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GM investing $439 million in Corvette plant

General Motors is slowly trickling out announcements about its $5.4 billion in US plant upgrades over the next three years. The latest one is something that fans of one of America's most beloved sports car will be happy about. The Bowling Green, KY, factory that assembles the Chevrolet Corvette is receiving $439 million of those funds to build a new paint shop. Covering 450,000 square-feet, the site will make painting the 'Vette more efficient and environmentally friendly. The upgrades there include robots that use paint more effectively, technology to eliminate sludge water, LED lighting to improve inspections, and less energy-intensive baking ovens. While the groundbreaking is already complete for the building, full construction is expected to begin this summer and take two years. This is the biggest upgrade for the Kentucky factory in a few years. In preparation for the latest Corvette, the Bowling Green plant received $131 million in 2011 for upgrades and to add more workers there. Related Video: Chevrolet Corvette Plant Gets $439 Million in Upgrades New, environment-friendly paint shop drives efficient production, retains 150 jobs 2015-05-21 BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Torch Red, Shark Gray Metallic and Laguna Blue Tintcoat, three popular palate choices on the 2015 Corvette, kept the marketers who make up names working late. Now they can dream about more painstakingly precise pigments, thanks to a new paint shop that is among $439 million being invested at the only plant in the world that builds Chevrolet's iconic sports car. General Motors announced the moves today that include retaining 150 jobs and building the 450,000 square-foot paint shop that is almost half the size of the entire current production facility. The investment builds on approximately $135 million GM has invested in the plant over the last four years for the new Corvette Stingray and Performance Build Center. The announcement was followed by a groundbreaking event for the new paint shop. "The Corvette is one of Kentucky's most-cherished icons," said. Lt. Gov. Crit Luallen. "Such a significant expansion of the Bowling Green Assembly Plant will help the company remain competitive in the region and around the world." Construction of the new paint shop, which includes substantial technology upgrades, is planned to begin this summer and take approximately two years to complete. Corvette production schedules will be unaffected by the construction.

Chevy Bolt-based prototype may be a Buick EV for China

Late last spring, we got a look at a GM prototype that was clearly based on the Chevy Bolt EV, but with updated styling. It seemed like it could be a more crossover-styled Bolt, given the recently trademarked name of EUV. Now we get another look at the prototype, but the bodywork seems less suggestive of a Chevy, and more of a Buick. This vehicle definitely still appears to be based on the Bolt, rather than on another small GM platform. In the photos of it next to the current model, the size, wheelbase and profile are extremely similar. There are differences, though. The nose isn't as sloped or as rounded, and the rear window kicks up a little earlier. The biggest changes are in the front and rear fascias, and it's here that we see hints of Buick. There are prominent air inlets on each side of the front bumper that give the car a more aggressive look. The headlights still have a fairly rounded, organic look, but with little extensions like fangs underneath. The styled running-light section, rounded shape and the smoked lenses seem very Buick-like. The grille features a large badge that doesn't fit the shape of a bow-tie, and is more that of a round logo like Buick's. Around at the back, the full-width taillights stand out, and in the middle there is obviously a round badge, again like a Buick. The wide taillights would also be a natural evolution of Buick's current light design language that uses somewhat wide and thin lights. The rear bumper has been redesigned with new lower taillights. Now that we've established that this seems very much like a Buick, we don't think we'll see this particular version offered here with the badge. This is more likely a Buick version of the Bolt for the Chinese market, where the brand is associated with luxury and has been the spearhead for GM's electric and hybrid models. In fact, the Chevy Volt hybrid was sold there as the Buick Velite 5, which was part of a family of a electrified Velite models. This would probably also carry a Velite badge as well. While we might not see this specific Buick variant, we probably will see it offered as a Chevy in some form. With its more aggressive, crossover shape, it could be the rumored EUV model. Or it could be just a refresh of the current Bolt, since the model has been largely unchanged since its introduction for the 2017 model year. And extrapolating from this prototype, we can see how the headlights could be tweaked to tie into those air scoops as on the Suburban and Silverado.

Chevrolet will preview electrified Silverado-like truck at CES 2021

After abandoning its fight against California's lawmakers, General Motors is shifting its electrification offensive into high gear. CEO Mary Barra will give the opening keynote address at the 2021 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), which will be held online, and Chevrolet will provide a peek at its electrified pickup during the event. Insiders familiar with the carmaker's plans told Bloomberg that Barra's address will highlight ways that electrification can improve the environment and society in general. General Motors president Mark Reuss will speak, too, and his remarks will be followed by a video that will highlight several future products, including what the sources referred to as "a plug-in Chevrolet pickup, some Cadillac models, and vehicles for other brands." These comments ask more questions than they answer, because plug-in means many things in this context. Chevrolet's electric Bolt is a plug-in vehicle, as is the upcoming GMC Hummer, but the plug-in hybrid Jeep Wrangler 4xe is one, too, and it's clearly not all-electric. It's often been assumed that Chevrolet's upcoming electrified truck will be electric, but it might arrive with a hybrid powertrain or a gasoline-powered range extender. Chevrolet could also follow Ford's lead and plant a stake in both the hybrid and the electric pickup segments. It's too early to tell if Chevrolet will unveil the same truck it previewed during a presentation earlier in 2020. Shown briefly, it wore a highly futuristic design that gave it a sleeker look than the current-generation Silverado. Cadillac's presentation promises to be interesting, because the company hinted it might abandon gasoline entirely by 2025, several years earlier than expected, even though its dealers aren't all on board with the shift. Going electric-only in about four years would force the brand to conduct a massive overhaul of its range. As of writing, there is not a single electric Cadillac in showrooms, but the Lyriq will arrive in late 2022 as a 2023 model. It's difficult to tell what's in store for other brands, but there are several cars that General Motors could show during CES. Buick doesn't sell an electric car in the United States yet, for example. Alternatively, GMC is working on an SUV variant of the Hummer, and it has started developing an electric truck. Going back to Chevrolet, our crystal ball tells us we'll see more of the 2022 Bolt EUV during the next edition of the tech show, too.