1996 White Mint 4dsd Chev Blazer Very Low Original Miles on 2040-cars

Auto blog

January no slump for Chevy Volt this year

The mild winter didn't tank January sales for the Chevy Volt this year. While last month's sales were a lot lower than December's – because January new vehicle sales are almost always lower than December's - the second-gen Volt had a good month. GM sold 996 Chevy Volts last month, an increase of 83.8 percent over the 542 sold last January. In December, 2,114 Volts were sold. The trend wasn't as good over at Nissan, which sold 755 Leafs in January. That's a drop of 29.4 percent compared to the 1,070 sold in January 2015. Given the lower overall sales for the Leaf these days, the drop from December wasn't as bad, with 1,347 Leafs sold in the last month of 2015. What's absolutely amazing is that after over five complete years of sales, the cumulative totals of the Leaf and Volt sales in the US remain almost exactly the same. The current difference is only 600 units, with the Leaf on top. If the Volt continues to outsell the Leaf for the next few months – and all indications are that that is likely, since Nissan is offering the first-gen model while Chevy has put out it much-improved second-gen - then we will soon get back to an equilibrium like we were at the end of February 2015, when the difference was just two units. As always, our more complete wrap up of all the green car sales in the US will be coming soon. Stay tuned. Related Video: News Source: Nissan, GM Green Chevrolet Nissan Electric ev sales

LG Chem's troubled Chevy Volt battery plant hiring once again

The Michigan battery plant known for paying its workers to do nothing has turned things around and is now hiring more workers, specifically to do something. South Korea-based LG Chem, which runs the factory to supply the Chevrolet Volt extended-range plug-in vehicle with its lithium-ion batteries, held a job fair recently to bring on 40 new employees in order to meet higher battery demand, according to WZZM, the ABC affiliate for Grand Rapids, MI. The LG Chem factory is in Holland, MI, about 30 miles west of Grand Rapids, and it made its first batteries last year. Prior to that, though, the factory gained notoriety after a US Department of Energy (DOE) probe found that workers there were getting paid to do, well, nothing. That's because demand for the battery packs was so low that it cost less for the plant to sit idle. The DOE was conducting the probe because of its financial grant to LG Chem. But that was then and today is today. LG Chem is looking to ramp up production in advance of the second-generation Volt. That 2016 model-year version is said to have a longer all-electric range and better performance and will ride on a new chassis, but few official details have surfaced. We will know more when we get our first look at the car at the Detroit Auto Show in January.

2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray convertible headed for Geneva debut

While most of the world is still coming down from all the hype surrounding the debut of the 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray at the Detroit Auto Show earlier this month, we're already looking to the future. And according to Autoweek, the next chapter in the C7 story will unfold at the Geneva Motor Show in March. That's right, General Motors is reportedly using the Swiss stage as its venue to debut the Corvette Stingray convertible.
If this strikes you as odd, you aren't alone. After all, with a car that's such an American icon, we'd fully expect Chevrolet to unveil it here on our shores in either Chicago or New York. But according to Autoweek, GM is looking to boost export sales of its halo car, and since the C7 was engineered to compete with the world's best and brightest, showing it off in Geneva is somewhat of a smart move. What's more, those with sharp memories will recall that GM used the Geneva expo to debut the sixth-generation C6 Corvette convertible back in March 2004, so there's also a precedent.
Details surrounding the Corvette Stingray convertible are still slim, though we fully expect the 6.2-liter V8 and choice of either six-speed automatic or seven-speed manual transmissions to carry over unchanged. Prototypes spotted on the road showed the car fitted with a cloth convertible roof, as well.