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GM invests $24 million to build more crew cab trucks in Fort Wayne

The full-size pickup truck arms race continues unabated here in the United States as Ford, General Motors and Fiat Chrysler battle back and forth for sales supremacy. The Ford F-Series of trucks continues to lead the field in sales (214,611 units sold through the first quarter of 2019), but the race for second place has been a lot more interesting to watch. That's because Ram, long a distant third in truck sales, eked its way past Chevrolet late in 2018 and has managed to hold the position so far in 2019. Don't take this to mean that sales of GM's trucks have been poor across the board. In fact, the automaker reports that sales of its four-door crew cab pickups are up 20 percent in 2019 over the same period a year ago. And that's what makes GM's announcement today so interesting. The automaker is investing $24 million into its assembly plant in Fort Wayne, Indiana to build more Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks, and the focus will continue to be on crew cab models. "We are building Chevrolet and GMC crew cab pickups at record volume and mix levels to meet customer demand and the $24 million investment will allow us to build even more," said GM chief Mary Barra in a statement. "Crew cab sales have been very strong, and we are expanding customer choice with new models, more cab choices and innovative new powertrains." It's worth noting that, if crew cab sales are up 20% this year, but overall sales are down (over 15% for Silverado and around 2% for GMC), that means it's the cheaper regular cab and double cab models that are lagging. At the same time, sales of the midsize Chevy Colorado have surged 16%. And finally, if you combine sales of the Silverado and Sierra into one bucket, GM still has a comfortable lead over Ram overall. If there's a takeaway here, it's that trucks of all shapes and sizes have been, currently are and will surely remain hot in America, and automakers will continue to invest money into making sure they are able to satiate consumer demand.

2022 Hummer EV Edition 1 pickups ready to go to customers

It's official: Two years after GM announced the electric GMC Hummer pickup, the first couple dozen units have left the line at the GM Factory Zero Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Center, according to GM president Mark Reuss. In an interview with CNBC to celebrate the milestone, Reuss said 17 Hummer EVs are ready for delivery to customers. This makes the Hummer the first of GM's new Ultium-based EVs to leave the factory, and the second electric pickup on the market after the Rivian R1T. The first 1,200 Hummer EVs made will be Edition 1 models, all of which are Interstellar White outside with Lunar Horizon interiors and bronze badging. Each of the $112,595 pickups is powered by three Ultium motors producing a GM-estimated 1,000 horsepower and 11,500 pound-feet of torque, loaded with features like height-adjusting adaptive suspension, skid rails and rock sliders, 35-inch tires, the diagonal-driving CrabWalk, the launch control system Watts to Freedom that unlocks a three-second sprint to 60 miles per hour, and Super Cruise. Range is a GM-estimated 329 miles when the 200-kWh battery is fully charged. As these filter out to eager owners, GM is prepping the next four phases of the Hummer rollout. About a year from now, in autumn of 2022, Factory Zero will begin production of the first widely available Hummer, the EV3X pickup that starts at $99,995 before destination. Three Ultium motors will provide an estimated 800 horsepower and 9,500 pound-feet of torque to a range estimated beyond 300 miles. Spring of 2023 is expected to deliver the Hummer EV2X pickup at an MSRP of $89,995, utilizing two motors producing a total 625 hp and 7,400 lb-ft over a range also estimated to go beyond 300 miles. Around the same time, the first units of the $105,595 Hummer SUV Edition 1 are planned to head down lines at Factory Zero. Finally, in the spring of 2024, the entry-level $79,995 Hummer EV2 pickup and its two-motor powertrain should arrive, making the same output as the EV2X, but only good for a range of around 250 miles. That won't be all we see from Factory Zero, either. GM invested $2.2 billion in the Detroit-Hamtramck plant that once built bread-and-butter GM fare like the Chevrolet Impala, Buick LaCrosse, and Oldsmobile Toronado in order to turn the facility into its first EV base of manufacturing operations for Ultium products. The battery-electric Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups will be built there, as will the Cruise Origin robotaxi.

Fullsize GM SUVs have a problem that's making owners sick

Some fullsize SUV owners are getting sick, thanks to a buffeting and vibration problem in 2015 model year examples of the Chevy Tahoe and Suburban, Cadillac Escalade, and GMC Yukon. According to owners' complaints to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the issue can vary from an annoying vibration inside the cabin to an experience so severe that it leads to dizziness and headaches. General Motors is aware of the complaints, but the fix isn't so simple. According to spokesperson Tom Wilkinson to Autoblog, the company "has been tracking this issue for a while." The problem has a fairly low incidence rate, but when it does occur the issue can be "uncomfortable and annoying for owners." There's no precise cause for the issue, Wilkinson claims, and in some cases, simply balancing the tires or changing the door seals can make it go away. However, not all of the fixes are so simple. AutoGuide dug deep into the problem and discovered a GM preliminary information bulletin that advised dealers to remove the headliner and to check the roof's bonds to the bows that go across the vehicle. However, that document included a note that the solution might not entirely eliminate things. According to AutoGuide, adding Dynamat insulation to the roof sometimes helped the problem. A GM spokesperson also told AutoGuide the company fixed the problem at the end of the 2015 model year, and didn't go into any more detail. This roof issue seems linked to some of the worst droning in these SUVs. According to one complaint from a 2015 Suburban owner to NHTSA: "Roof will not remain attached to the roof bows. This causes the buffeting similar to a window being down when all are up. The results span from annoying to painful." A 2015 Yukon owner claims to have another alleged cause for the problem in a NHTSA complaint from February 2015. This person brought their SUV to the dealer seven times over the course of four weeks for vibrations. The dealer replaced the driveshaft, suspension components, and more, but nothing worked. According to an engineer to the service adviser: "In an effort to prevent roll overs, they designed the frame and body mounts too stiff. There are 40 engineers working on issues, they have no solutions that work across the board." Wilkinson told Autoblog that GM is working with customers on an individual basis to rectify things. Since these are newer vehicles, dealers should also fix the problem under warranty.