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GM slashes prices in China as sales falter

Buying a vehicle from General Motors' stable of brands might be a lot cheaper in the near future – at least for customers in China. The effort comes as GM hopes to keep sales there growing, and the decision alludes to yet another sign that the Asian country no longer has the booming auto market of past years. GM and its Chinese joint venture partner SAIC are slashing prices by as much as the equivalent to $8,700 on 40 models from Buick, Chevrolet, and Cadillac, according to The Detroit News. Across all of automaker's nameplates, the overall sales dipped in China in April by 0.4 percent to 258,484 vehicles. Among the drops, Buick was down 8.5 percent, and Chevy shrunk 5.6 percent. Caddy's numbers increased 4.6 percent for the month, though. Buick remains a popular brand in the minds of Chinese consumers, but according to The Detroit News domestic automakers there are starting to eat into the dominance of foreign companies in the market. The country remains important for GM, though. Late last year, it outlined a future strategy that included China as a major pillar, including a $14 billion investment to build five new factories and boost sales. News Source: The Detroit NewsImage Credit: Alexander F. Yuan / AP Photo Buick Cadillac Chevrolet GM Car Buying Car Dealers saic

Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf sales show big drops in September

As most readers likely know, it's not just lower gas prices that are affecting plug-in vehicle sales. The two long-time sales leaders in the US - the Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Volt - are getting long in the tooth. First introduced in late 2010, the vehicles have been updated here and there since then, but recent sales figures have been lagging behind where they were in 2014. This trend continued in September, with sales of both vehicles down in a big way compared to last year. Sales of Nissan Leaf totaled 1,247 for the month of September. This is down a whopping 56.7 percent from September 2014, but thankfully the year-to-date sales are not quite as negative. So far this year, Nissan has sold 13,630 Leafs, which is "just" 37.5 percent lower tan the YTD total at this point in 2014 (21,822). This decrease swims against the overall direction of Nissan's September sales, which were up 18 percent over last year and set a new September record. The Volt sold 949 units last month, down 31.9 percent from last September. Year to date, the Volt has sold 9,264 units, which is 36.3 percent lower than the number of Volts that were sold in the first nine months of 2014 (14,540). This downward trend might be coming to an end soon. The new Chevy Volt will go on sale in 11 US states later this fall, and the 2017 model will be available nationwide next spring. An updated Leaf for the 2016 model year also offers more miles – 107, vs 84 in the 2015 version – so potential customers who have been waiting for the latest and greatest will soon not have any excuses. We'll have our broader look at green car sales in the US up soon. Green Chevrolet Nissan Electric Hybrid ev sales hybrid sales volt

The Chevrolet Bolt is headed to China as a Buick SUV

When spy photos of what appeared to be Chevrolet Bolt EV with some minor front- and rear-end updates circulated last week, Autoblog surmised that GM was working on some sort of Bolt-based vehicle — potentially a crossover — to be sold in China as a Buick. We may just have corroboration for that theory. On Thursday, Motor1.com spotted a story published earlier this week on the Chinese site Auto Home which claims that GM has applied to sell an all-electric SUV under the Velite 7 nameplate in China.  There's little differentiating the Velite 7's exterior from the Bolt EV's, apart from bumpers, badges, and a little extra ground clearance. Up front, the bowtie is replaced by a round Buick badge, and the bumper picks up an almost Prius-like appearance thanks to contrasting vertical elements and a thin grille bleeding into the head lights to give it a full-width appearance. Chevy Bolt-based prototype View 16 Photos If the Chinese report is accurate, there is one significant difference under the skin. Per the application, the Buick crossover variant is to be powered by a 174-horsepower electric powertrain. That's down 26 horsepower from the Bolt EV's powertrain, and we can't help but think that a lifted Buick variant might just need every pony it can get.  The needs of the Chinese market are unique, and we're certain GM knows what it's doing if these figures are accurate. We have no reason to believe Buick plans to sell the Velite 7 EV here in the States, though we expect an updated Chevy Bolt eventually, and we wouldn't be surprised if Buick brings something along shortly to fill the void left by the departure of the Regal sedan and its variants.  Related Video: