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GM now finishing and shipping pickups it had parked for lack of chips

DETROIT — General Motors is more than halfway through shipping newly-assembled pickups that it had parked due to a shortage of semiconductor chips, a top executive at the No. 1 U.S. automaker said on Friday. "We've made great progress," Steve Carlisle, GM's North American chief executive said at the Reuters Events Automotive Summit. "We're a bit better than halfway through that at the moment and our goal would be to clear out our '21 model years by the end of the year. We'll have a bit of a tail of '22 model years into the new year but not for too long." The global chip shortage has forced automakers like GM to idle production or in some cases mostly build vehicles and then park them until the necessary chips can be installed, allowing those vehicles to be then shipped to dealers. Last month, GM Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson cautioned that GM's third-quarter wholesale deliveries could be down by 200,000 vehicles because of chip shortages. He did not break out what share of that was trucks. To expedite transportation of newly-built vehicles to dealers, Carlisle said GM bought a number of car haulers to deliver them from factories or distribution centers. The Detroit automaker has also allowed dealers to pick the vehicles up themselves in some locations. Carlisle said new vehicle inventories have shrunk to below 20 days in the United States due to the supply chain disruptions, but the company wants to get that back up to 30 to 45 days with some getting to 60 days depending on the product line. GM sees sales of gasoline-powered vehicles being steady over the decade and real growth opportunity in electric vehicles and software, with one not undermining the other, he said.  

Recharge Wrap-up: BYD electric buses at Special Olympics, hybrids perform better than rated

A new study finds that real-world fuel economy of hybrids could be significantly higher than EPA ratings. Researchers at the University of Vermont, with the help of their own "total on-board tailpipe emissions measurement system," found the fuel savings of Toyota Camry Hybrid over a standard Camry to exceed its sticker values by 18 percent on the highway and 33 percent in the city. The results of this study suggest that the projections of the fuel and emissions benefits of hybrids could be adjusted to reflect more these more positive real world values. The study's authors, Britt A. Holmen and Karen M. Sentoff, say more research is warranted based on these findings, and that "similar studies can be used to develop robust models of all types of HEV platforms under actual driving conditions and improve quantitative estimates of the future fleet contributions to the US CO2 emissions inventory and petroleum consumption." Read more at Green Car Congress. The 2016 Chevrolet Volt made an appearance at the 2015 Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Chevy displayed the silver Volt alongside a Camaro and Malibu of the same color and model year. The Volt also recently made an appearance at the premier of Tomorrowland with George Clooney behind the wheel. Read more at The News Wheel. BYD electric buses provided transportation at the Special Olympics 2015 World Games in Long Beach, CA. Shuttling 6,500 athletes required the help of multiple charter companies, including local buses from the Chinese automaker. "BYD stepped up majorly as one of our key supporters and their tremendous efforts made our athletes feel welcomed," says Long Beach Community Foundation President and CEO, and 2015 Host Town Transportation Coordinator Marcelle Epley. "We depended on them, and they came through 100 percent." Both Los Angeles and Long Beach have recently decided to purchase electric buses from BYD. Read more in the press release below. BYD Zero-Emission Buses Used to Transport Athletes at 2015 World Games LONG BEACH, Calif., Aug. 2, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- This week the largest Special Olympics ever was hosted in the City of Long Beach – thousands of athletes, coaches, dignitaries and families descended upon Los Angeles for what was a spectacular week of uplifting camaraderie, sportsmanship and competition.

Chevy Silverado Midnight Edition, Custom ready to stand out in pickup line

Chevrolet spent its Chicago Auto Show introducing a pair of fullsize pickups that promise image-conscious buyers a truck experience that goes beyond the standard range, with the murdered-out Midnight Edition and the um, not murdered-out, Custom. Let's start with the Custom, which adds 20-inch alloys, as well as chrome bumpers, mirror caps and door handles to the Silverado LS. Available in both V6 and V8 varieties, and with the customer's choice of two- or four-wheel drive, the Silverado Custom is the decidedly mellower example of Chevy's special edition styling. The Midnight Edition, meanwhile, throws subtlety out the window with a menacing set of visual upgrades. Based on the Z71, the Midnight adds 18-inch wheels, a spray-in bedliner and unique Z71 and Bowtie badges, all in black, of course. The front and rear bumpers, headlamp bezels, tow hooks, mirror caps and door handles, are also finished in the stealthy shade. Check out our live images of both special edition trucks, and let us know what you think down in Comments.