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GM won't really kill off the Chevy Volt and Cadillac CT6, will it?

General Motors is apparently considering killing off six slow-selling models by 2020, according to Reuters. But is that really likely? The news is mentioned in a story where UAW president Dennis Williams notes that slumping US car sales could threaten jobs at low-volume factories. Still, we're skeptical that GM is really serious about killing those cars. Reuters specifically calls out the Buick LaCrosse, Cadillac CT6, Cadillac XTS, Chevrolet Impala, Chevrolet Sonic, and the Chevrolet Volt. Most of these have been redesigned or refreshed within the past few model years. Four - the LaCrosse, Impala, CT6, and Volt - are built in the Hamtramck factory in Detroit. That plant has made only 35,000 cars this year - down 32 percent from 2016. A typical GM plant builds 200,000-300,000 vehicles a year. Of all the cars Williams listed, killing the XTS, Impala, and Sonic make the most sense. They're older and don't sell particularly well. On the other hand, axing the other three seems like an odd move. It would leave Buick and Cadillac without flagship sedans, at least until the rumored Cadillac CT8 arrives. The CT6 was a big investment for GM and backing out after just a few years would be a huge loss. It also uses GM's latest and best materials and technology, making us even more skeptical. The Volt is a hugely important car for Chevrolet, and supplementing it with a crossover makes more sense than replacing it with one. Offering one model with a range of powertrain variants like the Hyundai Ioniq and Toyota Prius might be another route GM could take. All six of these vehicles are sedans, Yes, crossover sales are booming, but there's still a huge market for cars. Backing away from these would be essentially giving up sales to competitors from around the globe. The UAW might simply be publicly pushing GM to move crossover production to Hamtramck to avoid closing the plant and laying off workers. Sales of passenger cars are down across both GM and the industry. Consolidating production in other plants and closing Hamtramck rather than having a single facility focus on sedans might make more sense from a business perspective. GM is also trying to reduce its unsold inventory, meaning current production may be slowed or halted while current cars move into customer hands. There's a lot of politics that goes into building a car. GM wants to do what makes the most sense from a business perspective, while the UAW doesn't workers to lose their jobs when a factory closes.

GM to invest $632 million in Indiana plant for future pickup truck production

General Motors plans to invest $632 million in its Fort Wayne, Indiana, assembly facility to prepare the plant for future internal combustion engine full-size light duty trucks, it said on Monday. The investment will be used to support new conveyors, tooling and equipment for the plant that manufactures GM's Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500 trucks. GM has detailed more than $2.3 billion in planned investment in a series of announcements since last week as it works to retool existing North American auto plants and introduce more efficient next-generation internal-combustion full-size trucks and SUVs. Another investment announcement is planned later this week. The largest U.S. automaker is continuing to make big investments in gas-powered vehicles even as it vows to stop building them in 2035. Last week, GM said it was investing more than $500 million in its Arlington, Texas, assembly plant to prepare it for production of internal combustion engine full-size SUVs. GM faces increasingly stringent emissions requirements from California and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Last week, GM also said it plans to invest more than $1 billion to re-tool two manufacturing sites in Flint, Michigan, to prepare for a new generation of its heavy-duty trucks. The Texas announcement highlights the company's commitment to continue "providing customers with a strong portfolio of (internal combustion) vehicles for years to come," GM said last week. On Tuesday, GM said it would invest C$280 million ($210 million) in its Canadian Oshawa Assembly to produce the next-generation internal combustion engine full-size trucks. GM paid $128.2 million in fines for failing to meet Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) program requirements for 2016 and 2017, records released recently show. The EPA in April proposed requiring a 56% reduction in projected fleet average emissions over 2026 requirements. (Reporting by David Sherpardson in Washington and Shivansh Tiwary in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and Conor Humphries) Plants/Manufacturing Chevrolet GM GMC

GM faces possible class action lawsuit over 8-speed transmission

General Motors has been hit with a class-action lawsuit from owners who allege the eight-speed automatic transmission found in several rear-wheel-drive Chevrolet, Cadillac and GMC models between the 2015 and 2019 model years has a defect that causes the vehicles to hesitate and jerk when accelerating or slowing down. The lawsuit was posted to ClassAction.org and spotted by GM Authority. Problems with GM's Hydra-Matic 8L90 and 8L45 transmissions have been well-documented on Internet forums and via complaints filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, with many reporting damage to their vehicles. The lawsuit was first filed in December in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida but appears to have been transferred recently to New York. Autoblog sought comment from Theodore Leopold, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs. "These transmissions have a common defect," the complaint reads. "Drivers attempting to accelerate or decelerate their cars feel a hesitation, followed by a significant shake, shudder, jerk, clunk, or 'hard shift' when the vehicle's automatic transmission changes gears." The problem also occurs when the vehicles accelerate in a single gear, without shifting, the plaintiffs allege. "Drivers have reported that the shift is sometimes so violent, they feel as though they have been hit by another vehicle." The problem is believed to center on the transmission, torque converter or both. The complaint says it causes undue friction, causing hydraulic systems and gears to function improperly and sometimes leaves metal shavings throughout the transmission, leading to costly repairs and replacement of parts or the entire transmission. It says GM has known about the problems since shortly after it introduced the transmissions, and has issued 13 technical service bulletins, none of which have resolved the problem. GM declined to comment on the lawsuit. The plaintiffs say GM should have warned consumers about the issues and covered repairs under each vehicle's three-year/36,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty. They're seeking statewide classes in at least six states: California, Florida, Illinois, New York, Oklahoma and Texas.