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GM investing $167m in Spring Hill for new midsize vehicles

General Motors has announced a large investment in its Spring Hill, Tennessee facility. The former home of Saturn production will be getting a $167 million addition to a previously announced $183 million, to cover a pair of new midsize vehicles. The investment is expected to create 1,800 jobs at the factory.
That $350 million is being divvied up for a pair of programs at Spring Hill. The first will take the bulk of the money ($223 million) and create 1,000 of the 1,800 jobs, while the other will take the remaining $127 million and generate the leftover 800 positions. But GM says the investment will cover "midsize vehicle programs." So what could they be?
The leading candidate in our minds is a new crossover for Buick, called the Anthem, that will slot between the Encore and Enclave, but will be slightly smaller than the Equinox and Terrain. As we've explained, the new model will likely be the first product to sport GM's new D2UX platform, which will eventually replace both the Delta and Theta platforms. Spring Hill is already building the Equinox, so there could be some credence to this theory.

2016 Chevrolet Camaro: Notes from the reveal

The 2016 Chevrolet Camaro debuted Saturday evening in Detroit at an enthusiast-oriented event near the city's IndyCar course. While the big news was the Camaro's 200-pound weight loss, tighter chassis, and a snorting new V8, plenty of other morsels of Camaro info came out. Here's some of the more interesting stuff we heard. • The 2.0-liter inline four-cylinder is the first turbocharged engine in a Camaro. • The LT1 borrowed from the Corvette Stingray marks the third time a Camaro has used an engine with that badge. It was previously used in 1970-72 (Z/28), 1993-97 (Z/28), and 1996-97 (SS). • The Camaro was revealed in a tent before nearly 1,000 enthusiasts, General Motors executives (including CEO Mary Barra) and mere feet from the Grand Prix course where IndyCars will run in two weeks. • Chevy hopes to continue to attract new customers with the Camaro and said 63 percent of the fifth-generation buyers were new to the brand. • GM product boss Mark Reuss neatly summed up the Camaro's handling character. "It's wicked fast and extremely nimble." • Reuss on the design goal: make it "look like a car for tomorrow instead of a car from yesterday." • Reuss' first car was a 1967 Camaro, and he's reiterated his passion for the car. "People want to be seen in a Camaro, and that never goes away." • Chevy North America president Alan Batey said he plans to line up a red Camaro as soon as the order bank opens. We assume he'll have early access to that. • Though the appearance is similar, the sixth generation of the Camaro appears a little sleeker and is more aerodynamic thanks to 350 hours in the wind tunnel. Only two parts, the SS badge and the rear bow-tie emblem, are carryover. • Al Oppenheiser, the Camaro's chief engineer, said most of the options (except Magnetic Ride Control, which is SS exclusive), will be offered on the inline four. The engine will be capable of propelling the Camaro to a sprint to 60 miles per hour in well under six seconds. "We don't want to ... make it feel like an excuse car," he said. • Without revealing specifics, Oppenheiser said every Camaro variant will be faster than the model it replaces. •The interior is vastly improved. We got an up-close look in the cabin of one of the cars revealed with a red and white layout, and the materials are much better. The setting is more colorful, and 24 different ambient lighting shades are available. Related Video:

Nissan Leaf sells 3,186 in best month ever as Chevy moves 2,511 Volts

The end of summer seems to inspire people to go out and buy a lot of plug-in vehicles. Last year, for example, the Chevy Volt had its best month ever in August, with 3,351 sales. This year, the Nissan Leaf is going up to the winner's podium, setting its own best-ever record with 3,186 units sold. This beats the Leaf's previous record by 69 vehicles. This beats the Leaf's previous record of 3,117 set in May 2014 by 69 vehicles and is up 31.7 percent from August 2013. Nissan is once again quick to remind us that the popular EV's record sales streak has now been extended to 18 months in a row. This record is simply noting that the current month, in this case August, had the highest sales that that month has ever seen in the US. Over all, US Leaf sales are up 34.1 percent so far this year. In a prepared statement, Nissan's director of Leaf sales and infrastructure, Brendan Jones, said that the Leaf is selling well on both coasts, including cities like Raleigh, Boston and Washington, DC. "It's what we call the 'cul-de-sac phenomenon,' where once someone in a community buys a Leaf, then friends, family, co-workers and neighbors see the benefits of this fun-to-drive electric vehicle firsthand and are sold on the idea of going electric," he said. The Volt also had a good month - its best of 2014 by almost 500 sales – but the 2,511 Volt sales still represent a drop of 25.1 percent from the excellent sales the Volt had this time last year. In fact, August 2014 represents the Volt's best sales month since, well, August 2013. Apparently, there's just something about the end of summer. As always, we are working on our in-depth round-up of green car sales across the country and will have that up soon.