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GM might outsource vans to AM General

General Motors will possibly boost production of the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon at the Wentzville Assembly Plant in Missouri by contracting out some commercial van manufacturing to AM General. Demand for the two midsize trucks continues to boom, and GM would like to take advantage of the strong market for them. The possible deal came to light in a letter to workers at the factory, according to Automotive News. "This potential partnership would free up production capacity and allow the organization to capitalize on our ability to build midsize trucks to further satisfy customer demand," a portion of the document allegedly said. AM General would reportedly only take over assembly of the cutaway versions of the Chevy Express and GMC Savana. Customers and critics have quickly embraced the latest Colorado and Canyon since their introduction. The Chevy just won back-to-back Motor Trend Truck of the Year awards. GM also had to add a third shift and extra workers in 2014 just to keep up with demand. The Wentzville plant even increased employment on the weekends earlier in 2015 to assemble an extra 2,000 of the trucks each month. While the two pickups boom, deliveries for the Chevy Express and GMC Savana are down 26.9 percent and 26.6 percent respectively through the first 10 months of the year. GM doesn't break out numbers for the cutaway versions, but they make up about a third of production, according to Automotive News. AM General built the Humvee for the US military and does some contract work with automakers. For example, the company's Indiana factory now produces the Mercedes-Benz R-Class for export to China. Here's hoping this potential deal will help both GM and AM General keep their factories humming. Related Video:

Has Chevrolet gotten the formula right with the Malibu?

Since the Malibu's return in 1997, there has been an internal issue with Chevrolet with getting the midsize sedan formula right in its own way. Let's be frank, the Malibu had a boring beginning as a midsize sedan in 1997. We got the dreadful sixth-generation Malibu in 2004 that brought us an SS model that really didn't deserve the SS badge on it. Hell, its saving grace was fleet sales. But the tides seemed to shift when the seventh-generation Malibu came on the scene in 2008. With the determination of making the Malibu more competitive with other cars in its class, a lot of hard work and effort was put into making the seventh-generation Malibu a timeless and well-crafted vehicle. As an owner of a 2012 Malibu 1LTZ, I have to say that Chevy has fully accomplished it. I love the nicely designed exterior, the interior was comfy enough for those long trips to work each and every day, and it was a very quiet car in my opinion. And its fuel economy was decent, not too bad. The New York Times in 2008 referred to it as "A super Accord, but from GM." In some comparisons, the Malibu was ranked higher than the Honda Accord and the Nissan Altima. It also received the North American Car of the Year award. Love it or hate it, the seventh-gen Malibu was an overall big success for GM. But then in 2013 we got the eighth-generation Malibu. GM gave it a botched release, releasing an Eco model first (that was later discontinued), then later in the year GM released the regular Malibu models. Shifting to a new platform didn't help it either. Even though it separated it further from the Impala, which was built on the same platform as the last-gen Malibu, the shrinkage in legroom, its OK design language, and a poorly crafted interior helped contribute to its overall lackluster sales performance. Not to mention the cars in its class got 10x better than the Malibu as well. Just 18 months after the 2013 Malibu went on sale it received a mild refresh to try to help its OK design, but it didn't help at all. The fate of the eighth-gen Malibu was sealed early on. But wait, a new light came from GM early last year. It came in the form of the ninth-generation Malibu. I have to say, when the curtain came off of it last year, a huge sigh of relief came from me. To me it seemed that Chevrolet took that determination it had in crafting the seventh-gen Malibu and increased it this time around.

Chevy gets cracking on Cruze EV fleet testing

Chevrolet Cruze EV - Click above for high-res image gallery
The Chevrolet Volt hasn't yet gone on sale, but General Motors is looking at ways of expanding its electric vehicle lineup. Chevy, along with partner LG, is employing a group of all-electric cars in the form of the Cruze. The sedans are part of a demonstration fleet which is located in Seoul, South Korea and is being used to provide data in an electric vehicle research project. The goal is to gather information on driving patterns and charging behavior in addition to consumer acceptance.
The Cruze EVs, along with some Daewoo Lacetti Premieres EVs, are the first fleet of full-size electric vehicles and should provide invaluable information for The General. Staying full-size means not sacrificing cargo space, so the battery pack is mounted to the underbody, leaving the trunk area open for plenty recyclable, canvas grocery bags.