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GM to squeeze out more production capacity for midsize trucks

General Motors was predicting a strong showing for the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon before they debuted, and demand among dealers for the midsize trucks even exceeded company's expectations. The positive situation has left GM with a problem, though: finding ways to increase capacity for the pickups at the Wentzville Assembly plant in Missiouri. With a third shift already running, GM has continued to look for ways to build just a few more of the trucks at the plant. The company has plans to hire as many as 1,000 more workers for the Saturday and Sunday shifts to construct an additional 2,000 pickups a month, according to unnamed insiders at the factory speaking to Automotive News. The little adjustments even extend to getting rid of an unpaid break to add 18 minute of assembly time over the course of a day, which equals about 3,500 more vehicles a year. All of this effort comes because the trucks are in such high demand. According to GM's figures, the company has delivered a combined 35,720 units of the Colorado and Canyon from January through April 2015, and the Chevy was the fastest-selling truck in the US for the previous three months. In May, it spent an average of just 12 days in showrooms before being snapped up. And even better for the company, 43 percent of these buyers came from other brands. According to Automotive News, the most popular trade-ins have included the Ford F-150, Toyota Tacoma, and Dodge Dakota. Related Video:

2015 Chevy Colorado to start at $20,100*, GMC Canyon at $20,995**

General Motors has just announced pricing for its new midsize pickup trucks, the 2015 Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon. Chevy's truck starts at $20,100, *not including $895 for destination, and the GMC starts at $20,995, **not including $925 for destination. These prices are for the base, extended cab models with the 200-horsepower, 2.5-liter inline four-cylinder engine.
Comparatively, these prices fit nicely with the $18,125 starting MSRP of the Toyota Tacoma and the $21,510 of the Nissan Frontier. Compared to the Colorado, the Canyon's extra $895 gets you niceties like LED running lamps, 16-inch alloy wheels, and a four-way power driver's seat.
Both trucks come standard with the 2.5-liter engine, and a more powerful, 305-hp 3.6-liter V6 will also be available. Pricing has not been announced for the upcoming diesel model, which is expected to launch for the 2016 model year.

GM to unveil new SUVs at the State Fair of Texas?

With General Motors just having rolled out its new fullsize truck twins - the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra - for 2014, now it seems to be time to focus on its big SUVs. The Truth About Cars is reporting that the 2015 Chevy Tahoe/Suburban and 2015 GMC Yukon lineup will be making their debuts later next month at the State Fair of Texas, which kicks off on September 27.
To date, we've only seen spy shots of the new Chevy and GMC SUVs (shown above in Yukon XL guise). Based on those spies both trucks seem to be taking a different styling direction than their pickup truck counterparts - just check out the Ford-looking headlight design on the next-gen Chevys.
We reached out to GM for comment and heard back simply that there is no official announcement about the new Tahoe, Suburban and Yukon. Still, the report definitely makes a solid leap of logic, as Texas is a top market for GM's fullsize SUV lineup. It also appears that GM is still planning a separate launch for the next-gen Cadillac Escalade.