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Mustang retakes monthly pony car sales crown from Camaro

Going back to their origins in the Swinging '60s, the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro have been fierce rivals for fans' hearts and dollars. Historically, the Ford often led in volume, but Chevy took the muscle car top spot in 2009 upon the Camaro's rebirth. However, with the launch of the latest Blue Oval pony car, the tide is turning back in Ford's favor. November was the first full month of sales for the new 2015 Mustang, and according to TheDetroitBureau.com, the model did spectacularly well. The Blue Oval shifted 8,728 of them, up 62 percent from same month last year, with the automaker proclaiming it the model's best November sales since 2006. Conversely, 4,385 units of the Camaro were delivered, down 13.5 percent year-over-year, meaning its sales were roughly half that of the new-generation Mustang. Ford is understandably happy with the results, and product development director Raj Nair even hinted to TDB that another version of the Mustang might be unveiled at January's North American International Auto Show. Rumor has it that the model will be the even more potent Shelby Mustang GT350R. Despite the Mustang's November success, the Camaro outsells it year to day. So far in 2014, Ford has sold 73,124 Mustangs versus 79,669 examples of the Camaro. With December offering the last chance for an overtake, the Bowtie may yet remain king for this year's sales crown. A new Camaro is peeking over the horizon, as well. It's reportedly moving to the Alpha platform used by the Cadillac ATS, and production could start in late 2015. Prototypes are already testing at the Nurburgring, and camouflaged examples have been spotted weirdly being compared to its '80s forefather.

GM struggles to sell small cars, plans to lay off 2,084 employees at two plants

Due to low demand for some of its vehicles, General Motors plans to cut 2,084 jobs at its assembly plants in Lordstown, OH and Lansing, MI. At the same time, the automaker also announced plans to invest approximately $900 million in three of its facilities – the Toledo Transmission Operations in Ohio, Bedford Casting Operations in Indiana, and Lansing Grand River in Michigan - for future products. GM will discontinue the third shift at both the Lansing Grand River plant and the Lordstown, OH plant. The Cadillac ATS, Cadillac CTS, and Chevrolet Camaro are made at the automaker's plant in Michigan, which currently has 2,700 employees. The move to eliminate the third shift affects 810 hourly workers, as well as 29 salaried employees, starting on January 16th. The plant in Lordstown, OH currently has 4,500 employees and makes the Chevrolet Cruze sedan. The plan to discontinue the third shift will affect 43 salaried workers and 1,202 hourly employees and will start on January 23rd. As Fortune points out, sales of the Cruze are down 20 percent through October, while sales of the Cadillac ATS and CTS were down 17 percent through the same period of time. In addition to cutting the third shift at both assembly plants, the automaker plans to invest a total of $900 million between three of its facilities for unnamed future products. GM's Toledo Transmission Operations will receive $667.6 million, the Lansing Grand River Assembly plant will receive $211 million, and the automaker's Bedford Casting Operations will get $37 million. Last year, GM cut roughly 500 jobs from its Orion Township factory due to slow sales of the Chevrolet Sonic and Buick Verano, with surging crossover and SUV sales as the most likely culprit. With GM posting much healthier sales figures for the Chevrolet Equinox and Cadillac XT5 compared to the ATS, CTS, and Cruze, it looks like compact SUVs are to blame for this year's layoffs as well. Related Video: News Source: Fortune, General MotorsImage Credit: REUTERS / Rebecca Cook Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Plants/Manufacturing Cadillac Chevrolet GM Coupe Sedan Lordstown Ohio

GM recalls 8,500 Chevrolet Malibu models for rear suspension glitch

According to a letter from General Motors to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, flaws in the build process of the 2013 Chevrolet Malibu have led to the recall of 8,519 cars. Units built between December 6, 2011 and January 15, 2013 may have been assembled with rear suspension cradles that had insufficient torque applied to certain bolts. That out-of-spec assembly could lead to issues ranging from slight noises to a loss of vehicle control.
The problem was first noticed in December of last year by a GM test fleet driver and eventually tracked back to the improperly torqued bolts on the suspension cradle assembled through July 2012 by a supplier located not too far from the Malibu's Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly Plant. Since an official NHTSA recall notice has not been issued yet, it isn't clear whether or not Detroit-built Malibus were the only ones affected (the 2013 Malibu is also built at GM's Fairfax Assembly Plant in Kansas City, Kansas). Dealers will fix the problem by inspecting vehicles for proper torque specs, retightening if not within specs and, in some cases, perform a rear-wheel alignment.