2014 Chevrolet Cruze 1lt on 2040-cars

Auto blog

GM takes 2020 full-size pickup sales crown

It's no secret that 2020 was an unconventional year for auto sales. Extenuating circumstances or not, it was a year of upheaval even for ever-resilient (and ever-profitable) pickups, with General Motors taking the crown from Ford in the full-size segment.  The Ford F-Series still outsold every other full-size pickup nameplate in the country by a significant margin. It's only when you combine GM's Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra variants that you get a number that exceeds Ford's. This isn't really a new phenomenon, either. In fact, it was only somewhat recently that Ford took the overall full-size crown away from GM, and not only did Ford widen the gap in recent years, but Ram has once again become a legitimate challenger, even managing to outsell the Silverado by a healthy margin in 2019, but never coming close to the F-Series in terms of total volume.  But, 2020 being 2020, things got weird yet again. Ram remains relevant, of course, but Ford got caught with its pants down thanks to the one-two punch of COVID and the generational changeover of the core F-150 model, which resulted in a production interruption as the company's assembly facilities transitioned from building the old 2020 model to the new-for-2021. This perfect storm, as it turns out, was sufficient for GM to walk away with the full-size crown. See for yourself: Full-size 2020 pickup sales: GM total: 847,110 F-Series: 787,422 Silverado: 594,094 Ram: 563,676 Sierra: 253,016 Tundra: 109,203 Titan: 26,439 As you can see, Ram slipped back behind Silverado, slotting comfortably into third place. The Silverado 1500 had a flat year, but the heavy- and medium-duty variants bucked the trend and contributed to a slight uptick in sales for the nameplate, while F-Series tumbled more than 12% (nearly 110,000 units), opening the door for GM to steam ahead.  There were similarly significant shakeups in the midsize truck segment. First, 2020 was the first full year of retail sales for the Gladiator pickup, which surged to fourth place behind the stalwart Tacoma, Ranger and Colorado. GM's combined sales of the Colorado and Canyon are good enough for second place by manufacturer, but nowhere close to what it would take to dethrone Toyota.

2016 Chevy Volt will start at $33,995*

One of the biggest mysteries regarding the 2016 Chevy Volt has been revealed. Chevy announced today that the next-gen plug-in hybrid will have an MSRP of $33,995, which includes GM's $825 destination fee. That's a few hundred dollars less than the current Volt, which has an MSRP of $34,170. The second-gen Volt is about more than a price cut, though. The car has an increased all-electric range (50 miles vs. 38 in the current model) and better fuel economy. Once the battery power runs out – which it doesn't do, in most situations, since 90 percent of all trips are electric-only – the no-longer-premium-only gas engine offers 41 miles per gallon, up from 37 mpg. We know most buyers are price-conscious, and with the still-available federal tax incentive of up to $7,500, the new Volt can be had for $26,495. That should put a spring back into sluggish Volt sales, which are down 46 percent year-over-year so far in 2015. Through the end of April, GM has sold a cumulative 76,136 first-gen Volts since introducing the car in 2010. Chevrolet Announces 2016 Volt Pricing Next Gen delivers more technology at new price as low as $26,495 DETROIT – The Chevrolet Volt is poised to continue to bring new owners to the electric plug-in family. Pricing will be as low as $26,495 after the full federal tax credit of $7,500. (Federal tax credit can range from $0 up to $7,500.) In California, the vehicle's largest market, residents of the state will be able to purchase the all-new Volt for as low as $24,995 after state and Federal incentives. The 2016 model will start at $33,995 MSRP, including an $825 destination fee (excluding tax, title, license and dealer fees). This is almost $1,200 less than the current generation Volt. "The next generation Chevrolet Volt delivers more technology, the ability to drive further between gas fill ups and now with even more value to our customers. It's what our loyal Volt owners told us they wanted," said Steve Majoros, Director, Chevrolet Marketing. "We are confident we will continue to attract new customers to Volt with the vehicle's product improvements and attractive price." The Volt continues to be a success with the brand with nearly 70 percent of Volt owners trading in a non-GM product or adding to their household fleet in 2014, the highest of any Chevy nameplate. The number one trade-in for the Volt is the Toyota Prius. To date more than 75,000 first generation Volt owners have driven hundreds of millions of EV miles.

Next-generation GMC Canyon, Chevy Colorado spied together

With the debut of the next-generation GMC Canyon coming in a couple of months (in off-road-ready AT4 guise no less), it's no surprise that both it and the Chevy Colorado are out testing without the heavy coverings of early prototypes. One of our spy photographers caught examples of both trucks with close-fitting vinyl wraps. This gives us a great opportunity to see each pickup more clearly, but also to compare and contrast the designs. From the front, the GMC features a narrower, but seemingly taller grille. At the top are slender lamps. They seem to be daytime running lights, though, and below them are much larger units that will function as the actual headlights. The prototype shown seems to be one of the AT4 variants, based on the lack of a lower air dam and the opened up corners of each bumper. Small fog lights show up in the lower bumper, too. As for the Chevy, its grille is wider, and it blends into the headlights. The lights are at the top of the grille, and they seem to incorporate the actual headlights, not just running lamps. The grille mesh has some interesting detailing, and there are auxiliary lights below the main headlights. This one seems to be a more mainstream Colorado model since it still has a front air dam, possibly a Z71 model, considering the chunky tires. Not surprisingly, the two trucks are very similar from the sides and the rear. They have cabins that look lower, longer and more squared-off than the current models. The fenders look more punched out and aggressive, too. The main differentiator between the Chevy and GMC are the wheel openings. The GMC has sharp corners and the Chevy has more rounded ones, as is the case with the full-size trucks. As previously mentioned, the GMC Canyon AT4 will be revealed this summer, so likely in just a month or two. The Colorado will likely be revealed this summer, too. It's expected that it will use the turbocharged 2.7-liter four-cylinder shared with the Silverado. Naturally, it will be available with two- and four-wheel drive and a variety of trim levels including the AT4 and ZR2 off-road versions. Related video: