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Weekly Recap: Lamborghini to build SUV

Finally, Lamborghini will build a sport utility vehicle. The Italian supercar maker confirmed this week that it will launch a luxury SUV in 2018. It will be built at Lamborghini's soon-to-expand factory in Sant'Agata Bolognese in Italy, and will double the company's current sales volume. Lamborghini did not announce a name for the vehicle or other details, but noted a concept version, the Urus, was displayed at the Beijing motor show in 2012. It will be sold around the world, but it's expected to be a critical offering in the United States, China, and the Middle East. The automaker projects the SUV will sell about 3,000 units per year, and it will be the third product in Lamborghini's portfolio. It currently sells the Huracan and Aventador supercars. "The introduction of a third model line endorses the stable and sustainable growth of the company and signifies for us the beginning of a new era," Lamborghini chief executive Stephan Winkelmann said in a statement. The project is also a boon for Italy, which will get 500 new jobs in the Emilia Romagna region as Lamborghini's factory will nearly double in size. Ian Fletcher, principal analyst for IHS Automotive, said the SUV will position Lamborghini for future growth. "It could well also bring new customers to the brand [who] may find the dramatic styling of Lamborghini products appealing, but find its typical sports cars restrictive," he said. "If it is a success, the SUV could be a catalyst to Lamborghini broadening its portfolio further." OTHER NEWS & NOTES GM invests in Chevy Camaro factory General Motors is investing $175 million to upgrade its factory in Lansing, MI, to build the 2016 Chevy Camaro. The investment will pay for new tooling and equipment. The improvements include three new paint systems and two new robotic framers. GM will add a second shift at the factory to build the Camaro, resulting in 500 jobs. The automaker had dropped the plant to one shift last year amid slow sales for its products, the Cadillac ATS and CTS. GM is spending $5.4 billion over the next three years to upgrade its US facilities. Last week, GM announced plans to spend $439 million to build a new paint shop for the Chevy Corvette. While the Camaro and Corvette plant improvements are intriguing to enthusiasts, GM also confirmed this week that it is investing $1.2 billion in its Fort Wayne (IN) factory that builds trucks.

Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt sales both down in June

The best news you can slice out of today's sales reports for June 2015 is that things have to get better at some point. Most likely, sales of the Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Volt will see a big increase once the second-generation models of both vehicles arrive (the Volt later this year and the Leaf, well, at some point after that). For now, though, the best-selling EVs in the US are both suffering compared to where the numbers were at last year. The numbers are also suffering compared to last month, which was the best of the year so far for both vehicles. Looking just at June, though, Leaf sales totaled 2,074 units, down 11.6 percent from a year ago (the EV sold 2,347 units in June 2014). The world's best-selling EV is now down 22.9 percent for the year so far (12,736 in 2014 vs. 9,816 in 2015). Things are a bit worse over at Chevy, where news about the pretty-much-better-in-all-ways second-gen Volt is coming out with great frequency. Nonetheless, people are still buying the outgoing Volt, snapping up 1,225 units in June. That's down 31.1 percent from the 1,777 sold in June 2014. So far in 2015, the Chevy has sold 5,622 Volts, a drop of 34.7 percent from the 8,615 Volts sold in the first six months of 2014. As always, we're working on our full tally of green car sales for June and will bring that to you shortly. For now, discuss the sales of these two plug-in pioneers in our Comments, below. News Source: GM, Nissan Green Chevrolet Nissan Hybrid ev sales

Cadillac XT4 crossover to be built in Kansas City

Cadillac's upcoming XT4, a crossover we've previously known as the XT3 in a long series of spy shots of heavily camouflaged mules, will be built at General Motors' assembly plant in Kansas City on the same platform as the Chevrolet Malibu, Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with the plan. That will give Cadillac another entry in the red-hot luxury crossover segment and, GM hopes, help to reverse a sales slump in the U.S. It'll also breath life into the Kansas City plant that makes the slow-selling Malibu, where GM cut a third shift last year, by sharing the assembly line between the crossover and sedan and defraying costs for each vehicle. The XT4 was known most recently as the XT3, with styling cues based on the Escala concept sedan from 2016. It's slightly smaller than the XT5, Cadillac's top-selling vehicle, and will also augment the full-size Escalade in Cadillac's stable of SUVs when it makes its expected debut later this year. Cadillac last week reported its second-highest-ever sales mark with 356,467 vehicles, an increase of 15.5 percent over 2016. But that mark papers over an 8 percent sales decline in the U.S. to 156,440 vehicles. The luxury brand is on a hot streak in China, where sales jumped 50.8 percent last year to 175,489 units.Related Video: Image Credit: Brian Williams Plants/Manufacturing Cadillac Chevrolet GM Crossover sales cadillac xt5 cadillac xt4 cadillac xt3