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Nissan Leaf sets another monthly sales record, Chevy Volt remains steady

Here we go again. Another month in the books and another month of record sales by the Nissan Leaf in the US. For October, the world's best-selling pure EV sold 2,589 units, which is 29.3 percent more than October 2013. That makes it 20 times in a row that Nissan can say that last month sales were better than the same month a year before. All told, Nissan has sold 24,411 Leafs in the US this year, a new record, reflecting an overall Leaf sales rate that is up 35 percent, year-to-date. Nissan isn't stopping, either. A new TV ad, one that, "encourages consumers to kick gas" by saving money on fuel will start airing today in major markets, according to Toby Perry, director of Nissan's EV marketing. You can watch it below. As for the Chevy Volt, things remained steady last month in the face of a new model that's coming in the second half of 2015. Chevy sold 1,439 Volts last month, which is about the same as September (1,394) but down 28.8 percent from the October 2013 despite GM having its best overall US October sales this year since 2007. So far, 2014 Volt year-to-date sales are down 14.9 percent through the end of October compared to 2013. And that wraps up the flash report on monthly sales for these two long-standing plug-in vehicles in the US market. As always, we'll have our in-depth write-up of US green car sales available soon. For now, we await your comments, below. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

GM Design shows what could have been and what might be

We periodically like to check in with GM Design's Instagram account to see what they're cooking up. Even better is when we catch a glimpse of an alternate history of what legendary designers from The General's past were thinking, though those ideas may not have made it into production. This week, for example, the account posted some illustrations from George Camp, whose career at GM spanned nearly four decades, from 1963 to 2001. One of the renderings is of what appears to be a 1971-72 Pontiac GTO Judge, but with two headlights instead of the production unit's quad beams. The rear departs from the canonical version most dramatically, with a massive integrated wing. Other bits that didn't make the production cut include large side vents, a gill-like side marker and rectangular intakes below the headlights that wouldn't be out of place on a modern design today. Amazingly, from what we can make out of the date, it appears that the drawing was done sometime in 1965, which makes it quite prescient.           View this post on Instagram                       A post shared by GM Design (@generalmotorsdesign) There's also a very aerodynamic interpretation of a Corvette ZR-1. To our eyes it splits the difference between the 1986 Corvette Indy concept and a fourth-generation F-body Pontiac Firebird, so perhaps parts of Camp's work on this sketch did make it into physical form. There's also a radical sports car concept from May 1970 that resembles the Mazda RX-500 concept from the same year, a Syd Mead-looking Cadillac coupe, and an Oldsmobile with a cool take on the company's trademark waterfall grille and elements of the Colonnade Cutlass at the rear. Other recent posts include a FJ Cruiser-like off-road EV, a sleek coupe with the Chevy corporate grille, and a rendering of a Silverado-esque pickup that looks far better than the current production version.           View this post on Instagram                       A post shared by GM Design (@generalmotorsdesign) It's pretty easy to lose hours in the account, but it's always fascinating to see GM's visions of what could have been and what might be. Related Video:

Corvette Stingray Shooting Brake under consideration by Callaway [w/poll]

Callaway has released a few renderings of a design study for a shooting brake version of the C7 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray. The company says it wants to create a long-roof version of America's sports car to offer buyers more interior room and a vehicle with "unique style." The company says it will use structural carbon fiber for the new body bits, which suggests the conversion shouldn't add too much more weight to the Corvette. Along with a few mechanical tweaks, the Callaway Corvette Stingray AeroWagon could breeze past the 200 miles per hour barrier.
Provided that they get enough interest, Callaway estimates they will be able to effect the changes on the Chevrolet for around $15,000, and says the conversion work should be available through its network of dealers. You can check out the brief press release below for more information, or head over to the Callaway site to plunk down a deposit - but before you do, we want to know... do you find this C7 wagon interesting? Vote in our poll below, then feel free to leave a few lines in Comments.
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