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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:

GMC Hummer EV fan's Lego build is functional and even has Crab Mode

Lego creates some pretty amazing automotive models, but the Lego hobbyist community sometimes does better. Evidence of that comes to us in this fully-functional GMC Hummer EV Lego Technic model spotted by Road & Track and created by YouTube user Alain B. And while it's a one-off for now, there is the possibility it could become a kit you could bring home. As you can see in the video, the model looks the part with a body that closely matches the real thing. It's an impressively solid body, too, something that's sometimes difficult to achieve with Technic pieces. But that's only the tip of the iceberg. It's also got electric motors and is remote controlled. It has four-wheel-steering that can emulate the Hummer's famous Crab Mode setup. The fully independent suspension can raise for more ground clearance. And on top of all of that, it's even got a fully operational MultiPro tailgate and front trunk. The design is also listed on the Lego Ideas page. This is the site where Lego builders can submit their creations, and if they get enough votes, they'll be considered by the company for becoming a real production kit. You can visit the page at this link to lend your support (it doesn't cost anything). That page also reveals some other neat details, including the fact that it's made of about 2,200 pieces. While enough votes will get the design to be considered by Lego, there are other factors that determine whether it makes production. Some of them include getting the license from General Motors, and other undisclosed reasoning. But Lego has done a number of large, technical and somewhat pricey kits with licensing from other companies. So this seems like a great one for the company. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

GM Design shows another early Hummer EV sketch

Like a new mother who's still so excited about her one-year-old baby that she can't stop showing ultrasound photos, General Motors is so excited about its biggest new baby, the battery-electric GMC Hummer, that it can't stop showing off development design sketches. The off-road monster with the 200-kWh Ultium battery pack debuted online on October 21 last year. The next day, the GM Design Instagram page posted some of the Hummer's early "theme sketches" leading to the production version. These had a conceptual flair to them, but were rather restrained. A month later, GM uncovered a series of development renderings showing off a much wilder truck bursting with more angles than a geometry text book. The archives have opened up again with a new "ideation sketch," this one between the first believable sketches and the second truck that Master Chief and Doomguy share on their days off.  All three sets of drawings show similar three-box proportions, it's the details that got a ton of love. On this newest sketch, the fenders flare a touch more than on the production truck, but the wheel wells are cut with the kind of clearance found on a Baja 1000 Trophy Truck. Out back, save for the tow hooks, the rear end is totally different than production. The sketch puts illuminated Hummer script across a narrow tailgate flanked by small square, taillights housing six individual elements. Beneath that, a bumper-less rear end puts nothing more than a sloped bash pate between the truck and the rocks it's just scrambled over. To our eyes, this is the best blend of production-ready comfort from the first sketches and zoot suit angles from the second that we've seen so far.  First deliveries of the GMC Hummer EV Edition 1 are expected before the year is out. When we get a chance to absorb the truck in its native habitats, we'll know whether there's cause for disappointment at what could have been. If so, with all this hunger among the monied for something different, we feel like restomodders have been given the perfect head starts on custom rebodied Hummers that would make things right. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.