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Chevrolet Camaros at SEMA are a mobile accessory catalog

Chevy's goal at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas this week seems to be to show as much of its Performance and Accessories catalog as possible. That's why it brought three different Camaros - two with V8s and one powered by a V6 - with all of the best goodies from the catalog already fitted.
We gave a more in-depth recap of the Performance Camaro V8 Concept, the Performance Camaro V6 Concept and the Performance Garage Concept already, but we figured you'd like a short recap for each. It should be noted, though, that you can order all of the items you see here for your own Camaro, so be sure to take a long, hard look at our live galleries, just in case you're in the market for some mods.
Essentially, the Performance Garage Concept and the Performance V8 Concept are the same car - the only difference is that the later features a whole host of aesthetic tweaks in addition to its aftermarket, shorty exhaust headers and 2.75-inch exhaust. (The Performance Garage Concept has been usefully placed on its side; the better to see the new parts added to the vehicle.) The Performance V6 Concept is notable because, despite being a V6, there's no shortage of performance goodies fitted. All three of the Performance Camaros benefit from items from the Camaro ZL1, which can also be ordered through the catalog.

Chevy Volt has worst sales month since August 2011, Nissan Leaf also down

January is traditionally a time when new car shoppers take a break. For the last few years, if we isolate our focus to just the first two major plug-in cars in the US market, we see that the first month of the year was lower – often dramatically lower – than the 11 that followed. So, when you see the Chevy Volt dropped and Nissan Leaf sales figures for January 2015, don't be too surprised. The Volt sold only 542 units last month, that model's lowest since August 2011. That also represents a 41 percent drop from January 2014, and it reinforces the thought that if anyone out there is interested in a new Volt, they're going to be waiting for the new model to drop later this year. While we do expect sales to climb in February and into spring, we won't be surprised if the general Volt trend remains quiet until the second-generation arrives. On the Leaf side of the ledger, January's low sales numbers were still about twice as high as the Volt's – the Leaf sold 1,070 units last month, the lowest since February 2013 – but it did break a streak for the Japanese automaker. Usually, each month represents at least an increase over the same month a year ago, but that wasn't the case this time. In January 2014, Nissan sold 1,252 Leafs. Still, Brendan Jones, Nissan's director of electric vehicle sales and infrastructure, issued an upbeat statement: "We saw a significant increase in demand in December from Nissan Leaf customers looking to take advantage of federal and state incentives at the end of the tax year, which pulled some sales ahead. We're confident that EV sales will continue to rise over time due to increasing emission regulations and other reasons for purchase of EVs such as lower operating costs, reducing dependence on foreign energy sources, environmental concerns and a great driving experience." The numbers will tell us soon enough. News Source: General Motors, Nissan Green Chevrolet Nissan Electric Hybrid ev sales brendan jones

Regular-cab, short-bed Chevy Silverado Trail Boss pickup looks great

For all the wild popularity of full-size pickups, there's one configuration that U.S. buyers are no longer offered: the regular-cab, short-bed truck. Interestingly, however, GM still does make this configuration, and both the Chevrolet Silverado and the GMC Sierra are offered with it — in the Mexican market. That body style, however, is available solely in ultra-basic work-truck form. But a custom wheel shop, JC Wheels in the Mexican city of Culiacan, has converted one of these Silverados to Trail Boss trim, and we're digging the result. The sporty shorty Silverado Trail Boss comes to our attention via GM Authority, after the shop posted it on their Instagram feed. The shop added a 3-inch lift, assist steps, Chevy alloy wheels, a Trail Boss front fascia including red tow hooks, and Trail Boss badging. They also added dark window tint, which seems like a good idea in sunny Mexico. In the U.S., the Silverado Trail Boss isn't offered at all in regular-cab form; it only can be had as a double cab or a crew cab, the latter with a choice of a short bed or standard bed. But size is often a hindrance for trucks that actually get driven on trails, where this regular-cab, short-bed variant's smaller wheelbase would be an advantage. Beyond that, the Trail Boss upgrades keep this configuration from looking like a basic-spec machine. That's even more true of the same outfit's previous efforts: the conversion of the GMC Sierra regular-cab, short-bed pickup into a Denali. With so many buyers choosing pickups as personal-use vehicles, it's not hard to think that this configuration could find an audience here. But the key would be to do as this Mexican firm has done and offer it in the desirable off-road and luxury trims, rather than as a basic work truck. Would you buy one? Sound off in the comments below. The next step would be to use this configuration as the basis of a full-size, two-door SUV, in the mold of the classic Chevy K5 Blazer and GMC Jimmy.