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GM profits threatened by glut of pickups

Automotive News reports that General Motors may slash production or ramp up discounts in order to deal with an oversupply of pickup trucks. GM currently has more than double the standard supply of pickups, and the vehicles are threatening to dampen the automaker's profits for 2013. Typically, automakers try to sustain a 60- to 75-day supply of vehicles, but GM is currently loaded with a 139-day supply, as of last month. At the end of November, the automaker was sitting on 245,853 units.
The manufacturer says that it will adjust production accordingly before laying any incentives on the profitable pickups. Even so, there's some concern that the inventory swell could hurt the roll-out of the next-generation Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra. GM actually began slowly stepping back production in August, but it's clear the company will take further action as it heads toward the end of the year and into the next. Analysts predict the automaker could reduce pickup manufacturing by nearly half in the first quarter of 2013.
That still may not be enough to keep GM from laying extra cash on the Silverado and GMC Sierra. While the company's incentive spending was down in November compared to the same month in 2011, both the Ram 1500 and Ford F-150 saw double-digit percentage increases in sales last month while the Silverado and Sierra numbers slid compared to a year prior. Incentive spending could help move more trucks and add some balance to the GM inventory surge.

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:

GMC Hummer EV prices are going up by over $6,000

The GMC Hummer EV is not a cheap vehicle, and that becomes even more true this year. Pricing for all trim levels is climbing by $6,250. According to GMC, this is "due to the increase in the price of commodity parts." The new pricing is listed below. The only trim not included and not affected by the price increase is the Edition 1, which is sold out. EV2: $86,245 EV2X: $96,245 EV3X: $106,245 Note that these prices are not model year price increases, since some of these trims are not in production yet, and won't be for another year or two. These price increases apply to people that put in reservations for any of these Hummers starting on June 18. The good news for existing reservation holders, (anyone who reserved before June 18) is that they will still be charged the price announced when GMC started accepting reservations. Speaking of existing reservation holders (of which GMC says there are 77,500 so far), those who reserved the EV3X pickup versions will soon be able to configure their trucks. The company will reach out this summer for holders to make their configurations and submit their official orders. And production targets for all Hummer EV trims are unchanged. The EV3X is set for this fall, EV2X will be coming next spring, and the EV2 will arrive in spring 2024. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. 2023 GMC Hummer EV Review | Back and better than ever