2010 Cadillac Srx Luxury Sport Utility 4-door 3.0l on 2040-cars

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GM might lose 90-year U.S. sales crown over chip shortage

Automotive News editor Nick Bunkley tweeted on October 1 that according to AutoNews data, General Motors "has been the largest seller of vehicles in the U.S. every year since passing Ford in 1931." With automakers having turned in light car and truck sales data for the first three quarters of 2021, GM's 90-year-run might not reach 91. According to AN figures, Toyota was 80,401 vehicles ahead when the October workday started. Worse, GM is so far behind its historic pace that it might only sell enough light vehicles in the U.S. to match its numbers from 1958.  Meanwhile, the New York Times put a few more salient numbers to the pain GM and Toyota are enduring alongside the the rest of the industry. GM sold 33% fewer cars in Q3 2021 than it did in Q3 2019 during the dark days of the pandemic, 446,997 units this year as opposed to 665,192 last year. GM's Q3 2020 was only down 13% on Q3 2019. Over at Toyota, the bottom line showed a 1% gain in Q3 2021 compared to 2020, with 566,005 units moved off dealer lots. The finer numbers show two steps forward and one step back, though; Toyota's September sales were down 22% compared to last year.  GM remains optimistic about what's ahead, GM's president of North American operations telling the NYT, "We look forward to a more stable operating environment through the fall." We'd like to see that happen, but we don't know how it happens. The chip shortage said to have been the inciting incident for the current woes isn't over, and not only can no one agree when it will be over, the automakers, chip producers, and U.S. government still can't get on the same page about who needs what and when. Looking away from that for a second shows articles about "No End In Sight" for supply chain disruptions in early September, before China had to start working through power supply constraints, global supply chain workers started warning of a "system collapse," and roughly 500,000 containers sat waiting to be unloaded at Southern California ports — a record number seemingly broken every week. And back to chips, we're told just a few days ago the chip shortage is "worse than we thought."   For now, the NYT wrote that GM dealer inventory is down 40% from June to roughly 129,000 vehicles, and down 84% from the days when dealers would cumulatively keep about 800,000 light vehicles in stock. However, GM just announced it would have almost all of its U.S. facilities back online next week, although some would run at partial capacity.

40+ cars that barely avoid the gas guzzler tax

The Gas Guzzler schedule, with mpg ratings and charges that haven't changed since 1991, lays out which fuel-swillers owe what to Uncle Sam.
I started thinking about the "Gas Guzzler Tax" - considerably less well known as The Energy Tax Act of 1978 - when I was driving Dodge's new Challenger SRT Hellcat last week. Unsurprisingly for a car that can burn 1.5 gallons of gas per minute at max tilt, theoretically able to empty a full tank of premium in about 13 minutes, the Hellcat will be subject to the Gas Guzzler Tax schedule when it goes on sale.

Hotter Cadillac CT5-V and CT4-V spy photos, video hint at engines

Cadillac has some extra spicy V cars on the way, and this latest batch of spy photos and videos is more revealing than anything we’ve seen yet. We donÂ’t yet know the final name of these Cadillac V cars, but they are supposed to be the true replacements for the CTS-V and ATS-V. The CT4-V and CT5-V we saw previously are only mild performance variants of the regular sedans. Diving into the video seems more important than the photos on this one. Our spy shooters managed to capture great audio that allows us to take some guesses at whatÂ’s under the hood of these cars. The CT5-Vs in black and white camouflage sound like they have some gnarly V8s under their skin. We canÂ’t pick up a supercharger whine or a turbocharger whistling away, but weÂ’re not going to rule out the former. The CTS-V has a 6.2-liter supercharged V8 that makes 640 horsepower, and it wouldnÂ’t be out of the question to see this car rival it in power. We still havenÂ’t heard the CT6-V at full song, but the engine weÂ’re listening to here just doesnÂ’t strike us as the sound of a 4.2-liter twin-turbo V8 in that car. It sounds a lot more guttural, like the LT4 or LT5 V8 engines. Also, none of the CT5-Vs here sounded like they had manual transmissions. CT4-V spied View 40 Photos Moving to the CT4-V in the blue getup, it sounds a lot like a V6 is under the hood. This also makes sense when we consider that the ATS-V had a 3.6-liter twin-turbo V6 itself. Most important of all to note, is the evidence of a manual transmission. In one of the acceleration clips, weÂ’re able to hear the tell-tale sound of a driver pausing in acceleration for a split second to change gears. This is great news, folks. The manual is looking alive and well in the Cadillac sedan to us. Another clip of a CT4-V in black and white camouflage makes it sound like that particular model is equipped with an automatic transmission, indicating that Cadillac may be offering both transmission options on the new car. As for the rest of the photos, go ahead and take in all the close-up details. We got photos of the tires on the CT4-V, showing 255/35/ZR18s up front and 275/35/ZR18s in back. Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S rubber is used, telling us this thing is going to have a ton of grip. There are more vents, wider fenders and more aggressive styling throughout on these cars compared to the lower-performance V cars. Now that weÂ’re looking at them from much closer than before, the package is looking even more comprehensive.