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GM struggles to sell small cars, plans to lay off 2,084 employees at two plants

Due to low demand for some of its vehicles, General Motors plans to cut 2,084 jobs at its assembly plants in Lordstown, OH and Lansing, MI. At the same time, the automaker also announced plans to invest approximately $900 million in three of its facilities – the Toledo Transmission Operations in Ohio, Bedford Casting Operations in Indiana, and Lansing Grand River in Michigan - for future products. GM will discontinue the third shift at both the Lansing Grand River plant and the Lordstown, OH plant. The Cadillac ATS, Cadillac CTS, and Chevrolet Camaro are made at the automaker's plant in Michigan, which currently has 2,700 employees. The move to eliminate the third shift affects 810 hourly workers, as well as 29 salaried employees, starting on January 16th. The plant in Lordstown, OH currently has 4,500 employees and makes the Chevrolet Cruze sedan. The plan to discontinue the third shift will affect 43 salaried workers and 1,202 hourly employees and will start on January 23rd. As Fortune points out, sales of the Cruze are down 20 percent through October, while sales of the Cadillac ATS and CTS were down 17 percent through the same period of time. In addition to cutting the third shift at both assembly plants, the automaker plans to invest a total of $900 million between three of its facilities for unnamed future products. GM's Toledo Transmission Operations will receive $667.6 million, the Lansing Grand River Assembly plant will receive $211 million, and the automaker's Bedford Casting Operations will get $37 million. Last year, GM cut roughly 500 jobs from its Orion Township factory due to slow sales of the Chevrolet Sonic and Buick Verano, with surging crossover and SUV sales as the most likely culprit. With GM posting much healthier sales figures for the Chevrolet Equinox and Cadillac XT5 compared to the ATS, CTS, and Cruze, it looks like compact SUVs are to blame for this year's layoffs as well. Related Video: News Source: Fortune, General MotorsImage Credit: REUTERS / Rebecca Cook Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Plants/Manufacturing Cadillac Chevrolet GM Coupe Sedan Lordstown Ohio

Nissan Leaf makes it 19 in a row for record sales; Chevy Volt drops 21 percent

The Nissan Leaf continues its streak of "best month ever" sales with 2,881 EVs sold in September. Compared to the 1,953 sold in September 2013, that represents an increase of 47.5 percent and, as Nissan itself must be tired of saying by now, it marks yet another best month ever, same as last month and now the 19th in a row. Okay, sure, we know, Nissan will tout this run for as long as it can, but we're certainly expecting it each month, so if it ever doesn't happen, it'll be interesting to see how Nissan talks about it. Year-to-date, Leaf sales are up 35.7 percent compared to 2013. In any case, Nissan's director of EV marketing, Toby Perry, sent AutoblogGreen a statement that said, "Nissan Leaf owners have turned into some of our best marketers, and they jump at any opportunity to share their enthusiasm with friends and family. Take National Drive Electric Week – a grassroots celebration of all things EV and the perfect platform for LEAF owners to showcase the benefits of going electric. After celebrating with EV owners in more than 130 cities across the country, we saw a significant increase in Leaf showroom visits with midweek traffic just as heavy as what we see on the weekends." Year-to-date, Leaf sales are up 35.7 percent compared to 2013. Over on the Chevy Volt front, things aren't quite as rosy. After coming off a good August (the best sales month of 2014 by almost 500 units), Volt sales were down to 1,394, a decrease of 21.1 percent compared to September 2013. So far this year, Volt sales are down 13.2 percent year-over-year. It's kind of a stretch, but perhaps people are already waiting for the next-gen Volt, which will be revealed at the Detroit Auto Show in January, to go on sale? Speaking of things we say every month, our in-depth round-up of US green car sales is in process and will be appearing soon. Until then, please discuss how these two long-standing plug-in champs are doing on the sales floor. Green Chevrolet Nissan Electric Hybrid PHEV ev sales hybrid sales

2016 Chevy Volt auctioned off to help the robots

One of the cool things about the 2016 Chevrolet Volt extended-range plug-in being auctioned off to raise money for kids' science and robotics program is that even the sedan's color sounds very scientific. Indeed, it's fitting that a "Kinetic Blue" Volt will be used to advance the scientific education of the country's students, according to Hybrid Cars. That is, if it fetches enough cash. Chevrolet parent General Motors was kind enough to donate a 2016 Volt to the so-called FIRST K-12 robotics program (FIRST stands for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology). The program was founded in 1989. Last year, General Motors engineers worked with about 10,000 FIRST students in the US, but it looks like GM is now going the cold-hard-cash route to make its mark on future scientists. Bidding for the vehicle will take place until the morning of November 19, and, hopefully, it will generate enough interest to drive the bidding price up beyond its MSRP. As of Tuesday morning, nine bids had been taken, with the top one at $27,750. That's all fine and good except the car is pretty loaded with bells and whistles, and it's 53-mile electric-only range is a considerable jump from the first-generation Volt, so the car's "estimated value" is $40,245 (not factoring in the $7,500 federal tax incentive). That's a pretty good jump over the 2016 Volt's base price of $33,995, which marked a $175 price cut from the 2015 model. So pony up, folks. It's for the kids. Related Video: