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Chevy Volt has worst sales month since August 2011, Nissan Leaf also down

January is traditionally a time when new car shoppers take a break. For the last few years, if we isolate our focus to just the first two major plug-in cars in the US market, we see that the first month of the year was lower – often dramatically lower – than the 11 that followed. So, when you see the Chevy Volt dropped and Nissan Leaf sales figures for January 2015, don't be too surprised. The Volt sold only 542 units last month, that model's lowest since August 2011. That also represents a 41 percent drop from January 2014, and it reinforces the thought that if anyone out there is interested in a new Volt, they're going to be waiting for the new model to drop later this year. While we do expect sales to climb in February and into spring, we won't be surprised if the general Volt trend remains quiet until the second-generation arrives. On the Leaf side of the ledger, January's low sales numbers were still about twice as high as the Volt's – the Leaf sold 1,070 units last month, the lowest since February 2013 – but it did break a streak for the Japanese automaker. Usually, each month represents at least an increase over the same month a year ago, but that wasn't the case this time. In January 2014, Nissan sold 1,252 Leafs. Still, Brendan Jones, Nissan's director of electric vehicle sales and infrastructure, issued an upbeat statement: "We saw a significant increase in demand in December from Nissan Leaf customers looking to take advantage of federal and state incentives at the end of the tax year, which pulled some sales ahead. We're confident that EV sales will continue to rise over time due to increasing emission regulations and other reasons for purchase of EVs such as lower operating costs, reducing dependence on foreign energy sources, environmental concerns and a great driving experience." The numbers will tell us soon enough. News Source: General Motors, Nissan Green Chevrolet Nissan Electric Hybrid ev sales brendan jones

2023 GM full-size SUVs get Super Cruise expansion pack first

In August, GM announced it had doubled the size of the network of roads available to its Super Cruise hands-free driving feature. Joining the options list in 2017, Super Cruise had been limited to divided interstate highways in the U.S. and Canada. The expansion opened 200,000 miles of additional divided interstate highway as well as major, undivided highways. Both coasts benefit, but there will be a lot more relaxing motoring on the East Coast especially. North of the border, six of the 10 Canadian provinces add enabled roads. Problem is, no GM vehicles have been able to take advantage of the boon. That changes this month, the automaker saying four of its full-size SUVs in specific trims are first in line to make use of the expansion. The SUVs are: 2023 Chevrolet Tahoe Premier and High Country 2023 Chevrolet Suburban Premier and High Country 2023 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, and Escalade-V 2023 GMC Yukon Denali Ultimate  The vehicles need to have been built on or after October 3, 2022, a production timeline GM says should put the first examples in customer hands this month. The least expensive way to get into Super Cruise is with the two-wheel drive, $77,625 Chevrolet Tahoe Premier with the 3.0-liter inline-six Duramax diesel and the Advanced Technology Package. Vehicles that use the GM's Vehicle Intelligence Platform electrical architecture and already have Super Cruise will receive an over-the-air update "in the coming months" to access the new roads, at no cost to owners. Since other products like the Cadillac CT4 and CT5, Chevrolet Silverado, and GMC Sierra work with the VIP platform as well, they probably aren't far away from the extra capability and they'll bring a lower financial bar to entry.  Related video:

GM's labor deal with UAW union on verge of ratification

Nov 15 (Reuters) - General Motors' tentative labor deal with the United Auto Workers (UAW) union closed in on ratification as the votes were counted on Wednesday. Following the approval earlier in the day by more than 60% of union members at the Detroit automaker's large Arlington, Texas, assembly plant, additional votes in favor have the deal close to clinching majority approval. The number of union locals, most of which are smaller, still to report vote totals is not large. After several large assembly plants voted against the deal earlier on Wednesday, some media had reported the deal was heading toward failure. But Arlington's support, followed by strong voting in favor by smaller warehouse and parts facilities, has put the deal on the brink of approval. This would mark the first ratification of a deal, which runs through April 2028, with one of the Detroit Three automakers. Ford and Stellantis voting is still under way, and workers at both companies were favoring ratification by comfortable margins. The UAW's GM vote tracking site currently shows approval of the contract leading by a 54% to 46% margin with almost 32,000 workers having cast votes out of about 46,000 UAW-represented GM workers. The Arlington plant, with about 5,000 UAW members, has the most of any GM plant. Voting officially ends on Thursday at 4 p.m. EST, although most votes will be cast on Wednesday. The UAW went on strike for more than six weeks against the Detroit Three, seeking better wages, working conditions and cost-of-living adjustments. All three companies agreed to tentative agreements about two weeks ago. Workers at other GM assembly plants voted against the deal, including 60% of workers at its Fort Wayne, Indiana, truck plant, 53% at its Wentzville, Missouri, plant, 58% of workers at GM's Lansing Grand River plant and 61% of workers at the Lansing Delta Township plant. Seven of GM's 11 assembly plants rejected the deal. In addition to Arlington, workers at plants in Detroit, Fairfax, Kansas; and Lake Orion, Michigan; approved the agreement. Only nine facilities are still listed without vote totals on the UAW vote tracker, including GM's Lockport, New York, components plant with about 1,200 members. Those voting in favor of the agreement have a lead of almost 2,500 and many of the facilities still to come include workers who stand to receive large pay increases upon ratification.