be added (or, importantly, retained) ahead of President Trump's arrival in Michigan, where he is expected to discuss his plan to roll back fuel economy standards. The timing of the announcement is almost certainly not coincidental, as appending it to a Trump visit gives it a higher profile and dovetails with the President's jobs agenda. It's less likely the decision itself was made for those reasons, but the free PR boost is a nice bonus. As for those 900 jobs themselves, they aren't all new jobs. The only net gain is approximately 220 jobs at the Romulus Powertrain Plant, which produces the 10-speed automatic transmission that's proliferating through the company's lineup. The 180 jobs at Flint Assembly and 500 jobs at Lansing Delta Township are retained jobs – that is to say, spots the company found for workers who would otherwise have been laid off. By the way, the Flint jobs will help with production of heavy-duty pickups, and the Lansing jobs are to produce the Chevrolet Traverse and Buick Enclave. Finding jobs for manufacturing workers in the auto sector, whether new or retained, is admirable. No matter how GM couches it, the company has created or retained a total of 7,000 jobs this year, and its total reinvestment in US production is around $1 billion. But these decisions are business ones, not political ones – timing the announcements to make them seem inspired by economic policy, or the political situation, is simply smart PR. Related Video: Image Credit: Bill Pugliano/Getty Images Celebrities Government/Legal Buick Cadillac Chevrolet GMC

Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf sales show big drops in September

As most readers likely know, it's not just lower gas prices that are affecting plug-in vehicle sales. The two long-time sales leaders in the US - the Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Volt - are getting long in the tooth. First introduced in late 2010, the vehicles have been updated here and there since then, but recent sales figures have been lagging behind where they were in 2014. This trend continued in September, with sales of both vehicles down in a big way compared to last year. Sales of Nissan Leaf totaled 1,247 for the month of September. This is down a whopping 56.7 percent from September 2014, but thankfully the year-to-date sales are not quite as negative. So far this year, Nissan has sold 13,630 Leafs, which is "just" 37.5 percent lower tan the YTD total at this point in 2014 (21,822). This decrease swims against the overall direction of Nissan's September sales, which were up 18 percent over last year and set a new September record. The Volt sold 949 units last month, down 31.9 percent from last September. Year to date, the Volt has sold 9,264 units, which is 36.3 percent lower than the number of Volts that were sold in the first nine months of 2014 (14,540). This downward trend might be coming to an end soon. The new Chevy Volt will go on sale in 11 US states later this fall, and the 2017 model will be available nationwide next spring. An updated Leaf for the 2016 model year also offers more miles – 107, vs 84 in the 2015 version – so potential customers who have been waiting for the latest and greatest will soon not have any excuses. We'll have our broader look at green car sales in the US up soon. Green Chevrolet Nissan Electric Hybrid ev sales hybrid sales volt