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GM, UAW poaching Nissan workers in Tennessee

General Motors and the United Auto Workers are going on a recruitment drive at the Spring Hill factory in Tennessee, and they're hoping to poach some skilled workers from Nissan's nearby plant in Smyrna, TN. The General and the union even bought a billboard advertising for industrial electricians near the Japanese automaker's facility, according to the Daily News Journal. The reason for the billboard was simple. "GM was short of electricians," said Tim Stannard, the president of the UAW local at Spring Hill, to the Daily News Journal. The factory currently builds the Chevrolet Equinox but has a contract to assemble the next generation of Ecotec engines and the Cadillac XT5, which replaces the SRX. Thanks to the $185-million deal, employment there is expected to double by May 2016, according to Stannard, with roughly 1,800 additional union jobs. Beyond just several billboards, GM has job postings online for the Spring Hill plant looking for workers with specific skills. There has already been some interest in the positions among Nissan employees, Stannard indicated. According to a recent study by the Center for Automotive Research, the average GM worker currently makes $58 an hour, including benefits. Comparatively, Nissan pays an average of $42 an hour with benefits. The General's number could change in the coming weeks because its contract with the UAW is about to expire, and higher wages are among the major negotiating points.

Cadillac will kill the plug-in ELR

Johan de Nysschen, president of General Motors' Cadillac division, says Caddy's ELR extended-range plug-in won't have any future generations, Automotive News (subs. req.) says. The publication previously reported that the car would be around for another couple of years, but even that's questionable, and the model could be yanked even sooner. Cadillac spokesman David Caldwell confirmed that there won't be a second-generation ELR. "Subsequent generations of the car will not be developed," he wrote in an e-mail to Autoblog. "It's available currently as a 2016 model, and there's no change to that status." The model debuted in late 2013 and used a version of the powertrain in the Chevrolet Volt. The main problem, of course, was that the car had a $76,000 price tag that proved too much for most automobile buyers to stomach. Last year, GM sold 1,024 ELRs, down 22 percent from 2014's totals. By comparison, the Chevy Volt moved more than 15,000 units, and that itself was still down 18 percent from year-earlier figures. The merciful end to the ELR shouldn't be much of a surprise, as Cadillac Chief Marketing Officer Uwe Ellinghaus went on the record in December of essentially calling the model a dud. It's a far cry from the excitement, though, that the concept model of what was then called the Converj was unveiled to the public at the Detroit Auto Show in 2009. For those feeling misty-eyed or nostalgic, though, check here for Autoblog's First Drive impressions of the extended-range plug-in. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2014 Cadillac ELR Review View 48 Photos News Source: Automotive News-sub.req. Green Cadillac GM Hybrid elr extended-range plug-in

2017 Cadillac XT5 First Drive

Thousands of feet above the Pacific Ocean, the winding roads that lead to the summit of Palomar Mountain turn from undulating curves to tight, blind, hairpin bends. Most drivers along this route are looking for a chance to exploit the limits of their cars' handling as much as one can on public roads, while taking in the bucolic views and endless blue skies. Up here, taking the thrilling curves at high speed is best left for drivers of performance cars who have platinum health insurance, lest the possibility of rolling a vertical mile toward Hellhole Canyon Preserve (we are not making this up) is not a deterrent. How different the experience is when you've chosen to climb the mountain in the 2017 Cadillac XT5, the crossover that replaces the SRX in a growing lineup of refined and redefined XT-named utility vehicles. An instant reminder that this SUV is not a Lotus comes as we enter a corner with a smidgen too much gusto, the tires begin to claw for traction, and the seatbelts tighten with the grip of sudden death. A quick tap of the brakes releases the belts, but not before a bead of sweat forms on the forehead. The overwhelming feeling is one of being unsure if this exercise is out of the XT5's comfort zone, despite Cadillac's goal of hitting the high-achieving sweet spot of the sport-luxury crossover segment. You'll know that an XT5 isn't an SRX when you first see one, although the differences are harder to tell when the two are parked side by side. The XT5 is the second Cadillac model to arrive since the brand learned to speak with a New York accent (albeit an affected Soho dialect) and it's a key pillar to the brand's chances at worldwide success. In 2015, the final year of sales for the five-year-old SRX, Cadillac managed to sell almost 100,000 of them around the world – no small feat for a model about to be replaced, and proof of the crossover's relative freshness and its popularity in export markets like China. Like the SRX that precedes it, the XT5 will be available with either front- or all-wheel drive (a $2,645 option), but that's one of few commonalities with the outgoing model. A new, lighter chassis helps the XT5 shed about 300 pounds, although Cadillac favors high-strength steel for bodywork and leaves aluminum for the engine and interior trim. In line with the revised brand guidelines for naming, SRX evolved into XT5, leaving room for larger and smaller utility vehicles to eventually join the lineup.