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GM to add 1,200 workers at 2 Michigan factories

DETROIT — General Motors is adding 1,200 jobs at two Michigan factories to build midsize SUVs and two new luxury sedans. GM said Friday that its Lansing Delta Township plant will get a third shift and 800 more workers to build the Chevrolet Traverse and Buick Enclave SUVs, which have three rows of seats. The Lansing Grand River plant will get a second shift and 400 more workers to build two new Cadillac sedans, the CT4 and CT5. Employees laid off at other GM factories will fill the new jobs first, then workers will be added, GM spokesman Dan Flores said. The company has not determined yet how many new people will be needed, he said. Both additional shifts will start working sometime between April and June, the company said. Lansing Delta Township now employs about 2,500 salaried and blue-collar workers, while the Grand River plant has 1,400. GM sold more than 147,000 Traverse SUVs in the U.S. last year, a 0.4% increase from 2018. Enclave sales were up 3% to just over 51,000, according to Autodata Corp. Related Video:

Frustrated GM investors ask what more Mary Barra can do

DETROIT — General Motors Co Chief Executive Mary Barra has transformed the No. 1 U.S. automaker in her almost five years in charge, but that is still not enough to satisfy investors. Ahead of third-quarter results due on Oct. 31, GM shares are trading about 6 percent below the $33 per share price at which they launched in 2010 in a post-bankruptcy initial public offering. The Detroit carmaker's stock is down 22 percent since Barra took over in January 2014. After hitting an all-time high of $46.48 on Oct. 24, 2017, the shares have declined 33 percent. In the same period, the Standard & Poor's 500 index has climbed 7.8 percent. Several shareholders contacted by Reuters said GM could face a third major action by activist shareholders in less than four years if the share price does not improve. "I've been expecting it," said John Levin, chairman of Levin Capital Strategies. "It just seems a tempting morsel to somebody." Levin's firm owns more than seven million GM shares. Barra has guided the company through the settlement of a federal criminal probe of a mishandled safety recall, sold off money-losing European operations, and returned $25 billion to shareholders through dividends and stock buybacks from 2012 through 2017. GM declined to comment for this story, but the company's executives privately express frustration with the market's reluctance to see it as anything more than a manufacturer tied mainly to auto market sales cycles. GM's profitable North American truck and SUV business and its money-making China operations are valued at just $14 billion, excluding the value of GM's stake in its $14.6 billion Cruise automated vehicle business and its cash reserves from its $44 billion market capitalization. The recent slump in the Chinese market, GM's largest, and plateauing U.S. demand are ratcheting up the pressure. GM is one of the few global automakers without a founding family or a government to serve as a bulwark against corporate raiders. In 2015, a group led by investor Harry Wilson pressed GM to launch a $5 billion share buyback, and commit to what is now an $18 billion ceiling on the level of cash the company would hold. In 2017, GM fended off a call by hedge fund manager David Einhorn to split its common stock shares into two classes. Einhorn, whose firm still owned more than 21 million shares at the end of June, declined to comment about GM's stock price. Other investors said there were no clear alternatives to Barra's approach.

2022 Buick Enclave revealed with refreshed styling, more standard features

Buick gave us a sneak peak at the 2022 Enclave back in January, but it officially pulled the sheet back Wednesday to reveal the extent of its updated styling and detail a few updates to its feature content, including a new suite of standard safety tech.  We can now better see the various exterior styling touch-ups, including a larger, more pronounced grille, new head- and taillights, and more angularly sculpted front and rear bumpers. The Avenir's exterior treatment was also updated to incorporate the new elements. The changes aren't too dramatic, but Buick did enough to make the 2022 visually distinguishable from previous years.  The new standard safety suite is Buick's Driver Confidence Plus package. It includes automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, lane keeping assist with lane departure warning, blind spot monitoring, forward collision warning, rear park assist, rear cross-traffic alert and automatic high-beams. Buick's midsize crossover is still powered by a standard 310-horsepower V6 with optional all-wheel drive. The range-topping Avenir model includes an adaptive suspension and unique styling elements.  Despite our previous expectations, the Enclave's cabin didn't really get an upgrade apart from the standard safety items listed above. Buick did not include pricing information in Wednesday's announcement, so you can look forward to yet another update before the 2022 Enclave goes on sale later this year.  Related video: 2021 Buick Envision Running Footage